What is Zapier?

Zapier is an automation platform that connects different apps and services together. Think of it as a digital assistant that can automatically move information between your business tools without you having to copy and paste data manually.

For example, when a new lead submits your contact form on SkyQuote, Zapier can automatically:

• Add them to your CRM system
• Send their information to a postcard mailing service
• Create a follow-up task in your project management app

These automated workflows are called "Zaps," and they run in the background 24/7, saving you time and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

Why Connect SkyQuote to Zapier?

Zapier allows you to get your data out of SkyQuote and into other tools you use to run your business.

Before You Start

Before setting up your Zapier integration, make sure you have:

• An active SkyQuote account with administrator access
• A Zapier account (you can sign up for free at zapier.com)
• Access to the other apps you want to connect (CRM, email tools, etc.)

New to Zapier? Don't worry! Zapier offers helpful tutorials and has a user-friendly interface designed for non-technical users.

Connecting SkyQuote to Zapier

Follow these steps to connect your SkyQuote account to Zapier:

Step 1: Create a New Zap

• Log into your Zapier account
• Click "Create Zap" in the top navigation
• Search for "SkyQuote" in the trigger app search box
• Select SkyQuote from the results

SkyQuote Invite Needed: SkyQuote Zapier integration is currently in beta, and not generally available as an application yet in Zapier. To have SkyQuote appear in your search box, you will need to reach out to us at [email protected] and ask for an invite to our Zapier application. We will send you an invite that you will accept and then SkyQuote will appear in your search box.

Step 2: Choose Your Trigger

Select which SkyQuote event you want to trigger your automation. You can choose from:

• New Contact Form Submission - When someone fills out your contact form
• New Appointment Scheduled - When a customer books an appointment
• New InstaQuote Lead - When someone completes your InstaQuote tool
• New Prospect Created - When someone starts but doesn't complete InstaQuote
• New Client Added - When you add a new client to your system

Step 3: Connect Your SkyQuote Account

• Click "Sign in to SkyQuote"
• You'll be redirected to SkyQuote's secure login page
• Enter your SkyQuote username and password
• Click "Authorize" to give Zapier permission to access your SkyQuote data
• You'll be redirected back to Zapier with a success message

Step 4: Test Your Connection

Zapier will automatically test your connection and pull in a sample of your recent data to make sure everything is working correctly.

Available Triggers and Data

SkyQuote provides eleven different triggers that can start your Zaps. Here's what each trigger does and when it fires:

1. New Contact Form Submission (contact_form)

What are Contact Forms? Contact forms are the lead capture forms on your website where potential customers can request estimates, ask questions, or inquire about your roofing services.

When it triggers: Someone submits a contact form on your website

Best for: Immediate lead follow-up and CRM integration

Essential data for your CRM:

• Customer contact details: Full name, email address, phone number, and property address
• Service request details: Their specific message, service type requested, and any custom form questions you've set up
• Property information: Complete address where work is needed (automatically parsed into street, city, state, zip for easy CRM entry)
• Lead priority: Urgency level if they indicated timeline preferences
• Contact preferences: Best time to call, preferred communication method

2. Contact Form Updated (contact_form_updated)

When updates occur: Your team changes the contact status (from "Not Contacted" to "Contacted"), adds notes about conversations, updates customer information, or marks leads as converted to clients.

When it triggers: You or your team updates a contact form lead in SkyQuote

Best for: Syncing status changes with your CRM and triggering follow-up workflows

Key data for automation:

• Status changes: Current contact status, conversion to client status
• Team notes: All internal notes added by your team members
• Updated contact info: Any corrections or additional contact details
• Follow-up history: Record of all interactions with this lead

3. New Appointment Scheduled (appointment)

What are Appointments? These are scheduled service calls where your team will visit a customer's property for inspections, estimates, consultations, or actual roofing work.

When it triggers: A customer books an appointment through your SkyQuote scheduling system

Best for: Team coordination, calendar sync, and customer communication workflows

Essential data for coordination:

• Customer information: Full name, phone number, email, and complete property address
• Appointment details: Date, time, duration, arrival window, and assigned team member
• Service specifics: Type of service (inspection, estimate, repair, etc.), service category, and estimated duration
• Customer communication: Special instructions, access notes, customer preferences for contact
• Internal coordination: Team member assignments, internal notes, approval status

4. Appointment Updated (appointment_updated)

When updates occur: Appointments get rescheduled (date/time changes), team member reassignments, status changes (confirmed, completed, cancelled), contact information updates, or when internal/customer notes are modified.

When it triggers: Any change is made to an appointment record

Best for: Keeping your team and calendar apps in sync, triggering customer notifications

Key data for coordination:

• Schedule changes: New appointment date/time, updated team member assignments, revised arrival windows
• Status tracking: Current status (scheduled, confirmed, in-progress, completed, cancelled) with reason for changes
• Contact updates: Modified customer contact information, updated property address
• Communication notes: New or updated customer notes, special instructions, team notes about the visit
• Rescheduling details: Previous vs. new schedule information, reason for rescheduling

5. New InstaQuote Lead (instaquote)

What is InstaQuote? InstaQuote is SkyQuote's instant roofing estimate tool that customers use on your website. They enter their address, the system analyzes their roof using satellite imagery, shows material options with pricing ranges, and collects their contact information.

