When technicians create a variation on-site, the ideal scenario is that they build the quote, present it to the customer, and capture a signature immediately.
However, some situations require the office team to step in, whether that's to order specific parts, review complex pricing, or follow up with a customer who needs time to think. When this happens, the variation is "deflected" to the office.
This article explains the different ways a variation can be deflected from the technician's mobile app to the web for the office team to action.
Automatic deflections
Variations will automatically deflect to the office without any special configuration in the following scenarios:
Skipped signatures
Sometimes, the technician can build the perfect quote on-site, but the customer isn't ready to proceed right then and there.
The customer might not be present at the property.
The customer might want time to consider the proposal.
In these cases, the technician can tap Skip on the signature screen of their mobile app. This saves the opportunity and deflects it to the office, allowing your team to email the proposal and follow up with the customer later.
Send the variation to the customer
If the variation proposal needs to be sent to the customer by email or SMS, it will be deflected to the office. If the proposal portal link is included in the communication template, the customer can still accept it for the technician to continue the works while on the current job.
Notifying the office
When an automatic deflection occurs, your team needs to know immediately so they can take over the process. You can configure both in-system notifications and email alerts during Step 8 of the variation template setup. This guarantees the relevant staff members or roles are alerted that further action is required, like sourcing parts or contacting the customer.
Deflect to office with custom fields
If your account includes the Sales+ add-on, you don't have to rely only on automatic deflections. You can proactively configure Variation templates with customised rules to stop technicians from quoting under specific scenarios.
Using Custom fields, you can prompt the technician with specific questions when they start a variation. Their answers will dictate whether they can proceed or if the variation must go to the office.
Example
You set up a custom field configured to the Opportunity object asking, "Is the asset under warranty?".
If the technician answers No, they can proceed to complete the variation details and quote the customer directly on-site.
If they answer Yes, the variation needs to go through the office for further checks. The technician will still complete the details of the work to propose and attach any required photos, but the system will then deflect the variation. This ensures that if the manufacturer is liable for any repairs, the office can action it accordingly before sending the final proposal.
Setting up a custom deflection field
To create the warranty check example above, you must build the custom field, assign it to your pipeline, and then configure the deflection rule in your variation template.
Creating a custom field template
First, build the question you want to ask your technicians.
In Settings → Select Global → Click View on Custom field templates.
Click Add new custom field template.
Enter a Template name (e.g., "Variations").
Enter a brief Description.
Click Save.
Build the form
Find your new template in the list and click Configure to open the form builder.
Drag and drop your preferred field type (e.g., a Toggle or Dropdown) onto the canvas.
Enter your question in the Field name (e.g., "Is the asset under warranty?").
Set the Show in screens dropdown to Add/Edit.
Click Save to add the field to the template.
Read more: Using the form builder
Activate the form
Close the form builder.
Back on the custom field templates list, click Edit next to your new template.
Check the Is active? box.
Click Save.
Assign the template to your opportunity
The system needs to know where to present these custom fields.
In Settings → Select Global → Click View on Assign custom field templates to objects.
In the Objects column, select Opportunities.
In the second column, choose whether to apply the custom field template to all opportunities or select individual opportunity templates.
In the third column (Custom field templates), click Add custom field template.
Select the custom field template template from the dropdown.
Click Save.
Repeat the process to assign more templates.
Configure the deflection rule
Finally, tell the variation template how to react to the technician's answers.
In Settings → Select Opportunities → Click View on Variation templates.
Click edit on the variation template, or, create a new template and go to Step 2 of the variation template setup.
Toggle Deflect back to office to Yes.
Click Add condition to set the deflection trigger when the technician answers the question.
In the first dropdown, choose the custom field you want to base the rule on (e.g., "Is the asset in warranty?").
In the second dropdown, select the appropriate operator (e.g., equal or not equal).
In the third dropdown, select the specific answer that triggers the deflection to the office (e.g., Yes).
Under Update pipeline/stage, select Yes to automatically move the opportunity to the correct stage when it deflects.
Select your Pipeline and the specific Stage you chose in the previous section (e.g., "Deflected to office").
Click Next to continue configuring your template and save the changes.
What happens when a variation is deflected?
When a variation is deflected (whether automatically or via a custom rule), the workflow shifts from the field to the office:
The technician's workflow ends: They are notified that the variation has been sent to the office. They can then return to their primary job.
The office is notified: Depending on your variation template settings, an email or internal notification is sent to the relevant office staff or roles.
An opportunity is created: The variation appears as a new Opportunity in your sales pipeline. The office team can now review the technician's notes and photos, adjust the pricing, order parts, and email the final proposal to the customer.
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