Crafting a Winning Sales Price Quote: 9 Expert Tips

Pricing quotes can strike fear in the heart of even the most experienced sales rep. 

Why? They often mean working with messy documents, sending lots of back-and-forth emails, and relying on designers.

But it is possible to create sales price quotes without the hassle. It doesn’t have to be a chore to create personalized pricing quotes that work at scale.

In this article, we'll teach you how to ditch messy document templates in favor of pricing quote tools that make it easier for you and your prospects to review, adjust, and sign deals.

Plus, we’ve gathered best practices and tips from our very own Lead Account Executive, Andy Sietsema, on sending pricing quotes with Dock.

So, how can you approach pricing quotes in the most efficient, effective way possible?

What is a sales price quote?

A sale price quote (also known as a pricing quote) is a customized pricing offer for a service provided by the seller to the buyer. It can be sent as part of a larger sales proposal or sent on its own after an initial proposal.

Pricing quotes are usually only valid for a certain time period. They may be delivered verbally or in written form, but in this article, we’ll focus primarily on written price quotes.

When potential customers ask for a quote, it means they find your solution valuable and are interested in purchasing it. Whether or not they do decide to purchase is now heavily influenced by what kind of price quote you deliver.

Price quote vs. estimate

What's the difference between a price quote and an estimate?

The terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a real difference: an estimate is a less-detailed approximation provided by the seller in the early stages of negotiation. Think of an estimate as more of a range than a locked-down dollar amount. That way, the client can ensure both parties are in the same ballpark and feel comfortable moving forward in the buying process.

As prospective buyers move down the funnel, they’ll eventually make it to the price quote stage. The price quote itself will provide a specific price tag for the services to be performed. 

Once accepted by the buyer, the price quote is usually more binding. Both parties have agreed to lock in that set price, providing both buyer and seller peace of mind.

What to include in a sales price quote

What are buyers looking for in a price quote?

While you should tailor each pricing quote for each unique business opportunity, there is some common information you should include across all price quotes.

Here are a few standard items you should include in a price quote:

• An overview of the project or services
• Contact information
• (Optional) Pricing or package options
• Itemized prices
• Frequency of pricing (e.g. one-time or monthly)
• Monthly and annual costs (if recurring)
• Subtotal
• Taxes
• Discounts
• Terms and conditions (e.g. payment terms, “valid until” date)

You may also consider adding other sales content like product demos, links to previous calls, case studies, or other information that will help the prospective buyer make their decision.

Price quote best practices

To give your pricing quote the best shot at success, follow these best practices.

1. Send the quote after the prospect is bought in

To avoid sticker shock, it’s best to share a rough pricing estimate early on in the sales process.

“It’s good practice to be upfront about your pricing and provide a range in the beginning. Early in the sales process, start with something like: ‘Typically customers of your size spend around $1,000-$2,000 per year for one of our packages. Is that in line with what you're looking for?’"
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- Andy Sietsema, Lead Account Executive at Dock

However, you should wait to share an official pricing quote until after the potential customer has bought into the product. Once they understand the product’s value and are ready to take the next step, it’s time to begin discussing payment terms.

Another reason to avoid jumping the gun with pricing quotes? Sales quotes should be personalized to the prospect. 

While you can and should share a pricing estimate from the beginning of the sales process, wait on sharing a price quote until you have a better sense of the customer’s needs and what inputs you need to deliver the service. 

For example, which product(s) are they eyeing? How many users do they have? How long of a contract do they want? Getting these details right shows that you understand their needs.

2. Ditch the messy Word docs

This is your chance to show customers what it’s like to work with you. Are your pricing quotes clean, clear, and professional? Or have they been thrown together at the last minute? 

Misaligned Word documents, messy spreadsheets, and other patchwork solutions can create a negative impression of your company.

By using purpose-built pricing quote software like Dock, you can create attractive, professional quotes even quicker than with standard document templates.

3. Use a scalable pricing quote template

Creating and sharing personalized pricing quotes can be tedious and a strain on company resources.

For operational efficiency and scalability, create a price quote template that all of your sales reps can use. If you have different customer segments or product lines, create quote templates for each purpose.

