What is a request for quote?
A request for quote (RFQ) is the message someone who needs a job done or a product supplied sends to a business, describing what is needed and asking for its price.
The clearer the request, the more precise the quote, and the easier it is to compare the quotes that come back from several businesses: quotes can only be compared when they answer the same request.
What goes in a request for quote
Six parts make a request clear:
- What work or product is needed, and the quantity, area or duration.
- The specifications that matter, or what the price must and must not cover.
- The place, and when the work should start or be delivered.
- What the quote must state: a price per item, tax, how long it stands and how to pay.
- The last day to send quotes.
- Your name and how to reach you.
A ready request for quote template
Copy the template below and replace what is in square brackets:
Dear [business name],
Please send us a quote for [the work or product], quantity [quantity or area], at [place].
The quote should include [specifications or what the price covers], with work starting or delivery on [date].
Please give a price for each item, say whether it includes tax, how long it stands and how to pay, and send it before [date].
For any question: [phone or email]. Kind regards, [your name].
The same request in English and Arabic
For a business that reads Arabic, here are the same lines of the request side by side in both languages:
| In English | In Arabic |
|---|---|
| Dear [business name], | السادة [اسم الجهة] المحترمون، تحية طيبة وبعد، |
| Please send us a quote for [the work]. | نرجو تزويدنا بعرض سعر لـ[وصف العمل]. |
| The quantity needed is [quantity]. | الكمية المطلوبة [الكمية]. |
| Please give a price for each item and say whether it includes tax. | يُرجى ذكر سعر كل بند، وهل يشمل الضريبة. |
| Please send the quote before [date]. | يُرجى إرسال العرض قبل [التاريخ]. |
| Kind regards, | وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام، |
Mistakes that slow replies or weaken the quotes
What most often makes quotes late or hard to compare:
- No quantity or area, so the business has to guess or ask.
- No word on what the price must cover, so the quotes cannot be compared.
- No deadline, so the quotes arrive scattered.
- A different description sent to each business, so the quotes do not match.
For a service business: one link that takes quote requests
Many clients do not know how to describe what they need, so the chat runs long before a quote is written. In Naam you can turn on your business's own "request a quote" link and put it in your social bio or a message: the client writes their name and what they need and answers your profession's own questions, with no phone number or email asked.
After sending, the client gets the request's code and a button that continues the chat on your WhatsApp, and the request reaches your Naam dashboard with a notification. One tap turns it into a draft quote holding the client's name and answers.