Businesses that havecomplicated pricing models or offer customized products and services greatly benefit from using Request for Quotation (RFQ). It is a document asking the store owners to tell you how much they would charge for something you want to buy, so you can decide where to get the best deal. Whether you're an established online retailer, a budding startup, or an ambitious entrepreneur, mastering the art of creating a successful RFQ is crucial to your success.

How to create a successful Request for Quote? Let's find out the 2 easy steps to success through this blog.

Businesses that havecomplicated pricing models or offer customized products and services greatly benefit from using Request for Quotation (RFQ). It is a document asking the store owners to tell you how much they would charge for something you want to buy, so you can decide where to get the best deal. Whether you're an established online retailer, a budding startup, or an ambitious entrepreneur, mastering the art of creating a successful RFQ is crucial to your success.

In this blog, we will explore the two key factors that can make all the difference in your RFQ journey: trust and professionalism. 

Key factor #1: Trust

E-commerce is a high-risk landscape. To make a buying decision, customers need to carefully consider many factors. Consequently, as an e-commerce seller, establishing trust becomes crucial. For businesses that deal with custom products or services that have no fixed pricing, this is even more important. Because customers might feel confused and not safe if the price is unclear. With businesses that have the above traits, the Request for Quote (RFQ) process is a critical stage in the customer journey where trust can be fostered. 

Why is trust important?

Imagine you as a customer, browsing the website to find a gift for your lovely mom for her birthday. You already have what you want to buy in mind, but now the problem arises, the website selling it looks unsafe. The product has no review, and the price is hidden. Will you buy it confidently without any fear of getting scammed? I doubt that.

You should not ignore the importance of trust in your eCommerce business. Why? Because:

1. Trust increases the conversion rate:Trustworthy e-commerce businesses are more likely to convert RFQs into actual sales. The more sales you make, the more revenue you get.
2. Trust reduces risk:Businesses that use RFQs often deal with complex, high-value transactions. Trust reduces the perception of risk for both parties, making customers more comfortable with making larger purchases.
3. Trust creates repeated buyers:Satisfied customers are more likely to return for repeat purchases. 
4. Trust improves negotiation: Trust can facilitate smoother negotiations during the RFQ process. When both parties trust each other, they are more willing to collaborate, leading to mutually beneficial agreements.
5. Trust creates better relationships with Suppliers:Trust is not limited to customers; it also extends to your suppliers. Suppliers are more likely to offer favorable terms and pricing when you have a reputation for reliability. This can lead to cost savings and improved product availability.
6. Trust makes business growth: Ultimately, trust can lead to business growth. Satisfied customers, positive reviews, and strong relationships can attract more customers and opportunities, leading to expansion and increased revenue.

Key factor #2: Professionalism

Imagine you need a laptop on a tight budget. You find a website selling it but hiding prices, so quote requests are necessary. The process was unprofessional, and filled with errors and delays. Buying a whole new laptop is a big decision that needs to be carefully considered. Will you easily choose to spend such a big amount of money on a firm that lacks professionalism? That’s why professionalism is important in building trust!

How to Build Trust and Professionalism with RFQs

1.Understanding the process of Request for Quote:

John, a potential customer, found your website. He wants to have a customized pen to give his beloved mom. Then, John filled out a quote form. He shared his dream pen's details, budget, and timeframe. Your team carefully reviewed his request and created a customized quote with different pricing options. Excitedly, you sent the quote to John via email. You continued to communicate through email, answering his questions and finding common ground. Together, you embarked on a journey to create his perfect pen.

Through John’s story, we can tell the typical RFQ process involves several key steps:

• Get quote details:Customer fills out a quote form on your website. This provides their requirements, budget, timeframe, and contact details.
• Prepare & send quote:The RFQ is reviewed, and a customized product/service quote with pricing options is emailed to the customer for their review and potential acceptance.
• Follow-up:Communications continue between the customer and sales rep via email to finalize any questions and reach an agreement.

2. Where's the space for professionalism and trust-building?

At every step, there is a great chance to demonstrate the professionalism of your business and gain trust. Our aim is to provide thorough guidance through this blog, so let's explore together how to make the most of each small step. 

