Field note · sales
Have you ever watched an order go elsewhere because your quote was slow?
The request came in Monday. The quote left Thursday. The customer had already said yes to someone else.
Who this is for
- Salespeople build their own quotes between calls.
- Odd requests and discounts wait for a manager.
- The same job gets quoted two ways by two people.
When we'd tell you not to bother
A handful of quotes a week? Your team has it covered. Every job a one-off design? Then a person should cost each one. We'll say which side you're on.
The chain
What we see in the chain
- Request
- Specs
- Costing
- Margin check
- Discount sign-off
- Sent
- Questions
- Revised
- Order
The person who quotes is also the person who sells. Selling wins, so the quote waits.
Unusual items wait longer. A discount approval adds days in the middle. The customer hears silence and calls a rival.
At a distributor, it's a forty-line request list. At a machine shop, it's a drawing with a request for quote. On a building job, it's the change order the general contractor wants today.
The fix
The fix we'd build: a same-day quote desk
Every request becomes a draft quote, from your rules, as soon as it lands.
What that changes
- Drafts are ready within hours, not days.
- Your rates, margins and discount limits apply every time.
- Quotes inside the rules go to the salesperson to check and send.
- Quotes outside them go to a manager, with the reasons laid out.
Worth
What it's worth, by your own count
Pull last month's quotes. Mark the ones that took longer than two days, and see how many you won.
Then add up the hours salespeople spend building quotes. Those hours aren't spent selling.
Wednesday · the quote desk at noon
31 requests since 8 a.m.
- Drafted inside your rules25, ready to send
- Need a manager4, discount over your limit
- Missing a spec2, questions drafted
- Longest open5 hours
Method
How it runs, every step
+ Show the method
What it works from
Your sales inbox and web form, your quoting tool or ERP, and your rate sheets and cost data. It starts whenever a request arrives.
The steps
- Reads the request for items, quantities, specs and dates.
- Finds each line in your catalog or past jobs.
- Applies your rates, margin rules and the customer's terms.
- Lists missing specs and drafts a question to the customer.
- Lays the quote out in your own format.
- Sends quotes outside your rules to a manager, with reasons.
Who signs off
A salesperson checks and sends every quote. A manager approves every exception.
What it never does
It never sends a quote by itself. It never changes a rate or approves its own discount.
What we'd need from you
Your rate sheets and discount rules. Fifty past quotes, won and lost. One person who owns quoting.
Neighbouring jobs
- Bids built from work you've already won.
- Order status customers can check without phoning.
- Supplier chasing, so the dates you quote hold.
You become the firm customers expect to hear from first.
Quotes leave the day they're asked for, and fewer orders drift away.
Your quote desk won't match this one. A first conversation is where we work out its shape.
Next step
Rather talk it over?
A first conversation with one of our co-founders costs nothing. It runs about an hour, and we need no access.
Someone reads every note, and replies within a working day, usually.