Quotes take days to send
The customer asked for a price on Monday. The quote goes out on Thursday, after three people have checked an Excel file. By then they may have signed with someone else.
Typical in: Manufacturing and metalwork, building materials, logistics, construction subcontractors, event and service agencies
What it looks like
In many companies a quote is built by hand every time. Someone finds the last similar quote, copies the Excel file, updates prices from a supplier list that may be out of date, works out the margin, pastes it into a Word template, exports a PDF and emails it. If the discount is unusual, it waits for the owner’s approval in a chat thread.
Only one or two people really know how to price. When they’re busy, on site or on holiday, quoting slows down or stops.
How many of these sound familiar?
- Quotes take days, and customers chase you for them.
- Two salespeople give the same customer different prices.
- Margin mistakes are found after the job is done, if at all.
- Nobody knows how many quotes went out, which were won, or why the others were lost.
What the research says
Three companies, same problem
Grīva Metalworks
Staircases and railings are quoted by the chief estimator in an Excel file with 14 tabs: steel weight, coating, labour, transport. There are 30 to 40 requests a week and each quote takes three to five days. When the estimator is on holiday, quoting stops.
Sēta Supply
Contractors email lists of 40 items. Sales reps look up each price in the ERP, then check a separate sheet of customer discounts. Wrong discounts lead to credit notes every month, and the next-day turnaround loses work to a competitor whose customers can check prices online.
Lumen Stage
Quotes combine equipment rental, crew hours and transport. Every client change creates a new file: v7_final_FINAL.xlsx. When the event is over, nobody is sure which version the client accepted, and the invoice turns into an argument.
Illustrative examples. The companies are fictional; the situations are typical of the industries we work with.
How we fix it
- 01
One price base.
Products, rates, customer discounts and margin rules in one place, kept in sync with your ERP or supplier price lists.
- 02
A quote builder.
Pick items and options, and the calculation, margin and branded PDF or web quote are ready in minutes, not days.
- 03
Approval rules.
A discount above a set level or margin below a floor goes to the owner, who approves it with one click on their phone.
- 04
Tracking and follow-up.
Every quote has a status (sent, viewed, accepted, lost with a reason). Reminders go out, and the accepted quote becomes an order or job without retyping.
What changes
Before
After
A typical first project
A quote builder for your most common job or product type, with your price base, approval rules and quote tracking. Optional customer-facing calculator for simple requests. First working version in about four weeks. It starts with a free Process Mapping session.
Apply for a free Process MappingFind out what’s slowing your business down.
Start with a free analysis to identify your biggest bottlenecks and discover where improvements will have the greatest impact.