Step 1: Get Quote details

The first meeting is crucial for making a good impression. If John can't figure out how to tell you what he needs, he might quickly lose interest. Typically, you can place contact information where it's easy to find, so customers can reach out to you. However, customers will appreciate it if you make the process more straightforward. Using advanced methods not only makes it more convenient for customers to send you a quote but also makes it easier for you to handle all the requests. And after all, a more professional image will be created in your customer’s mind.

So what are the advanced ways that we are talking about?

• Request a Quote Button: Add a "Request a Quote"button on product pages for quick access to a quote request form.
• Dynamic Pricing Tool: Use a tool that shows real-time price changes as customers choose options, allowing them to request a quote based on their preferences.
• Built-in form:Include short customizable quote request forms directly on product/category pages for one-click convenience.
• Chatbots and AI Assistants: Implement chatbots or AI assistants for guidance and collecting information when customers request a quote.

Step 2: Prepare & Send Quote

Now that you know what John needs, your duty is to review the Request or quote (RFQ) and prepare the customized pen that John asked for. Then, offer him the  During this process, by going above and beyond the basics, this is a great opportunity to showcase your business's professionalism. 

• Timeliness: Once you receive the RFQ, quickly let the customer know you got it and that you're checking it. If you have any questions about it, ask right away. Sending an instant confirmation message after form submission is crucial. To automate this task, use a tool that automatically sends confirmation emails to customers. This eliminates the need for manual email sending and the constant monitoring of your inbox for new requests.
• Attention to Detail: Even a tiny mistake, like getting the quantity or customer name wrong or making a typo, can make your business seem unprofessional.
• Customization: Make sure to offer your customer a high level of service by providing personalized options or solutions to their demand.
• Presentation: Presenting the quote in a visually appealing and well-organized format showcases professionalism. Using a consistent and branded template, including the company logo. If you use an application for this quoting process, there are many templates for you to choose from.

Step 3: Follow-up communication

Throughout the RFQ process, John has already shown a strong commitment to you. Now, it comes to the stage where you and John talk together to reach a consensus. However, it's important not to lose your focus at this point. During this process, you are closer to the end point of having the final deal and getting the revenue. By maintaining a professional approach, you can secure an enticing offer and potentially gain a loyal customer. Now, in this final stage, what should a professional business do?

• Flexibility & Problem-solving: Be open to your customer’s specific requests or modifications to the quote. With any challenges, approach with a problem-solving mindset.
• Written communications: Ensure proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Avoid slang and informal language. Maintain a well-structured, easy-to-read email. Address the customer respectfully and professionally.
• Be transparent: Once you have reached an agreement, be sure to put it in writing. This will help to avoid any misunderstandings down the road.

The bottom line

A successful Request for Quote brings you the dream revenue and more potential loyal customers. To achieve that, trust and professionalism are absolutely the keys to opening the door to success. For businesses dealing with custom products and hidden pricing, earning your customers’ belief and showcasing your professionalism is even more important. 

Maintaining a professional and trustworthy image is not easy. It requires experience, time, and effort. To make it simpler, you can use advanced tools like a user-friendly "Request a Quote" button and a quote management system. These tools simplify the process, help you pay attention to detail, and maintain transparent communication with your customers. One tool that can make your work easier while still being professional isQuote Snap - Request a Quote, Hide Price. If you're interested, you can request a demo or sign up now to see the amazing benefits for yourself. We guarantee you'll be pleased with the results!

Sending your customers a poorly-crafted order confirmation email - or, even worse, not sending them one at all - can lose you sales and loyal customers. On the flip side, a great confirmation email can instill trust in your brand and even incentivize customers to make further purchases.

But what makes an effective order confirmation email? Before we let you in on the secret ingredients, let’s quickly discuss what an order confirmation email is and why your eCommerce business needs one.

What is an order confirmation email?

An order confirmation email is essentially a digital receipt that is sent to a customer after they’ve purchased at an eCommerce store. This type of transactional email verifies basic, individualized information like the order number, purchase cost, itemized product information, and shipping details.

Why order confirmation emails are so important for eCommerce businesses

No eCommerce purchase is complete without an order confirmation email. They are essential to your customer’s online shopping experience for three main reasons. 

