AI quoting
AI Quoting: Supplier Prices In, Customer Quotes Out
AI quoting means agents gather what a quote needs and build it for you: they request prices from your suppliers, chase the ones who don't reply, and put the customer quote together from your own prices and templates. You check it and approve it, and it goes out the same day instead of next week.
Why quotes go out late
For a lot of businesses, quoting is the bottleneck. You can't price a job until you have supplier prices. Suppliers take their time. Putting it all together means an evening at the laptop. Meanwhile the customer waits, and the longer they wait, the more likely they are to go elsewhere.
How AI quoting works
1. The details arrive ready
Quoting starts with a qualified enquiry. If an agent has already asked the customer the right questions, the quoting agent has the measurements, photos and details it needs. More on that in AI enquiry handling.
2. Supplier prices in
The agent sends price requests to the suppliers you use, with the details they need to answer. It keeps track of who has replied. If a supplier goes quiet, it chases them, politely and more than once if needed.
3. Customer quote out
With prices back, the agent builds the customer quote using your price list, your margins and your template. It looks the way your quotes always look.
4. You approve
The quote comes to you to check. Approve it, change it, or send it back with a note. Once approved, the agent sends it to the customer and logs it. If you'd like some simple, standard quotes to go out without checking, that's your call.
A real example from my own business
From my own business
My business quotes this way every day. One agent requests supplier quotes, and another builds the customer quotes. The supplier side used to be the slowest part: a string of emails and reminders that someone had to keep on top of.
Now the requests go out as soon as an enquiry is ready, and the chasing happens without anyone having to remember it. When everything is in, the customer quote is built and waiting for approval.
What we need from you
- Your price list, or how you work out a price, including margins and any minimum charges.
- Your suppliers, what you normally ask them for, and how they like to be contacted.
- Your quote template and terms.
- Who approves quotes, and whether any can go out without approval.
If your pricing lives in your head rather than a spreadsheet, that's normal. Part of the setup is getting it written down with you.
Common worries
Quotes come to you before they go out, unless you choose otherwise. The agent works from your prices and rules and doesn't make up figures. Where something doesn't fit the rules, it flags it rather than guessing.
It works best on the parts that repeat: materials, standard labour, supplier prices. Unusual jobs are flagged for you to price yourself, with the details already gathered.
Suppliers get clear, polite requests with everything they need to answer. Most would rather have that than a rushed phone call.
Get your quotes out the same day.
Book a free call. We'll look at where your time goes and whether an agent can take it off you. Pricing follows the call, and there's no obligation.