RFQ and quoting
Recording the request, technical assessment, costing and approval stages.
Solutions
From quote to dispatch, one flow
Industrial sales cycles are long and technical. The quote is revised several times, samples get involved, and the decision passes through several people. That cannot be tracked in email.
At a glance
- RFQ and quoting
- Revision and version tracking
- Product and price catalogue
- Dealer and distributor management
- Samples and technical steps
Problems on the sales side
What comes up with industrial firms:
- Quote requests arrive by email and it is unclear who is handling which
- Which revision of the quote was sent gets confused
- Correspondence between the technical team and sales is scattered
- Dealer requests come by phone and are never recorded
- Long-cycle opportunities go unfollowed and close quietly
- Service and spare part requests land with the sales team
What the setup includes
The structure we build with manufacturers:
Revision and version tracking
Each revision stored as a version, with the one that was sent marked.
Product and price catalogue
Product tree, unit prices, discount tiers and customer-specific price lists.
Dealer and distributor management
Dealer records, territory assignment, dealer requests and limited-access dealer users.
Samples and technical steps
Tracking sample requests, dispatch and customer feedback.
Service and spare parts
Warranty, fault and spare part requests in their own SLA-tracked pipeline.
Ending revision chaos
In manufacturing a quote is rarely accepted first time. Quantities change, specifications change, prices are revised. Run through email, "which quote are we discussing" becomes inevitable.
We hold quotes as versions attached to the record. Each revision is stored as a separate document, the version that was sent is marked, and you can see which revision the customer replied to.
- Revisions stored as versions
- The sent revision marked
- Approval defined as a process step
- Quote history kept on the customer record
Bringing technical and sales onto one record
Sales passes a technical question to production, the answer comes back by email, sales relays it to the customer. Every link in that chain adds delay and loses information.
We make technical assessment a step on the quote record. The question is asked through the record and answered there; sales gets a notification and the history stays searchable.
- A technical assessment step with an owner
- Questions and answers on the record
- Pending assessments tracked
- Past technical decisions searchable
The dealer side
When dealer requests come by phone, what was asked, what was promised and who is following up can all get lost.
We bring dealers into the system: each with a record, a territory and an owner. If you want, dealers get limited-access users so they can see their own requests and statuses; which cuts down the "any news?" calls.
- Dealer records and territory assignment
- Dealer requests recorded
- Limited-access dealer users
- Sales and request reporting by dealer
Keeping long-cycle opportunities alive
In industrial sales a decision can take months. An opportunity left unfollowed in that time is forgotten and a competitor steps in.
We build follow-up plans by stage: tasks open at set intervals after a quote goes out, and pending opportunities collect on the manager's screen. Opportunities with no movement raise an alert.
- Automatic follow-up tasks by stage
- Alerts on stalled opportunities
- Weighted sales forecasting
- Loss reason captured as required
Stages in the quoting process
The structure we build most often in manufacturing.
| Stage | Owner | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Request received | Sales | RFQ record with customer and specification |
| Technical assessment | Technical team | Feasibility decision, lead time estimate |
| Costing | Costing / sales | Unit cost and proposed price |
| Internal approval | Management | Price and terms approved |
| Quote sent | Sales | A versioned quote document |
| Revision | Sales + technical | A new version with a change note |
| Order | Sales | Confirmed order, passed to production |
How would this work in your process?
In a free 30-minute call we listen to your workflow and map out how this would run in your company.
How the setup runs
The order we follow in manufacturing setups:
- 01
Process analysis
The flow from RFQ to order and its decision points are mapped.
- 02
Catalogue and pricing
Product tree, price lists and discount tiers are built.
- 03
Quote pipeline
Stages, approval steps and the revision structure are defined.
- 04
Dealer and service pipelines
Dealer management and the service process are built.
- 05
Training and go-live
Sales, technical and service teams are trained.
What you end up with
- An end-to-end quote pipeline from RFQ to order
- Versioned quote documents and approval steps
- A product catalogue with customer-specific price lists
- Dealer records and limited-access dealer users
- A service and spare parts pipeline
- Weighted forecasting and stalled opportunity reporting
Features
Related features
The modules we most often roll out alongside this one; they reinforce each other in the same setup.
Quotes and Proposals
Preparing a quote should not start with hunting for the right Word file. We build quote templates that pull straight from deal data, then turn approval and follow-up into a process.
Sales Pipeline
When the pipeline is unclear, nobody knows which deals are moving and which are stuck. We design your stages around your real sales process and make the next step visible on every card.
Service Requests
Whichever channel a service request arrives through, it should land in the same queue with an owner and a deadline. That is exactly how we configure the Bitrix24 Contact Center.
REST API
Bitrix24 is not a closed box. The REST API gives programmatic, scope-controlled access to your CRM entities over standard HTTP; and we design, build and monitor the integration for you.
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Frequently Asked Questions
We have an ERP, will Bitrix24 clash with it?
No, it complements it. The ERP stays on production, stock and accounting; Bitrix24 handles the pre-sales process and the customer relationship. We build the integration so data passes to the ERP once an order is confirmed.
Can we have customer-specific price lists?
Yes. Several price lists can be defined in the catalogue and assigned per customer or dealer. The right list is applied automatically when a quote is prepared.
Can our dealers log in?
Yes. Dealers can be given limited-access users that show only their own requests, orders and statuses. Defined as extranet users they cannot reach internal data.
Can quotes use our own template?
Yes. We design the quote document with your branding, terms and signature blocks. It fills automatically from CRM data and can be signed electronically.
Can the sample process be tracked?
Yes. We define sample handling as its own step: request, preparation, dispatch and customer feedback, with automatic reminders if feedback does not arrive.
Let's configure this around your business
Book a free intro call and we'll walk through your process and show which settings fit you.