They reassure your customer

If your customer makes a purchase and doesn’t receive an order confirmation email, they’re going to worry that something went wrong with their order.This isn’t something you want if you’re running a trustworthy, legitimate eCommerce business. Not only will customers flood your phone line with anxious calls, but they might leave negative reviews and be put off from making repeat purchases. 

Automated order confirmation emails reassure your customer that their order was processed properly and is in your capable hands. And by providing them with estimated shipping details, they can stay in the know as to when their order is expected to arrive.

They provide customers with a point of reference

Your order confirmation email should include not just your customer service telephone number, but your email, live chat, and otherchat commerce details. This provides customers with a central point of reference for contacting your customer service team. And, with their order number, order date, and itemized list of products to hand, customers can give your team the information they need to resolve any issues quickly and efficiently. 

They can be used to upsell and cross-sell

Did you know that order confirmation emails have an open rate of56%? They’re the second-most opened type of email after shipping confirmation emails. Promotional campaign emails have the lowest open rate at 14%.

These high open rates can be used to your advantage. At the bottom of your confirmation email, you can promote other products that your customer may be interested in based on the items they just purchased. Customers are more likely to see these recommendations and, being so hyper-personalized, are more likely to convert. 

Things you need to include in an order confirmation email

There are a few key details that customers will expect in an order confirmation email. 

There are a few key details that customers will expect in an order confirmation email. 

Order Summary

All of the products ordered by your customer should be itemized in their confirmation email. 

Here are some things you’ll want to include:

• Product names
• Units
• Sizes
• Colors
• Pictures of the ordered product/s
• Per-item prices
• A full cost breakdown (including discounts, shipping fees, tax, etc)

Order number

Your customer’s unique order number is what they’ll reference if they need to contact your customer support team about their order. Therefore, it’s critical that this number is clearly identifiable in their confirmation email. 

Payment details

What bank card did the customer use? What date did they make the transaction? What is their billing address? Enable customers to quickly reference these details by including them in the confirmation email.

Shipping details

Customers don’t like to be left in the dark when it comes to shipping. Ease their uncertainty (while increasing their opinion of your brand) by giving them as much shipping information as you can. Try to provide:

• The name of the carrier shipping the delivery
• The shipping method (for example, standard delivery, express delivery, or one-day delivery)
• Shipping address 
• Estimated shipping date
• Estimated delivery date

While you’ll still send ashipping notification email later on, including shipping estimations in your initial email is a great way to assure your customer that their order is in professional, reliable hands.

Customer support contact details

Think about it - a customer who is already experiencing an issue with their order is only going to grow even more annoyed if they have to hunt for your contact information too. This is why it’s critical for order confirmation emails to include all of your customer support contact details.

If you’re a B2B eCommerce business, there may be other essential information that you need to add. For example, you might include additional payment terms or signed legal documents. To avoid sending lengthy emails, why notmerge PDF documents into one file and send the order confirmation details over as an email attachment?

Tips and best practices for order confirmation emails

So, what’s the secret to creating an effective eCommerce order confirmation email? The truth is, there isn’t just one singular, revolutionary solution - there are many! And best of all, they’re super easy to implement.

Here are some best practices to help you drive optimal results from your order confirmation emails.

Send confirmation emails as soon as the order is made

A swift confirmation email eases your customer’s post-purchase anxiety, reassuring them that everything is OK with their order. It simultaneously establishes your eCommerce store as professional, reliable, and credible, which is essential for building customer trust.

Ensure that customers receive their confirmation email no more than a few minutes post-purchase. This is easily achieved with an email automation tool. 

Write a clear and engaging subject line

If you thought order confirmation emails didn’t need strong subject lines then think again. They might have high open rates, but they can still get lost in the clutter. Ensure that your customers open your email as soon as they receive itandare able to locate it for future reference with a simple-but-effective subject line. 

Remember to:

• Keep your subject line clear and simple: For example, “Your [business name] order confirmation”. 
• Stay within the character limit: For example, “We’ve received your order” or something equally short and to the point.
• Personalize it with your customer’s first name: “For example, “Thank you for your recent order, [customer first name]”.