When it triggers: Someone completes the entire InstaQuote process and submits their contact information

Best for: Lead follow-up and CRM integration

Essential data for follow-up:

• Contact and property details: Full name, email, phone, and complete property address
• Project specifics: Total roof area in square feet, roof pitch, number of buildings analyzed
• Customer interest: Which roofing materials they viewed, which ones they requested pricing for
• Quote details: Pricing ranges they saw, furthest step completed in the process
• Engagement level: Detailed roof analysis data

6. InstaQuote Updated (instaquote_updated)

When updates occur: You change the lead status (contacted, quoted, converted), add team notes about conversations, update project details based on actual inspection, or mark the lead as won/lost.

When it triggers: You update an InstaQuote lead's information or status in SkyQuote

Best for: CRM synchronization and sales pipeline management

Key data for tracking:

• Pipeline status: Current stage in your sales process, conversion status
• Team interactions: All notes and follow-up activities by your sales team
• Project updates: Revised estimates, actual vs. estimated roof measurements
• Customer communications: Conversation summaries, customer preferences, decision timeline

7. New Prospect Created (prospect_created)

What are Prospects? Prospects are potential customers who started using your InstaQuote tool but haven't completed it yet. Unlike completed InstaQuote leads, these are people who may have abandoned the process.

Important Timing: This trigger has a built-in delay of 30-45 minutes. This allows users time to finish the InstaQuote process. After 30-45 minutes of inactivity, the system confirms them as a prospect and triggers the webhook.

When it triggers: Someone starts your InstaQuote tool but hasn't completed it after 30-45 minutes of inactivity

Best for: Following up on abandoned quotes

Essential data for follow-up:

• Contact opportunity: Property address and how far they progressed
• Engagement level: Which steps they completed (address only, roof analysis, viewed materials, requested pricing)
• Project scope: Roof area and characteristics if they progressed far enough
• Timing: When they started the quote
• Interest signals: Specific materials they looked at, showing their preferences

8. Prospect Updated (prospect_updated)

When it triggers: Your team adds notes, assigns to a team member, or makes other updates to a prospect record

9. Prospect Deleted (prospect_deleted)

When deletion occurs: Either the prospect completes their InstaQuote and converts to a lead (automatic deletion), or your team manually removes prospects who are no longer viable.

When it triggers: A prospect either completes their quote or is manually deleted from your system

Best for: Cleaning up follow-up tasks and measuring conversion rates

Key data for cleanup:

• Conversion outcome: Did they complete the quote or get manually removed?
• Final engagement: Their last progress state before deletion
• History: Complete history of their interaction with your quote tool

10. New Client Added (client)

What are Clients? Clients are confirmed customers who have moved beyond the lead stage. They represent people you're actively working with or have committed to work with.

How clients get created in SkyQuote:

• Automatic appointment booking: When someone schedules an appointment, SkyQuote automatically creates a client record or links to an existing one
• Lead extraction: When a contact form or InstaQuote lead is submitted, we automatically extract the client information
• Manual entry: When you or your team manually add a new client to the system

When it triggers: A new client record is created through any of the above methods

Best for: Onboarding workflows, welcome sequences, and project management setup

Essential data for client onboarding:

• Complete contact information: Name, phone, email, and project address
• Client source: Whether they came from an appointment booking, lead conversion, or manual entry
• Project details: Service type, project scope, and any linked appointments or quotes
• Communication preferences: Preferred contact method and best times to reach them

11. Client Updated (client_updated)

When updates occur: Your team modifies client contact information (adds new email addresses, phone numbers, or addresses), updates existing contact details, or manages internal notes about the client.

When it triggers: Client contact information or internal notes are modified

Best for: Keeping CRM systems synchronized with the latest customer information

Key data for CRM synchronization:

• Contact changes: New or updated email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses
• Internal notes: Team notes and comments added, updated, or removed
• Update reason: Why the change was made (helps with audit trails)
• Contact verification: Which contact methods are primary vs. secondary

Common Use Cases for Roofing Contractors

Here are some popular ways roofing contractors use the SkyQuote-Zapier integration:

Lead Management

• Add leads to CRM: Automatically create new contacts in Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive
• Score leads: Send high-value InstaQuote leads to a separate "hot leads" list
• Distribute leads: Round-robin assign leads to different sales team members

Team Communication

• Slack notifications: Alert your team channel when new appointments are booked
• Text message alerts: Send SMS to on-call team members for emergency service requests
• Email summaries: Weekly digest of new leads and appointments

Follow-up Automation

• Abandoned quote follow-up: Send personalized emails to prospects who didn't complete InstaQuote
• Appointment reminders: Automatically send confirmation and reminder emails to customers
• Thank you messages: Send follow-up emails after appointments are completed

Data Tracking

• Google Sheets logging: Keep a running log of all leads with source attribution
• Marketing analytics: Track which marketing channels generate the most leads
• Conversion tracking: Measure how many InstaQuotes turn into actual projects

