QUOTE AUTOMATION FOR DISTRIBUTORS
Quote automation that keeps your price rules in charge
Quote automation means a machine does the repetitive part of quoting so your people do the part that needs judgment. For a distributor the repetitive part is large: read the customer’s request, find every line in the catalogue, look up the customer’s price, check stock, add it up and lay it out on a quote.
Qotora AI automates those steps and stops before the ones that should stay human. Prices come from your catalogue and your rules, never from the AI’s imagination, and a person on your team reviews every quote before it is sent.
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What gets automated, and what a person still decides
The useful question about any automated quoting tool is where it stops. This is where Qotora AI draws the line.
| Step | Done by Qotora AI | Decided by a person |
|---|---|---|
| Read the request | Extracts lines, quantities and units from email, PDF, Excel, photos, text and voice notes. | Checks the lines against the source, which stays visible beside each one. |
| Find the product | Exact hit first, then narrows by family and specifications, then a short list. | Answers the question on any line flagged as unclear. |
| Price the line | Applies the customer’s tier, discounts and margin rules from your data. | Sets the rules, and can adjust a price on the review screen. |
| Check stock | Shows stock for each line from your synced data. | Decides what to do about a shortfall. |
| Handle a gap | Proposes an equivalent from your catalogue: same family, compatible specifications. | Confirms or rejects every substitution. Nothing is swapped automatically. |
| Watch the margin | Warns when a line or the total falls below the floor you set. | Decides whether to go ahead, change the price or hold the quote. |
| Build the quote | Lays out the quote in your own template. | Reviews it and chooses to send. |
On the Team and Network plans Qotora can also draft price requests to your suppliers for lines you do not stock; a person sends them.
A typical request takes seconds to under a minute to prepare once your data is connected. Long PDFs and photos take longer, and your team’s review time is on top.
Why the price comes from your rules, not from the AI
The risk in AI quoting software is a confident wrong number. Qotora is designed so that risk has nowhere to live. The AI reads the request and helps choose between candidate products. The price is then a lookup in your data and the application of rules you defined, done by ordinary code.
- Base prices and customer tiers come from your own catalogue data.
- Discounts, quantity breaks and margin rules are the ones you set, and you decide who can see margins and purchase prices.
- Purchase prices and margins are not sent to the AI model.
- A line or total that falls below your margin floor is flagged before the quote goes out.
- A person can adjust a price on the review screen before the quote is sent; a manual override needs a reason, which is kept.
| Step | Source | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Price for this customer’s tier (tier B) | Your catalogue price list | $9.00 |
| Quantity break: 5% off from 50 units | Your break rule | $8.55 |
| Line for 60 units | 60 × $8.55 | $513.00 |
| Margin check: cost $6.80, floor 18% | Your cost and floor | 20.5%, no warning |
Illustration with sample figures. If the customer also had a standing discount, Qotora would apply the better of the two, not both. Margin on price = (8.55 − 6.80) ÷ 8.55 = 20.5%.
If your own price list is more complicated than this, that is normal. The point is that the complication lives in your data and your rules, where you can see it and change it.
Where quote automation fits in the sales chain
You may have found this page searching for automated quoting, quote-to-order or quote-to-cash software. Qotora covers one stretch of that chain, the front of it.
- A customer request arrives in whatever format the customer prefers. Qotora reads it.
- A quote is prepared and reviewed by your team. Qotora does this.
- The customer accepts and your team enters the order in your own software, as it does today. Qotora does not post orders into your system.
- Delivery, invoicing and payment stay in the software you already run.
That narrow scope is deliberate. It keeps Qotora read-only on your software, easy to start with and easy to judge: the question is whether the quotes it prepares are right.
When automation pays off, and when it will not
Quote automation helps most where requests are frequent, lists are long and the person who knows the catalogue is the bottleneck. A counter that sends a dozen quotes a day from emailed lists and photos has the most to gain. A business with a handful of large engineered quotes a month, each configured by hand, will not.
Getting started
The Counter plan is US$49 for the first month, then US$149 a month, for up to 150 quotes sent per month and unlimited users. Setup is included: our team connects Qotora to your software or imports your catalogue, stock and prices. Team (US$349 a month, up to 500 quotes sent) and Network (US$799 a month, up to 2,000 quotes sent) cover higher volumes.
Frequently asked questions
What is quote automation?
It is software that performs the repetitive steps of preparing a quote: reading the request, finding products, applying prices, checking stock and laying out the document. In Qotora AI a person still reviews and sends every quote.
Can the AI make up a price or change my margin?
No. Prices come from your own catalogue data, and discounts and margins come from the rules you define. The AI reads the request and helps choose products; it does not compute or propose prices.
Does it send quotes automatically?
No. Every quote is reviewed by a person on your team before it is sent. There is no automatic sending.
Does Qotora handle quote-to-cash or create orders in my software?
No. Qotora covers the stretch from customer request to reviewed quote. Order entry, invoicing and payment stay in the software you already run, and Qotora never writes into it.
What happens when the customer’s wording is vague?
The line is flagged with a precise question, for example which grade, length or voltage. You answer it, and the correction is remembered for the next request.
How long does automated quoting take?
A typical request takes seconds to under a minute to prepare once your data is connected. Long documents take longer, times vary with the request, and your team’s review time is on top.
What does it cost?
US$49 for the first month, then US$149 a month on the Counter plan (up to 150 quotes sent per month, unlimited users). Setup is included, with a 7-day money-back guarantee counted from your first quote sent.