Say “thank you”

You’d thank a customer for making a purchase if they were in your physical store, right? So it makes sense to thank them when they purchase from your eCommerce store, too. 

Shipping details

Customers don’t like to be left in the dark when it comes to shipping. Ease their uncertainty (while increasing their opinion of your brand) by giving them as much shipping information as you can. Try to provide:

• The name of the carrier shipping the delivery
• The shipping method (for example, standard delivery, express delivery, or one-day delivery)
• Shipping address 
• Estimated shipping date
• Estimated delivery date

While you’ll still send ashipping notification email later on, including shipping estimations in your initial email is a great way to assure your customer that their order is in professional, reliable hands.

Customer support contact details

Think about it - a customer who is already experiencing an issue with their order is only going to grow even more annoyed if they have to hunt for your contact information too. This is why it’s critical for order confirmation emails to include all of your customer support contact details.

If you’re a B2B eCommerce business, there may be other essential information that you need to add. For example, you might include additional payment terms or signed legal documents. To avoid sending lengthy emails, why notmerge PDF documents into one file and send the order confirmation details over as an email attachment?

Tips and best practices for order confirmation emails

So, what’s the secret to creating an effective eCommerce order confirmation email? The truth is, there isn’t just one singular, revolutionary solution - there are many! And best of all, they’re super easy to implement.

Here are some best practices to help you drive optimal results from your order confirmation emails.

Send confirmation emails as soon as the order is made

A swift confirmation email eases your customer’s post-purchase anxiety, reassuring them that everything is OK with their order. It simultaneously establishes your eCommerce store as professional, reliable, and credible, which is essential for building customer trust.

Ensure that customers receive their confirmation email no more than a few minutes post-purchase. This is easily achieved with an email automation tool. 

Write a clear and engaging subject line

If you thought order confirmation emails didn’t need strong subject lines then think again. They might have high open rates, but they can still get lost in the clutter. Ensure that your customers open your email as soon as they receive itandare able to locate it for future reference with a simple-but-effective subject line. 

Remember to:

• Keep your subject line clear and simple: For example, “Your [business name] order confirmation”. 
• Stay within the character limit: For example, “We’ve received your order” or something equally short and to the point.
• Personalize it with your customer’s first name: “For example, “Thank you for your recent order, [customer first name]”.

Say “thank you”

You’d thank a customer for making a purchase if they were in your physical store, right? So it makes sense to thank them when they purchase from your eCommerce store, too. 

Add a quick thank you note in your order confirmation email to let your customers know that you appreciate their support.

Incentivize future purchases

Customers who’ve already made a purchase with your business are more likely to make another one. However, this isn’t a guarantee. Slipping a discount code or voucher into your customer’s order confirmation email makes for a nice loyalty-stimulating surprise, showing your customers that you value their support from the get-go. 

To maximize the results of this incentive, add an expiration date to the discount. This creates a sense of urgency that will prompt your customers to make repeat purchases faster.

Provide further opportunities for engagement

Discounts aren’t the only way to convert a recent buyer into a loyal customer. You can also use your order confirmation email to subtly suggest engagement opportunities. 

For example, you could add your social media handles and invite customers to connect with you on their favorite channel. You could also ask them to subscribe to your mailing list, take part in a survey, join your loyalty program, or any other connection opportunity you have available.

With that being said, make sure that your confirmation email doesn’t turn into a promotional email. Transactional details should be the primary focus, with any promotional or engagement information included discreetly at the bottom of the email. 

Be consistent with your branding

If you neglect consistent branding in your post-purchase communications, you risk coming across as inauthentic.You may even deter buyers from becoming repeat customers. To prevent this, ensure that your transactional emails match the style and tone of your website,social media commerce channels, promotional emails, etc.

Infuse your order confirmation email with brand identifiers like on-brand colors and images. Inject your brand voice into the email too (because who said transactional emails have to be dull?). Whether your brand’s voice is one of witty humor, charming one-liners, or rugged bravado, you can weave it into your transactional emails to make your personality shine. 

Just take a look at this example by Postable. Not only is their email design visually on-brand, but they also convey their brand’s fun, sarcastic humor with their “viva snail mail” quip.