With Dock, your revenue operations team can create company-wide templates that each rep can duplicate for any new prospect. Using a standardized template library, you can ensure all your pricing quotes remain on-brand, informative, and professional without the need for a marketer or designer to step in.

Here's a quick preview of our pricing quote template:

‍👉 Steal our template: To create your own pricing proposals, check out Dock’s free pricing quote template. It only takes a few minutes to create your first quote.

4. Personalize the proposal

Show that you’ve listened to buyers throughout the sales process by providing pricing quotes specific to their needs.

That means avoiding generic-looking pricing quotes. A quote shouldn’t look like it could have been for anyone. And when you use a template, that frees up more time for your team to focus on personalization. That means you can include custom information like:

• Contact names
• Recaps of conversations
• Meeting notes and recordings
• Information tailored to the number of users, product modules, etc.
• Case studies and sales content relevant to the prospect

5. Include options

According to the psychology of choice, people intuitively feel that the more options they have, the higher their chance of finding an option that perfectly satisfies their needs. People feel compelled to choose an option.

While this is mere human perception rather than scientific fact, it’s still a tool you can use throughout the buying process.

For example, for a SaaS product, you may want to show what pricing would look like for each of your pricing tiers. In Dock, you can create a pricing options table to show the pricing differences:

But be cautious of including too many choices—you don’t want to overwhelm buyers.

6. Make pricing dynamic

Sending static PDFs over email is a thing of the past. When you have to make pricing adjustments, it’s hard for the prospect to keep track of the most up-to-date email attachment.

Instead of using fixed PDFs, consider using dynamic pricing quotes, where the customer can modify variables to influence the final price.

For example, with Dock’s pricing tables, the customer can adjust the number of users to obtain a quote specific to their needs:

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Dock even allows you to send a quote to a prospect for immediate signing—no follow-up PDF required.

‍Dock Tip: As the relationship progresses and you get closer to finalizing an agreement, move pricing quotes closer and closer to the top of the workspace.

7. Remind prospects why they want to buy

If you’re sending a sales price quote, it’s because the buyer has already shown genuine interest in your solution. But it doesn’t hurt to nudge their interest along further.

Your quote can do much more than offer pricing information. It can remind buyers of your solution’s value and why they are interested in buying in the first place.

By including your pricing quote in Dock’s digital sales rooms (DSRs), you can show the value of your product by embedding additional sales resources like:

• Mutual action plans
• Case studies (the more specific to the prospect, the better)
• ROI analyses
• Competitor differentials
• Demo videos

A benefit to sending your sales quotes with Dock is that you can gauge the prospect’s interest by tracking their activity in your DSR. Dock’s analytics allow you to see who on your prospect’s team opened your quote, what else they clicked on, and when.

“I recommend sparking conversation around pricing in Dock. This will drive the engagement score on the workspace too, which is essentially the best buying signal for your pipeline.”

- Andy Sietsema, Lead Account Executive at Dock

8. Outline clear next steps

You should make it as easy as possible to say yes to your price quote. You risk letting the deal go stale without a clear call to action. 

That’s why your pricing quote should always include clear next steps, whether that’s getting in contact with someone from your team, passing the quote on to their higher-ups, or simply signing the contract.

In Dock, you can turn your pricing quotes into order forms to make it easier to close deals. 

Once you send your quote, your prospect can sign the contract directly from your workspace—eliminating the typical back-and-forth of accepting a sales quote.

9. Ask for feedback

Lastly, let prospects know you value their input. If the quote isn’t accepted, ask why. 

If any product information is unclear, offer to provide more details, and integrate it into your pricing quote template for the next prospect. This often-forgotten step can set your pricing quote apart and help you seal more deals.

Create sales price quotes that close with Dock

It’s no secret that pricing quotes are a vital part of securing new contracts. But creating them can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.

Tools like Dock’s price quote template are instrumental in helping you construct clean, professional price quotes that close deal after deal—with minimal effort for you and your team.

And with Dock’s Order Forms product, you can create personalized pricing quotes, collect client signatures, and reinforce your value-add in one convenient workspace.

Want to set up your own Dock workspace? Sign up now for a free trial.