How to Write a Quote From an RFQ Price every line. Check every PO.

An RFQ (request for quote) asks you for a price on a defined list of items or a defined scope. The buyer already knows what they want. They want your price, lead time and terms.

Mining services suppliers mostly see RFQs: a buyer at a site or contractor emails a list of parts, often from their ERP, and wants a price back fast. Speed matters, but so does accuracy. A fast quote at the wrong price either loses the job or wins it at a loss.

There are nine steps. Do them in order every time, even on small RFQs. The small ones are where shortcuts become habits.

1. Log it. Record the customer, RFQ number, date received, due date and the buyer's contact. If you cannot find an RFQ in a week's time, you cannot follow it up.
2. Read the whole RFQ. Including the attachments and the terms. Look for the delivery point, required date, the buyer's terms and conditions, and whether partial quotes are accepted.
3. Confirm every line. Part number, description, quantity and unit of measure. Check for superseded part numbers and for lines where the description does not match the part number. Ask the buyer if anything is unclear.
4. Price each line from your price book. Start from your current cost, apply your target margin for that customer and product type, then compare against the last price you quoted this customer for the same part.
5. Confirm lead time. From stock, or from your supplier. Do not promise a date your own supplier cannot meet.
6. Add freight and other charges. State whether freight is included or separate and where delivery is to (your yard, Perth depot, or site).
7. State your terms. Prices ex GST or inc GST, payment terms, quote validity (for example 30 days), delivery terms, warranty, and any exceptions to the buyer's terms.
8. Review and send. A second person checks totals and margin on anything above your threshold. Send it in the format the buyer asked for, with their RFQ number on it.
9. Check the PO when it arrives. Price, quantity, part number, delivery and terms must match your quote before you order or ship anything.

Margin is profit as a share of the sell price. Markup is profit as a share of cost. Mixing them up is one of the most common ways suppliers underprice.

If your business plan says "25% gross margin" and your estimator adds 25% to cost, every quote is 5 points short. On a busy quoting desk that adds up quickly. Pick one, write it at the top of the price book, and use the formula every time.

Here is a four line RFQ priced with made up costs and margins. Sell price per unit is cost divided by (1 minus margin), rounded to the cent. Freight is passed through at cost.

Check one line by hand: $142.00 / (1 minus 0.28) = $142.00 / 0.72 = $197.22. Times 12 is $2,366.64.

Total cost including freight is $6,864.50, so gross profit is $9,362.54 minus $6,864.50 = $2,498.04, a blended margin of 26.7% on the whole quote (27.8% on the parts alone). That is the number to look at before you send, not just the line margins.

Under the table, state the terms in plain words:

• Prices in AUD, ex GST unless shown.
• Quote valid for 30 days from the date of issue.
• Lead time: lines 1, 3 and 4 ex stock; line 2 two weeks from order.
• Delivery to site included as a separate line.
• Payment terms as per your account terms, or state any exception to the buyer's terms.

Because the PO is the contract, not your quote. If the buyer keys the PO with a different price or quantity and you ship against it, you have accepted their numbers.

Continuing the example, the PO comes back like this:

None of these is unusual. Buyers retype POs from quotes, copy from old POs, or use the last price in their system. Catching it before you ship is a two minute phone call. Catching it after you invoice is a credit note and a slow payment.

The biggest mistake is quoting from memory instead of from a price book. Memory drifts, costs move, and two estimators end up quoting the same customer two different prices for the same part.

• Not checking the last price quoted to this customer. A big jump with no reason loses the job. A big drop teaches the customer to expect it.
• Confusing margin and markup. See the table above.
• Missing superseded part numbers. The RFQ has the old number, your supplier ships the new one, and the site rejects it.
• Not stating validity. A quote with no expiry can be held against you months later after costs have risen.
• Ambiguous GST. Always say ex GST or inc GST on every price.
• Ignoring the buyer's terms. If you cannot meet a term, say so in the quote. Silence usually means acceptance.
• Freight as an afterthought. Site delivery to remote WA locations can wipe out the margin on a small order.
• No follow up. Log every RFQ so you know your win rate by customer and can chase the ones that went quiet.
• Not checking the PO. Covered above. It is the single cheapest check in the whole process.

A simple quote template plus a price book table gets you most of the way. The price book is the bit that matters.

1. Price book table: part number, superseded by, description, unit of measure, current cost, supplier, lead time, target margin, last quoted price and date per customer.
2. Quote template: paste the RFQ lines, then look up cost with =XLOOKUP([@PartNo], PriceBook[PartNo], PriceBook[Cost], "NOT FOUND").
3. Sell price: =ROUND([@Cost]/(1-[@Margin]),2). Line total: =[@Sell]*[@Qty].
4. Flag big moves: compare sell price with the last quoted price and highlight anything more than 10% different (or whatever band suits you) for a second look.
5. Blended margin check: =(SUM(LineTotal)-SUM(LineCost))/SUM(LineTotal) at the bottom of every quote.

Most supplier ERPs can store cost, sell and customer pricing. The weak points are the same everywhere: keeping cost current, handling superseded parts, and finding the last price quoted when it lives in an old email.

Quote Desk reads RFQ emails and drafts the quote from your own price book. It checks every PO that comes back against the quote (price, quantity, part and terms) before anything ships. A person reviews and approves every quote and every flag. The AI never sends anything on its own.

• Your price book, built from your own history, so each draft line shows your cost, your margin and the last price you quoted that customer, with a link back to the quote or invoice it came from.
• Draft quotes in minutes, with superseded parts and unclear lines flagged for you to check.
• PO checking that catches the three problems in the example above before you order or ship.
• Prices calculated with deterministic maths. The AI reads the RFQ and explains; it does not invent prices.

It is built inside your own Microsoft 365 or Google account, with an Australian hosted database you own, and has read only access to your source data. For a sense of what we can do with a supplier's own documents, see the Perth mining parts supplier case study, where 13 PDFs became 35,268 searchable pages.

The first step is a free 15 minute call with Tristan, or send a quick enquiry if you would rather write. No obligation and no pitch. He asks how you quote now and what is costing you, then tells you straight whether Quote Desk is worth it for you. Work is charged at a consulting day rate. The price depends on your systems, your price data and what you want built, so you talk first, then Tristan sets out what he would build, how many days it takes and what it costs. An engagement runs like this:

1. A free 15 minute call. What you run, and what is costing you.
2. A look at a sample export of your data, only if it is useful. Read only.
3. A clear scope and price, based on the days the work needs.
4. The build inside your systems.
5. Run, check and support.

See Quote Desk for mining suppliers.