If you’ve noticed that consistent branding is something you struggle with across your business, it may be worth composing a commercial proposal to tackle this problem head-on. It may be that you need to create an internal knowledge resource (like a brand book) or liaise more closely with your marketing team to perfect your brand voice.

Wrapping up

An order confirmation email isn’t something that you can just slap together in a matter of minutes. If you want to create a confirmation email that reassures customers, instills brand trust, and nurtures customers to brand loyalty, you need to include several key ingredients.

Make sure your order confirmation email has all of the information your customers might need, from their order number to shipping, payment, and contact details. Take advantage of the high open rates by subtly promoting engagement, and infuse your emails with your authentic brand voice and consistent brand style.

And last but certainly not least, don’t forget to say thank you!

Email spam filters can be unpredictable. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don’t. A simple trick to prevent Quote notification emails from landing in your spam folder is to add your own email address/staff email address to yourContacts. But sometimes that’s not enough, especially when yourinbox is constantly flooded with new email alerts.

What is B2B business? B2B is a familiar industry term used in business and is growing strongly with e-commerce. Today let’s discover the definition of B2B and what marketing trends of B2B business models in 2022.

Are you considering using Hide Price for your business? Is it good for your business or does it have side effects? 
Let’s take a brief about Hide Price and understand the true benefits Hide Price can do to your business. 

What is Hide Price? 

As anyone knows in eCommerce, every product has an individual page andthe price will display on both sides of the product page and collection page. It also appears in the Search Tab, Recently Viewed Product (etc) if available. 

The name speaks for itself, Hide Price is the action of making a product’s price disappear and preventing customers from viewing this information when they are shopping in your online store. Instead of getting the product price in your store, customers need to contact the seller for a quotation via email, text, or phone call. 

Is it important to use Hide Price for your business? 

Hide Price is currently still a debatable topic for businesses. Whether an online store should use this Hide Price strategy or not since if your potential customer can’t find the price and contact you might end up wasting your time and increasing your customer acquisition costs. 

So the question is: Is Hiding product Prices totally bad for your business? 

“NO” for the answer. There is a Psychology Behind The Hiding Prices Online you should know. 

To understand the true benefits of Hiding Price can bring to your business. Let’s take a look at the next section:

3 Benefits of Hiding Price for B2B & B2C Business

• Raising the Curiosity of Potential Customers. 

In the list of your products displayed with the public price, there are some products with hidden prices that can increase customers’ curiosity. They will contact you to ask for the price to buy more if possible while buying another product activated price. 

No need to hide all product prices or hide only the best seller's product. They might be the range of products needed to be sold or have customization options. In some cases, it works for some products that are very large and expensive and can’t simply be bought online ( for example, a $20,000 commercial pizza oven). 

• Avoid unfair competition from Rivals.

There are plenty more fish in the sea, Showing Prices in your store creates an opportunity for other companies to steal your potential customers and compete directly with the same product. Especially for something which is economically volatile. 

For example, your whole team makes an effort to do price research and ends up with a fantastic price strategy for wholesale: $10 per item if customers buy with a quantity of more than 1000-2000, $5 per item for more than 2000. Everything seems going well with your business until another store sees your attractive plan and decides to jump in. They even afford lower prices than yours and have a competitive policy to attract customers. Noticing that the store has a better deal, your customer decides to make a change and then you suffer a lot of loss. 

That's a pity for our whole team effort. So should you reconsider using Hide Price or not? 

• Building Better Engagement for your Business. 

There are a lot of ways to collect customers’ information for Marketing. And Hide Price is a great way to build and increase customer relationships you should know. 

For example, a customer stops by your website and takes a free tour of the product. If the product fulfills their expectations and needs, the next big question which comes through their mind is “Can I afford this product?” and then they will take a look at the price right away. If their wallet does not allow it, they will stop buying the product and leave without any information.

What’s a waste if you lose communication with potential customers in the first place of sale? 

This time, you should know how to motivate this type of customer to directly and actively contact you. Not only get their contact information for the next sale campaign but this time you can also increase the customer’s desire of owning this product or put into their consideration purchases by using Hide Price. 

