Manufacturing

Jul 23, 2025

Quoting Process in Manufacturing: How to Tackle Complexity

The quoting process in manufacturing is a high-wire act. You’re perched on a precariously thin cable of opportunity. Below, the chasm of lost deals and eroded margins yawns wide. In your hands, the quote. Strike the perfect balance between expectations and execution, and you seal the deal.

quoting process in manufacturing

A single misstep—like an irrelevant feature or a pricing error—can throw you off balance and cost you the deal.

Fear not! In this blog, our manufacturing experts share how to strike the perfect balance and transform your quoting process into a magnet for revenue with quoting software for manufacturing.

Manufacturing Quotes

Sales quotes aren’t born from product and service portfolios or price lists. They bloom from understanding your buyer’s needs. Ask insightful, open-ended questions that explore their pain points from their perspective. Prepare a crystal-clear, customized quote that shows your value proposition—and deliver it fast to beat your competition.

Only then can you balance expectations with execution and seal the deal.

Manufacturing Quoting Process

Your buyer needs something. You understand their expectations. You have the perfect product at the right price—and a little discount to sweeten the deal. From here, executing a winning manufacturing quote should be simple.

Or is it? Imagine a high-wire act. Not with glittering costumes—but with spreadsheets, price lists, manual calculations, and pressure to deliver fast.

quoting process explanation example

Manufacturing Quoting Process Challenges

The quoting process in manufacturing is complex and filled with obstacles.

  • Steps One and Two: Complex products and services require deep understanding to configure. Manual pricing from outdated books leads to errors.
  • Steps Four and Five: Most time is spent fixing mistakes instead of approving quotes—driving up internal costs and slowing sales.
  • Steps Seven and Eight: Sluggish turnaround frustrates buyers and pushes them to competitors.

Best Practices for Accurate Manufacturing Quotes

In today’s fast-paced marketplace, delays in quoting can kill deals. Buyers expect prompt responses. Any hesitation raises red flags and drives them to look elsewhere.

So, how do you close more deals despite the obstacles?

Here are best practices to improve your manufacturing quoting:

quoting process 3 steps example

Conquer Complex Quotes 50% Faster

Imagine that tightrope again—but now your product complexity is transparent, your pricing is accurate, and your quotes fly through approvals. All before the buyer can say, “Sold.”

Meet XaitCPQ: the specialist solution for quoting complex manufacturing products and services in minutes.

  • Create error-free quotes with guided selling, auto-calculations, and workflows that remove guesswork.
  • Eliminate rework with accurate quotes that pass approval quickly and reduce cost per quote.
  • Increase revenue with automated upsells and cross-sells that boost deal size.

Unlike other Configure Price Quote software that forces a trade-off between templates and custom code, XaitCPQ tailors functionality to your complex manufacturing needs—making implementation faster and more affordable.

“Using XaitCPQ has significantly eased the workload within Fabtek and improved speed of delivery of compelling quotes to buyers.” – Mike Chesnutt, President at Fabtek

Global manufacturers like Fabtek use XaitCPQ to deliver 100% accurate quotes—replacing errors with accuracy and slow revisions with speed. These two factors help you win more deals and scale with confidence.

Don't let sluggish quoting sabotage your sales. Prioritize responsiveness and ensure your quotes land in your buyer’s hands before your competitors strike.

CPQ software for manufacturing can streamline your quotation process and deliver quotes 50% faster!

Kevin Geraghty is a Configure Price Quote pioneer and co-founder of XaitCPQ, with over 30 years of experience in streamlining sales cycles and enhancing sales processes.

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