On this page7 sections
What quote automation is
Quote automation is the use of software to prepare quotes from incoming requests with less manual work. An RFQ arrives by email, web form or a buyer’s portal; the system reads it, finds the matching products and prices, and drafts a quote for a person to check. Some steps use fixed rules, such as a price break at 100 units. Others use AI, such as reading a free-text email that mentions three products and a delivery date.
It matters most for businesses that quote often and in detail: manufacturers pricing made-to-order parts, wholesalers quoting from long price lists and exporters adding freight and trade terms. Australian government guidance for small business lists generating and sending quotes among the routine tasks AI can help with. The aim is not to remove people from quoting, but to let them spend their time on judgement instead of retyping.
The quote workflow, step by step
Most quoting follows the same ten steps, whatever the product. The table shows each step and how much of it software can usually take on.
| Step | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Intake | The RFQ arrives by email, form or portal and is logged with a reference | Automate |
| 2. Extract requirements | Products, quantities, specs, delivery date and location are pulled out | AI extracts; a person checks unclear items |
| 3. Match products and specs | Requests are matched to your product codes and alternatives are flagged | AI suggests; a person confirms |
| 4. Apply price rules and margins | List or customer price, volume breaks, freight and minimum margin | Automate within agreed rules |
| 5. Check availability and lead times | Stock on hand, production capacity or supplier lead times | Automate where the data is live |
| 6. Draft the quote | Quote document and covering email, in the buyer’s language | Automate |
| 7. Approve | A named person checks price, terms and commitments | Person |
| 8. Send | The approved quote goes out from your usual email or portal | Automate after approval |
| 9. Follow up | Reminders before the quote expires; buyer questions answered | Automate reminders; a person handles replies |
| 10. Log | Quote, version and outcome saved in the CRM or ERP | Automate |
What to automate first
Start with the steps that take the most time and need the least judgement: intake, extracting requirements and drafting quotes for standard products. These steps are frequent, easy to check and low risk, because a person still approves the result. Leave engineered or one-off quotes until the standard flow is reliable.
- Standard products with clear price lists before custom or engineered items.
- Repeat customers with agreed pricing before new accounts.
- One channel, such as the sales inbox, before portals and phone orders.
Our enquiry and quote agent follows this order: it reads enquiries from email and web forms, checks products, prices and stock, and drafts the quote and reply for a person to approve before anything is sent.
What must stay with people
Anything that changes the price outside agreed rules or commits the business to something should stay with a named person. Software can prepare these decisions and flag them, but it should not make them.
- Pricing exceptions: discounts beyond the rules, matching a competitor or quoting below the minimum margin.
- Delivery commitments: promising a date that depends on production capacity, a supplier or a shipment.
- Non-standard specifications, substitutions and anything with safety, compliance or warranty implications.
- Payment and credit terms, especially for new customers.
- For exporters, the trade terms. The International Chamber of Commerce’s Incoterms rules clarify the tasks, costs and risks of delivering goods from seller to buyer, so the same unit price means something different under FOB than under DAP.
Keep a record of every change the approver makes. Those corrections show where the rules or data need fixing, and over time they reduce how often a person has to step in.
Data you need before starting
Quote automation is only as accurate as the data behind it. Before building anything, check that these are in order.
- Price listsOne current version per customer group, with an owner and a review date. Government guidance suggests reviewing prices at least once a year, or whenever costs or market conditions change.
- Product dataConsistent codes, units, specifications and approved alternatives, so a request for “M10 stainless bolts” matches one item.
- Price rulesWritten rules for cost-plus margins, volume breaks, customer-specific prices, freight and minimum order quantities.
- Stock and lead timesA known source for availability and lead times, and how up to date it is.
- Templates and termsApproved quote layouts, validity periods and standard terms.
- Past quotesA sample of recent quotes with their outcomes, used to test the automation before it goes live.
- PrivacyEnquiries include buyers’ names and contact details, so check how the Australian Privacy Principles apply and where any AI service stores the data.
If product, price and stock data sit in separate spreadsheets, fix the system of record first. Our guide to distribution ERP covers this for wholesalers, and a custom ERP can hold quotes, orders and stock on one set of data.
How to measure the result
Measure against your own baseline, not against figures from a vendor’s brochure. Record a few weeks of quoting before you change anything, then compare the same measures during and after the pilot.
| Measure | How to count it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Turnaround time | Hours from RFQ received to quote sent | How quickly buyers hear back |
| Touches per quote | People and edits involved before the quote is sent | How much manual work remains |
| Error and rework | Quotes revised because of a wrong price, item or term | Whether data and rules are right |
| Win rate | Quotes accepted out of quotes sent, by product group | Whether faster quotes turn into orders |
Win rate depends on much more than speed, so read it over months rather than weeks. Turnaround time and rework are the earlier signals of whether the automation is helping.
Questions
What is quote automation?
Quote automation is the use of software to prepare quotes from incoming requests with less manual work. It reads the request, matches products and prices, checks availability and drafts the quote, while a person approves the price and terms before anything is sent to the customer.
What is RFQ automation?
RFQ automation handles the incoming side of quoting: logging each request for quote, extracting products, quantities, specifications and delivery details, and routing it to the right person or draft. It is usually the first part to set up, because it removes retyping without changing how prices are decided.
Should AI send quotes to customers automatically?
Not at first. A named person should approve every quote before it is sent, especially prices outside agreed rules, delivery promises and trade terms. Once drafts are consistently right, you may decide to allow automatic sending for simple repeat orders within strict limits, and keep reviewing a sample.
What data do I need before automating quotes?
You need current price lists with a clear owner, consistent product codes, units and specifications, written price rules for margins and volume breaks, a reliable source of stock and lead times, and approved quote templates and terms. A sample of past quotes with outcomes is useful for testing.
How do I measure whether quote automation is working?
Record a baseline before you start, then compare turnaround time from request to quote, the number of touches per quote, how many quotes need rework because of errors, and win rate by product group. Use your own figures rather than vendor averages, and read win rate over months.
Can quote automation work with our ERP or CRM?
Yes, if the ERP or CRM can share data through an API or a reliable export. The automation reads products, prices and stock from it and writes the quote and outcome back, so the record stays complete. If product and price data are scattered across spreadsheets, consolidate them first. Enquiry and quote agent
Sources
RelatedEnquiry and quote agentChoosing an AI automation agencyDiscuss your needs