This article will help you understand how your company can use sales quote templates and improve your sales effectiveness, maintain high-quality quotations and improve sales.

What Is a Sales Quote?

A sales quote is a document, either prepared and sent electronically or as a paper document to potential clients providing information about services or products you are offering at a specific time and price.

Your sales team may prepare hundreds or thousands of sales quotes every year, depending on the size of your company. Many small business owners spend a great deal of time preparing sales quotes for their potential clients. Streamlining the preparation process for sales quotes can save time and improve accuracy and consistency amongst your sales team.

While sales quotes provide clients with the information they need to decide whether to purchase your services or products or both, they tend to fall into several categories. Many companies will prepare different sales quotes templates to fit each of these types.

• Estimates
• Fixed Price breakdowns
• Request for Quotation (RFQ)

Estimates – in many situations, there are too many variables that can change after the sales quote is submitted. Completion dates, quantities of products or services, and additional requirements may change. The sales quote estimate is based on what is known at the time, and both the client and the provider expect changes to the final price and other milestones based on final delivery dates and quantities.

Fixed Price breakdowns – when all of the details have been nailed down (quantities, prices, labor, and completion dates), a final fixed price sales quote can be provided, which the provider and the client can commit to. If changes do occur, they are usually handled by using Change Orders, which involve additional products or services and additional costs.

Request for Quotation (RFQ) – customers may issue a document providing all of the details concerning a project that includes services, products, completion dates, and other miscellaneous requirements. Based on the RFQ document, the provider will prepare an RFP response or sales quote that meets the requirements of the sender. RFQ responses are often considered fixed price quotes; however, there are provisions for a change order process that can add or remove items from the original RFQ requirements. Each change order is negotiated with the client and the provider, and a price and delivery are agreed to.

RFQ responses are evaluated by the client and ranked based on criteria set by the client. Further discussion, clarification, and negotiation may take place before both parties finalize and sign a contract.

What is a Sales Quote Template?

A sales quote template is a document your sales team can use to prepare sales quotes for their clients. The template should contain common details that find their way into every quotation. In addition, there may be common details saved in a content library that can be added to the quote. Sales quote templates can save a significant amount of time for the sales team, ensuring consistency in the documents and helping meet short deadline RFQ response requests.

Elements that may be included in a sales quote template or document library include:

• Company headings including company name, address, and contact details
• Standard-legal clauses and boilerplate
• Pricing tables for products and services
• Document space to provide details concerning products, services, and milestones
• Signature fields
• Payment options

Essential Elements of a Sales Quote

The sales quote should include the following terms and conditions and major items in every quotation to their clients:

• Introduction
• Company details
• Products and services offered
• Pricing
• Milestones and/or timeframes
• Legal requirements
• Next steps

Introduction – this is your opportunity to introduce your company, products, and services. If you have dealt with the client previously, you can mention your previous relationship and emphasize the successes. Also, describe how your company is an excellent match for the project you are bidding on.

Company details – provide your company’s details, including full address, telephone, and email. Also, identify the primary contact in your company for any questions the client may have. Include a reference to the RFQ if there is one or the project that your sales quote is for.

Products and services offered – provide a detailed list of the products and services included in this sales quote and the quantities included. This section may be the longest and most detailed portion of your sales quote.

Pricing – including the pricing for each item or service offered. You may also decide to offer incentives to complete contract negotiations quickly and get the project started. There may be volume discounts offered or included for large orders. Don’t forget to include any sales tax, environmental taxes, and other taxes that may be required.

Milestones and/or timeframes – your sales quote may include milestone completion and/or delivery dates, assuming a contract or order is placed by a specified date. Often negotiations can take some time to complete. Your milestone completion dates may need to shift if negotiations take more time than anticipated.

Legal requirements – include all of your standard legal documentation appropriate for your company and the products/services you offer. Warranties, payment terms, contract details, and requirements may also be included.

Next steps – be clear about the next steps you and the client must follow to move the sales quote to a sales order or sales contract. You may offer to meet with the client to discuss any details and questions the client may have concerning the information included in the sales quote.

Key Points

A sales quote template can improve the efficiency of your sales process, reducing the time it takes to prepare quotations for your clients. The template also ensures consistency of the information offered to the client, including standard descriptions of products and services, company contact information, and legal inclusions.

A sales quote can be straightforward, listing the products offered, pricing and delivery dates, and terms and conditions. More complex sales quotes may be many pages long, describing detailed product and service information, delivery options, completion milestones, and contract legal requirements.

Responding to a request for a quote from one of your clients usually involves a detailed sales quote to be provided by a specified date. Subsequent steps may include further negotiation of details concerning product delivery, pricing, warranty, etc. The result will be a detailed sales contract with specified terms and conditions, including milestones and start dates.

A professional sales quote improves the chances of your sales quote being accepted and turning into orders from your client. A sales quote with errors and missing information jeopardizes the acceptance of your quote by your clients.