What can be automated in a quote
A quote goes through several steps. Some need your expertise, others are purely repetitive. The idea is to hand over the latter so you keep time for the former.
- Reading the customer’s request (email, website form) and extracting the useful information.
- Spotting what is missing (measurements, address, preferred timing) and drafting a question for the customer.
- Creating or finding the customer record.
- Preparing a draft quote from your price list and your templates.
- Letting you know that a quote is waiting for your approval.
- Politely following up with the customer if the quote goes unanswered.
What stays in your hands
The final price, discounts, special cases and sending. With us, anything that commits your business goes through human approval. The automation prepares, you decide.
Why keep your current software
Changing quoting software means moving your customers, your items, your templates and your habits. It takes time and is often unnecessary. Most quoting and invoicing software lets you exchange data with other tools, by import, export or direct connection.
So the automation sits around your software: it prepares the data, puts it in the right place and lets you finish in the tool you know. If your software allows no exchange at all, there are still options, such as preparing a complete draft that you simply pick up.
The steps to get started
There is no need to automate everything at once. Move step by step, starting with what comes up most often.
1. Identify your repetitive quotes
List the types of request you receive most often. These are the ones to automate first, because their structure is similar from one to the next.
2. Clarify your price list
A tool can only prepare an accurate quote if your pricing rules are written down: unit rates, fixed packages, travel costs, conditions. It is also a chance to tidy them up.
3. Structure your incoming requests
A quote request form on your website, with the right questions, saves a lot of time. The information arrives complete and in the same order.
4. Test on real cases, with approval
For the first few weeks, reread every draft. Note the mistakes, adjust the rules. The tool becomes reliable because you corrected it on your own cases.
An example journey, from message to quote
Here is a fictional example to make things concrete. A joinery business receives a request through its website to fit windows. The message includes the measurements but not the site address.
The automation reads the request, creates the customer record and drafts a short reply asking for the missing address. The owner reads it and sends it. Once the address arrives, a draft quote is prepared from the price list and the usual template, then placed in the existing quoting software.
The owner checks the quantities, adjusts one price and approves. If the customer does not reply after a few days, a polite follow-up is prepared, again subject to approval. The software has not changed: only the copying and chasing have gone.
Mistakes to avoid
A few traps come up often when automating quotes.
- Sending quotes without checking them: a pricing error sent to a customer commits you.
- Automating before clarifying your prices: the tool will reproduce the vagueness.
- Multiplying tools that do not talk to each other: every copy-paste you remove counts.
- Losing control of your data: your customer records and quotes must stay with you, accessible and exportable.
How we can help
Our AI assistant, Aristide, sorts your emails, prepares your draft quotes and follow-ups, and lets you approve before anything is sent. It starts at €79 excl. VAT per month. If your needs go beyond that, we can also build a custom quoting tool, quoted individually from €2,500 excl. VAT. Either way, you keep ownership of your data and your logins.
Before you start, take the free diagnostic of your website: a clear site with a quote form is often the first building block of a well-prepared request. The first 30-minute call is free.