PlaybookManager1 week · 7 stepsUpdated 1 November 2026
Log every quote request the moment it arrives, give it one owner and a 24-hour deadline, and check twice a day what is still open. Name one person to answer each common blocker: price, capacity and payment terms. A quote promised in chat stays open until it has actually been sent.
Who it is for, and how long it takes
Who it is for
How long
What you need
What you end with
Sales managers, and founders who still sell, where buyers ask for quotes by email, chat or phone.
One week to set up, then two short checks a day.
One list of open quote requests, and a named person for pricing, capacity and payment terms.
Every request quoted within 24 hours or answered with a firm date, and a short list of what usually slows quotes down.
Key takeaways
A quote request is open from the moment the buyer asks, wherever they ask.
Most slow quotes wait on one missing answer: a price, a capacity check or a payment term. Name who gives each one.
A quote is done when it has been sent and the buyer can see it. A promise to send is still open.
Buyers often notice speed before they compare prices. A quote that arrives in two days can lose to a weaker one that arrived the same afternoon. The fix is mostly discipline: one list, one owner per request, and a clock that starts when the buyer asks. None of it needs new software, though software makes the missing requests easier to see.
Worked example. The examples use Vaultex, a safety-footwear manufacturer in Greater Noida and GeniOS's first design partner. The buyers, orders and dates are for illustration only.
PrepBefore you start
Have these in place before Monday, so the week tests the routine.
One shared list with columns for buyer, product, quantity, channel, time received, owner, deadline and status.
The written rule that the clock starts when the buyer asks, in any channel.
Named owners for the three common blockers: material price, line capacity and payment terms.
A current price list for your main products and materials, with the date it was last updated.
Two fixed check times in the owner's calendar, such as 11:00 and 16:00.
A holding reply the team can send when a quote will take longer than a day.
A rough record of how long last month's quotes took, as your before picture.
StepsThe steps
1 week · 7 steps
Decide when the clock starts
The clock starts when the buyer asks, in any channel: an email, a chat message, a call or a remark in a meeting. Write this rule down and share it with sales. At Vaultex, Bata's request for 12,000 pairs of S3 steel-toe shoes arrived in a chat message, so the clock started there.
Put every request on one list
Keep one list of open requests with the buyer, the quantity, the owner, the time it came in and the deadline. A shared sheet is enough. With GeniOS reading email, chat and calendar, a request that was made but never logged reaches the owner as intelligence.
Give each request one owner
One person owns each quote from request to sent. Shared ownership is how a quote waits two days while everyone assumes someone else has it. At Vaultex, Harsh owns the Bata quote.
Name who answers the blockers
List the three questions that usually hold a quote: the material price, the line capacity and the payment terms. Name one person for each and agree they answer within four hours. At Vaultex, the steel toe-cap supplier's 8% price rise goes to purchasing, Line 2 goes to Anushka, and Bata's 60-day terms go to Mayank.
Check the list twice a day
At 11:00 and 16:00, the owner checks what is open and what is due. Anything older than 16 hours gets a nudge to the blocker owner. Anything that cannot be quoted in time gets a reply to the buyer with a firm date.
Send, then confirm it went out
A quote counts as done when it has been sent by email or uploaded where the buyer asked. Check the sent folder before marking it done. GeniOS closes a quote only on proof, so a quote promised in chat stays open until the email shows it went out.
Review the week on Friday
Look at every quote that took longer than 24 hours and write down what held it. After a few weeks one blocker will stand out. Fix that one first, for example with a steel toe-cap price list that is updated every month.
TemplateCopy this holding reply and blocker request
Send the holding reply inside 24 hours when the full quote needs longer. Send the blocker request the moment a quote stalls.
Subject: Your quote request for [quantity] [product]
Dear [name],
Thank you for your request for [quantity] pairs of [product], received on [date]. We are confirming [the one open item, for example line capacity for your delivery window] and will send the full quote by [day and time].
If your quantity or delivery date has changed, reply to this email and we will include it.
[Your name], [role]
Blocker request: "[Blocker owner], I need [the price, the capacity or the terms] for [buyer, quantity] by [time today] to keep the 24-hour quote. The request is here: [link]."
ExampleWorked example: the Bata quote, hour by hour
How a single request might move through the day at Vaultex.
Tuesday 09:40. Bata's sourcing lead asks Harsh in a chat message for a quote on 12,000 pairs of S3 steel-toe shoes. Harsh replies "will send today" and walks into a meeting. With GeniOS reading chat, the request reaches him as intelligence with a deadline of Wednesday 09:40, before he has logged it.
Tuesday 11:00. At the first check the quote has two blockers. The steel toe-cap supplier raised prices by 8%, so the material price is out of date. Line 2 is booked for the Reebok samples due 15 November, so capacity is unclear. Harsh sends the blocker request to purchasing and to Anushka.
Tuesday 14:30. Purchasing confirms the new toe-cap price. Anushka confirms Line 1 can run the order after its current job, so a delivery date is possible.
Tuesday 16:00. The last open item is Bata's request for 60-day payment terms. Mayank agrees the terms to offer and notes that the rest can be discussed at Friday's vendor review.
Tuesday 17:30. Harsh emails the quote: 12,000 pairs at $12 a pair, about $144,000. The item closes only when the sent email shows it went out, eight hours after the request. Friday's 11:00 review now starts from a quote Bata has already read.
MistakesCommon mistakes
Slow quotes usually come from one of these five habits.
Starting the clock at the email. Requests made in chat or on calls wait before anyone logs them. Start at the ask.
Two owners for one quote. Each assumes the other has it. One name per request.
Waiting quietly on a blocker. Send the blocker request with a time, and chase at the next check.
Marking a quote done when it is drafted. Done means sent. Check the sent folder.
Discounting to go faster. Speed comes from answering blockers. A price cut made in a rush is hard to take back.
What good looks like after
Every quote request is on one list within an hour of arriving, whatever the channel.
Each request has one owner and a deadline that anyone can see.
Blocker questions get answered the same day by a named person.
Buyers who cannot be quoted in time hear when they will be, before they chase.
Nothing is marked done until the quote has actually been sent.
The Friday review names one blocker to fix the following week.
If quotes still slip, look at requests made in calls and meetings. They are the easiest to forget and the hardest to find later.
Count quotes or firm dates sent within a day, from the list
Nearly all, within two to three weeks
Hours from request to quote sent
Time received against the time in the sent folder
Falls week by week
Requests that were never logged
Count requests the owner learned about late
Close to none after week one
Buyer chases
Count messages from buyers asking where their quote is
Rare
The top blocker
Read the Friday review note
One named blocker, with a fix underway
Questions
What if a quote really needs more than 24 hours?
Then the 24 hours is for a reply with a firm date. Large or custom orders can take longer, and buyers accept that when they hear it early and the date holds.
Should an agent draft our quotes?
An agent such as a Reply Drafter can draft the cover email and the follow-up once the numbers are agreed. A person checks the price and approves before anything is sent. The pricing decision stays with the owner.
How do we catch requests made on calls?
Ask whoever took the call to add it to the list before the call ends. If GeniOS reads the calendar and meeting notes, a quote agreed in a meeting reaches the owner even when nobody logged it.