Commercial · Full Build-Out

Industrial Parts Distributor

Turn a Quote Around Before the Dealer Shops Elsewhere

A regional dealer sends a request for a quote on 500 units. By the time a rep manually prices it, checks stock, and gets a discount approved, the dealer's already gone to a competitor. Here's how to build the fix.

About & Business Case #

The everyday problem #

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

Implementation #

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".

How to Use #

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.