The sales process · Proposal and follow-up
A price on WhatsApp is not a quotation, and it loses to anyone who sends a document.
A quotation is the document stating what you will supply, at what price, on what terms and for how long that price holds. A proposal is a quotation with the reasoning put in front of it. Most small-business sales in India need the first one and not the second.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A quotation is the document stating what you will supply, at what price, on what terms and for how long that price holds. A proposal is a quotation with the reasoning put in front of it. Most small-business sales in India need the first one and not the second.
The buyer asked for a price. He got a WhatsApp message with a number in it and the word inclusive. Two weeks later he cannot remember whether that covered installation, and his accounts person wants to know about the tax. Your competitor sent two pages with a quotation number on them.
This is the most important piece of paper in the whole sale, and most firms do not own a proper one. It gets forwarded to people you have never met. It is read six weeks later, next to two rival quotations, by somebody deciding on what is written rather than on you.
The site visit or the sample gave you the facts to price it honestly. Getting the document right is what turns the follow-up in the next step into a conversation rather than a reminder.
Where this sits
Stage 7 of 10, proposal and follow-up. The meeting where you find out what they need, the quotation you send, and the chasing that decides most of it.
- The stage before
- Sales qualification
- The stage after
- Sales closure
If you want this done for you
The proposal takes three days to write and still gets the price wrong.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“What has to be on it”
A number and a date, so both of you can refer to it later. Your details and theirs, spelled the way their accounts department spells them. A line for each item, with quantity and rate. Tax shown as its own line rather than folded into a total. The total written in words. Delivery counted from a named event, such as the date of the advance or the day drawings are approved. Payment terms, a validity date, and a name with a phone number at the bottom.
“Exclusions settle more arguments than inclusions”
Write what the price does not cover, in plain words, near the top where it will be read. Unloading at site. Civil work and the foundation. Scaffolding. The electrical point within a metre of the machine. Transport past the city limits. Permission from the apartment association. Each of those lines is a row you will not be having in the third week of the job. Hand your last quotation to somebody in your own office and ask what it leaves out.
“Version numbers, because there will be versions”
Mark the first one R0 and dated, then R1, then R2, and say on each what changed from the one before. A buyer comparing your third version against your first with no way to tell them apart will assume the difference is a mistake in his favour. Your own workshop also needs to know which sheet the order was placed against.
“When a proposal is overkill”
A spares order, a repeat job or a standard item needs a clean quotation and nothing more. A proposal earns its pages when the buyer has to sell the decision inside his own company: a six-month contract, a plant modification, anything going to a committee. Then you put the understanding of the problem, the approach, the people and the references in front of the price. Four pages for a routine order slows you down and impresses nobody.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
One locked template
A single file with the layout fixed and the terms block unchangeable, where only the item lines, the dates and the figures are typed fresh each time. A day to build, once somebody has decided what the terms are.
Result: Two salespeople send documents that look like the same company.
A standard exclusions list for each line of work
Collected from every job where somebody argued about who was paying for something. A false ceiling contractor in Indiranagar ends up with a different list from a pump dealer, and both lists grow for a year before they settle.
Result: The argument happens at quotation stage, where it is cheap.
The terms block
Payment stages, delivery, validity, what happens when the buyer's site is not ready, warranty, and the courts your contract names. Written once, read by your lawyer once, then left alone.
Result: Nobody invents a payment term to win a job on a Friday evening.
A quotation register with the numbers in order
Quotation number, date, company, value, validity date, who priced it, who approved it, and status. It is also the list the follow-up step works from.
Result: You can say what value of quotations is open without opening anybody's phone.
Template
Quote tracker
Every quote sent, and what happened to it.
| Customer | Quote reference | Date sent | Value | Decision maker | Follow-up done | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 4, presentation and proposal. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Do we need a proposal or a quotation?
How should GST be shown on a quotation?
How long should a quotation stay valid?
Can we just send the price on WhatsApp?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of proposal and follow-up
Or read the whole sales process in order.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.