The everyday problem
VS
VP of Sales
"A regional dealer sends a request for a quote (RFQ) on 500 units. By the time our rep manually prices it, checks stock, and gets a discount approved, the dealer's already gone to a competitor."
Without an automatic path from quote request to a signed-off price, every discount depends on chasing someone down for approval by phone or email, and closed orders have to be manually re-typed into the finance system.
What good looks like
Discount approvals happen in minutes, not days. Closed orders reach the finance system automatically. Sales leadership can see exactly where the quote process is slow.What you're building
| Record type | Kind | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | Standard (built-in) | The incoming RFQ, from the dealer portal or a forwarded email |
| Contact / Account | Standard (built-in) | The Dealer |
| Opportunity | Standard (built-in) | The Quote-to-Order deal, with line-item quantity and unit pricing |
Business outcome
- Discount approvals happen in minutes, not days — dealers get a firm answer before they shop elsewhere
- Closed orders reach the finance system automatically, with zero duplicate data entry
- Sales leadership can see exactly where the quote process is slow, and fix it
Step-by-step build
Do these six pieces in order. Total time: roughly 35–45 minutes the first time through.
1 Capture the quote request
Connect the dealer portalIntegrations → Webhooks → register an inbound Webhook so an RFQ from the dealer portal creates a Lead automatically.
Or enter it manually from emailIf a dealer emails an RFQ, a rep can create the Lead by hand as a fallback.
2 Open the quote
Convert the LeadCreates the Dealer Account/Contact — see the Lead-to-Cash Trail.
Create the OpportunityAdd "Quantity" and "Unit Price" custom fields on Opportunity for the line-item pricing.
3 Gate volume discounts
Create the approval processSetup → Approval Processes → New Process. Object: Opportunity.
Set the entry conditione.g.
unit_price__c < standard_price_floor__c — any discount below the standard price floor routes for review.Add the approval stepStep 1: Regional Sales Manager. No quote goes out until it's approved.
4 Hand off to fulfillment
Create the workflow ruleSetup → Workflow Rules → New Rule. Object: Opportunity. Trigger: On Update, when Stage = Closed Won.
Set the actionNotification to the Fulfillment team, the instant the deal closes.
5 Sync the order downstream
Register the outbound WebhookIntegrations → Webhooks → new outbound Webhook, triggered on
opportunity.updated when Stage = Closed Won, pointed at your ERP system's endpoint.6 Find the bottleneck
Create the reportReports → New Report. Object: Opportunity. Fields: Sales Rep, Created Date, Close Date.
Add a calculated turnaround fieldSetup → Object Manager → Opportunity → Fields → New Field. Label "Turnaround Days", Type FORMULA:
close_date - created_date.Group and saveGroup the report by Sales Rep, and name it "Quote-to-Close Turnaround Time by Rep".
Day-to-day: sales reps
New RFQ arrivesA Lead appears automatically from the dealer portal.
Price it and submit for approvalConvert the Lead, price the Opportunity, and submit for approval if the discount is below the price floor.
Day-to-day: regional sales manager
Approve discount requestsCheck the Approval Inbox and respond quickly — that's what keeps the dealer from shopping elsewhere.
Day-to-day: fulfillment & finance
Get notified on closeFulfillment sees a notification the instant a deal is marked Closed Won.
No re-typing into the ERPThe closed order syncs to the finance system automatically via the outbound Webhook.
What to try next
Look at the Approval Processes and Reports trails to go deeper on the pieces used here.