Customer Experience

• Welcome sequences: Send new clients helpful information about your process
• Calendar integration: Sync appointments with Google Calendar or Outlook
• Project updates: Notify clients when their project status changes

Setting Up Your First Zap

Let's walk through creating a simple but effective Zap that adds new contact form leads to a Google Spreadsheet:

Step 1: Choose Your Trigger

• Select SkyQuote as your trigger app
• Choose "New Contact Form Submission" as the trigger event
• Connect your SkyQuote account (as described above)
• Test the trigger to make sure data is flowing correctly

Step 2: Choose Your Action

• Search for "Google Sheets" as your action app
• Choose "Create Spreadsheet Row" as the action event
• Connect your Google account if you haven't already
• Select the spreadsheet and worksheet where you want to add leads

Step 3: Map Your Data

Match the SkyQuote fields to your spreadsheet columns:

• Name → Column A
• Email → Column B
• Phone → Column C
• Address → Column D
• Message → Column E
• Created At → Column F
• Referrer → Column G

Step 4: Test and Turn On

• Click "Test & Continue" to send a test row to your spreadsheet
• Check that the data appears correctly in your Google Sheet
• Click "Turn on Zap" to activate the automation

Congratulations! Your first Zap is now running. Every time someone submits your contact form, their information will automatically be added to your spreadsheet.

Understanding the Data Fields

Each trigger provides different data fields. Here are the most important ones for CRM integration and customer communication:

Essential Contact Fields

• name/firstName/lastName: Customer's full name (format depends on how they entered it)
• email: Customer's email address for follow-up communications
• phone/phoneNumber: Customer's phone number (automatically formatted for easy dialing)
• address: Complete property address where work is needed
• street1/city/state/postalCode: Address broken down into components for CRM entry

Customer Communication Fields

• customerNotes: Special instructions or preferences the customer provided
• message: Their specific request or questions from contact forms
• internalNotes: Notes your team has added about this customer
• contactStatus: Current status of your outreach (Not Contacted, Contacted, etc.)

Project and Service Fields

• serviceType/serviceName: What type of roofing service they need
• totalArea: Total roof size in square feet (for InstaQuote leads)
• roofSummary: Detailed roof analysis including pitch, materials, and buildings
• viewedMaterials/pricedMaterials: Which roofing options they showed interest in

Timing and Priority Fields

• createdAt/updatedAt: When the lead came in or was last modified
• appointmentDate/appointmentTime: Scheduled service visit details
• furthestStep: How engaged they were (for prospects - did they just enter address or request pricing?)
• arrivalWindow: Time range for appointment visits

Business Intelligence Fields

• clientId: Links to existing client records if they're a returning customer
• isArchived: Whether this lead has been marked as closed
• eventType: Which type of trigger this is (helpful for organizing different workflows)

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Connection Problems

"SkyQuote app not found"

• SkyQuote Zapier app is currently in beta so we need to invite you to the app. Send an email to [email protected] and ask for an invite.
• Make sure you're searching for "SkyQuote" exactly as spelled
• If still not found, contact SkyQuote support

"Authentication failed"

• Double-check your SkyQuote login credentials
• Make sure you're using an administrator account
• Try logging out of SkyQuote and back in, then reconnect to Zapier

Integration-Specific Issues

If you're having problems with the SkyQuote-Zapier connection specifically:

• Check the connection: Go to your connected accounts in Zapier and test the SkyQuote connection
• Review recent activity: Look at your Zap history for error messages or failed triggers
• Contact support: Reach out to both SkyQuote and Zapier support teams with specific error messages

Data Issues

"No data found" when testing

• Make sure you have recent activity (form submissions, appointments, etc.) in your SkyQuote account
• Some triggers like "prospect_created" only fire after 30-45 minutes of inactivity

Missing or incorrect data

• Check that you're mapping the correct fields in your Zap
• Some fields may be empty if customers didn't provide that information
• Address parsing may split full addresses into component parts

Zap Performance

Zap not triggering

• Check that your Zap is turned "ON" in Zapier
• Verify the trigger conditions - some triggers only fire under specific circumstances
• Look at your Zap history to see if there are any error messages

Delays in triggering

• SkyQuote sends data immediately, but some actions (like email sending) may have delays
• Free Zapier plans have longer delays than paid plans
• Prospect triggers specifically wait 30-45 minutes before firing

Permission Errors

"Access denied" errors

• Make sure you connected Zapier with a SkyQuote administrator account
• Some data may be restricted based on your user role in SkyQuote
• Try disconnecting and reconnecting your SkyQuote account in Zapier

Advanced Tips

Filtering Your Data

Use Zapier's built-in filters to create more targeted automations:

• Only trigger for leads from specific marketing sources
• Filter by service type for appointment-based Zaps
• Create different workflows for different geographic areas

Getting Help

SkyQuote Support

• Email: [email protected]
• Help Center: help.sky-quote.com

Zapier Support

• Help Center: help.zapier.com
• Community Forum: community.zapier.com