What is quoting software?

Quoting software helps you create, send and manage customer quotes. It brings your customer details, prices and quote documents together so you can reuse information instead of entering it again.

DoneQuote adds AI to that process. It gathers details from customer requests and drafts quotes using your services and prices. You review and send the quote, and DoneQuote can remind the customer before the quote expires.

What can quoting software help you do?

A quote explains what you are offering, what it costs and how the customer can accept. Quoting software helps you prepare that information and keep track of the customer's response.

Features vary between tools. Look for tools that let you:

• Reuse customer details. Select an existing customer instead of copying their name and contact information into another document.
• Reuse products, services and prices. Keep a price list and use it when preparing each quote.
• Explain the offer. Include descriptions, quantities, prices, terms and any options the customer can choose.
• Send the quote for approval. Give the customer a way to read and accept it.
• Track the response. See which quotes are awaiting a decision and which need a follow-up.

The price list is often called a catalog. It can contain services, physical products or both. You still decide what belongs on each customer's quote.

When is it useful to switch from Word or Excel?

Word and Excel can be enough when you send occasional quotes and can manage the documents and replies yourself.

Quoting software becomes useful when repeated work takes too much time. Look at how you prepared your last few quotes:

• Did you copy the same customer details or prices several times?
• Did you spend time formatting a document you had already formatted before?
• Was it difficult to find the version the customer accepted?
• Did you need a separate list to remember whom to follow up with?

Consider switching when the software reduces the copying, formatting or tracking you currently do by hand.

How does DoneQuote help you prepare a quote?

DoneQuote covers the process from the incoming request to the customer's decision:

1. Gather the request. A customer can fill in your request form or open a link to an online chat with your AI assistant. The assistant asks follow-up questions to collect missing details.
2. Prepare a draft. Describe the work or use the customer's request. DoneQuote drafts the quote using your business information, services and prices.
3. Review the offer. Check the included work, quantities, prices and terms. For a project, add the work stages and timing. Keep rates for possible extra work separate from the included price. Add attachments or choices where the customer needs them.
4. Send and follow up. The customer receives an online quote they can review and approve without creating an account. DoneQuote records the response and can email a reminder before the quote expires. Turn reminders on in your quote settings and check that the customer has an email address.

For more detail on preparing the draft, read how AI helps you create a quote.

What should you check before choosing quoting software?

Try preparing a quote for work you already understand. Send the test quote to yourself. Check how easy it is to prepare and how it reads to the customer:

• Can you reuse your prices and customer details without retyping them?
• Can you explain the offer clearly, including any options and exclusions?
• Can you review and send the quote from the devices you use for work?
• Is it easy for the customer to ask a question or accept?
• Can you find the accepted version and see which quotes still need attention?

If your main difficulty is calculating the cost of unfamiliar work, also read the difference between estimating and quoting software. The comparison explains which tools help calculate costs and which help prepare the customer quote.