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Quotations and pricing

What should a B2B manufacturing quotation include?

Full specification, quantity and slab, rate with the delivery basis stated, taxes, lead time, validity and payment terms. A quotation missing the delivery basis or the validity is the one that gets argued about after the order.

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In short

Full specification, quantity and slab, rate with the delivery basis stated, taxes, lead time, validity and payment terms. A quotation missing the delivery basis or the validity is the one that gets argued about after the order.

Most disputes trace back to something the quotation left implied. Whether the rate was ex-works or delivered. Whether the lead time started from the order date or from drawing approval. Whether the rate still held six weeks later.

A standard template removes the argument. Each product family carries its own specification fields, so the buyer sees exactly what will be made, and your plant sees exactly what it committed to.

Validity deserves particular attention in a market where raw material moves weekly. State it, and hold to it.

  • Specification in typed fields, not a paragraph.
  • Rate, slab and delivery basis together.
  • Lead time with its starting point defined.
  • Validity and payment terms in writing.

Related questions

What is a price book and why does a plant need one?

A price book is the approved rate for each product by customer class, region, quantity slab and delivery basis. Without one, the rate depends on who answered the phone, and margin leaks quietly and permanently.

How do you stop salespeople quoting below the approved rate?

Make the approved rate the default in the quotation and route anything below it through an approval before the document can be sent. Discipline written in a policy is ignored; discipline built into the button is not.

How do you write a specification the shop floor can actually build?

Use typed fields per product family instead of free text: grade, size, coating, tolerance, finish, packing, marking. A sentence describing the job is interpreted; a filled template is executed.

How quickly should a quotation go out after an enquiry?

Standard items should be quoted the same working day; items needing a feasibility check should have a committed date communicated the same day. What loses orders is not a two-day quotation, it is two days of silence.

System of Marketing & Sales

Put enquiry to dispatch on one governed line.

Tell us how your plant sells today. We'll show you where the line breaks and what it takes to close it.

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