“Get a Quote” or “Request for Quotation,” you might see such buttons on every website you visit. While some simply just click and get the pricing quote; there are a few who take the road less traveled, which means get the quotation by themselves. So, what do you think is the best way? Let’s find out.
What is a Business Quote?
A business quotation or price quote is a fixed price proposed by a seller for their goods or services and offered to a potential customer that cannot be changed once accepted by the customer. It includes a detailed breakdown of what work is included in the overall price and what factors are contributing to the final pricing such as the taxes, costs for raw material and labor, shipping, etc., along with the situations (if any) that will lead to additional charges. On sending the quotation to the client, the supplier is committing to the proposed price and isn’t expected to waver. The quotation also includes the duration in which the service will be completed or the goods delivered or expiry date, after which the quote will no longer be valid.
Importance of Quotation in Business
Although the prices of certain products or services are fixed or have standard rates, business quotations are considered valuable. Why? It is a document that is sent before the invoice when the order is confirmed, and it gives a clear picture to the customer about the charges, as well as, the changes that may cause the ups and downs in the pricing and duration of the product/service.
A quotation is of extreme importance when there is customization involved in a business as the prices for services or goods are variable or dependent on certain conditions. In short, a well-prepared quote can help convert a potential client into an actual customer when done right.
Getting a Quote V/s Self-service Quotation
With businesses providing quotes to the customers just in a click, hardly do users go for quote hunting by gathering the prices for each all by themselves which is called self-service quotation as it takes a lot of time and effort. Let us understand in detail.
Challenges of Self Service Quotes
Time consumption – There are too many aspects in a business such as manpower, raw materials, technologies used, etc., and finding quotes for each, often takes up a lot of time. In fact, it may take days or even weeks to get quotations from all in order to proceed further. Moreover, after getting a quote you may also have to compare it with the market rate which will further take up your precious time away. Thus, time consumption is a major challenge that one can face while getting quotes by oneself.
Delayed turnover – Since a majority of time will be consumed in getting quotes from multiple sources, the result will get delayed. You may not get expected turnovers, and the end result may also not be satisfactory.
Human errors – There is a huge possibility of human error as the quotation you may receive from the laborers or professionals or other sources may make an error in figures which will affect your time and effort in getting self quotation.
Miscommunication – Another major challenge that can happen in a self-service quotation is miscommunication. The quotes passed on from the company by the time it reaches you may get miscommunicated, and the final pricing you may receive might be something else.
Benefits of Online Quotes
Live pricing – The time and effort that you will spend in researching market prices can be saved, as with live pricing; you will get the quote based on the current market rates. Hence, the worries of being overcharged or fooled will not happen in online quotes as they are priced as per current market value only.
Customized quotes – The pricing of customized products is not fixed as they depend upon a lot of factors. Asking quotation for the customized product becomes easy as you don’t have to struggle to gather costs of the customization and wait for it. The company will do it on your behalf and provide you with all customization rates in detail at a time.
Time & cost-cutting – Getting quotations by oneself is not as easy as it sounds. You have to invest a lot of time and effort for it and waiting for replies from multiple sellers takes even more time which will greatly affect your productivity. While asking for a quotation means you simply have to submit your requirements to one source only, and you will get the answer within a short period of time.
Zero errors – You might have heard the proverb “too many cooks spoil the broth,” similarly when you try to get a quotation from different sources, the chances of errors are more, while in online quotes, it’s zero because you are putting a request to a company who gives you quotation directly without the involvement of any third-party.
Transparency – Getting a quote offline can be risky as there are fraudsters who try to gain profit while providing a quotation or even cheat by giving quotations adding their commission. Hence, online quotes are safer because they are provided directly by the company to the customer and hence there’s transparency in it because they provide a detailed breakup of the costs and charge as per the market rate only.
Final Thoughts
It is clear from the above points that asking for a quotation is safer and easier than trying to get the quotes by oneself as the risks involved in an offline quotation are far more than online ones. Want to experience it? Get a quotation for your printshop software now at Design’N’Buy and you will realize how true the benefits of online quotations are.