There are some exceptions to some cases and depending on your business. However, if you're selling such products publishing the prices does not make sense, Hiding the price will primarily benefit the working of your business. 

Hiding the price with the visitor (retailer) but showing the price to current customers having an account (wholesaler) is more than a smart idea. 

If you are currently using Shopify to build your online store, a plug-in like Request a Quote - Hide Prices is a stand-out choice to go and help you with exactly what you are looking for: 

• Hide Prices for which customer type you want to set up by using the Customer Rule option. (for example, not logged-in customers)
• Hide Prices for all categories. 
• Enable the Quote Button and disable the Add to Cart Button, and Hide Price as well. 
• Showing the Quote Pop-Up Form for customers to fill in. 
• Create Draft Orders Automatically sent along with the quotation to your customer. 

To have an easy path to grow your business more and more, Hide Prices with our plug-in is easier than ever to work perfectly with what you are expecting. No more code - permanently hide product prices!
Just check it out to have 14 free trials for outstanding experiences with Request a Quote ‑ Hide Prices

Bargaining online is not a familiar term for every buyer but by giving a chance that customers can ask for a better price, sellers can raise their customer’s interest and meet the customer’s expectations in a professional way. 

Among one of four factors in marketing mix, which includes price, place, product, and promotion, it is undeniable to say that price is a considerable factor, however, showing the cheapest price is not always good to stay competitive, especially if sellers would like to serve various customer’s classifications. That’s why sellers can think about using request a quote as a main button on their store, to hide prices and allow customers to send a request for pricing. 

Selling on E-Commerce does not only mean a business sells to a customer, however, it is also an ideal place for a merchant to look for B2B buyers, a profitably long-term relationship that attracts any sellers. Request a Quote app has updated a new feature that lets B2B stores empower salesmen to solve customers' quote requests, manage with their messages and finally generate happy customers. 

It’s not always a right approach to leave the product prices showing on your E-commerce store. Your customers might like the transparency, however, price is not the only element to decide. By hiding the price, retailers are getting a bigger gain in sales. Let’s explore the psychology behind in the next part of the article. 

The idea of getting a Request a Quote button is to deliver the most pleasant experience to the customers who have different requests and preferences on specific products of an online store. The customers can place an order without having to check out or get a call with the sales department to negotiate the price before they complete the purchase. 

It might be a simple case if the customers are satisfied with your product variants and price then go straight to check out. However, a lot of customers would like to check their preferred features of products before they buy, especially the B2B customers. 

There are some of scenarios that you can think about to add a Request a Quote button in your store: 

1. The product quantity

If the customers buy the product with a big amount, they would prefer you have a competitive price.

2. The type of customer

To provide a better customer service, you can offer a better price for repeat customers to keep your long-term relationship with them, or a competitive price with a new customer to attract them.

3. The product customization

Some of your products might allow the customers to customize based on their preference to make this unique or your product depends on the raw materials.

4. Upon-order product 

If your products are not ready-made, you could not set the standard price for them. 

5. Product added cost 

When the price of a product can be affected by the shipping cost and customers would like to know delivery or shipping information. 

6. Selling through landing page

Impress your customers for products with an open price 

7. Selling through Fanpage

Giving the customers an option to request a quote for one or many products without having to sending a message and ask price for each product  

8. Selling on online website

Let customers know that the price shown can be bargained or negotiated, keep the products in the cart at more time. 

9. Pre-order products

You would like to start pre-ordering for your product or to collect emails of interested customers

10. Wholesale sales increase 

Wholesalers who would like to buy a big number of items on each order can be attracted if you give them a tool to negotiate with your store easily which will create more chances to increase sales and revenue. 

Getting an add to quote button on your store is able to streamline all of the above scenarios. If the merchants are selling products on Shopify, the clients just simply need to click to add the product to the quote basket and fill in their information and request which will be sent directly to the sellers via email. 

In addition, with the support of an app, you can be able to hide the price or add a cart button on your product page/collection page or both. The buyer can view their quote in their email and if they accept the deal, they can complete the order and check out. 

How to add a request quote button on Shopify? 

On free themes from Shopify, you can replace the add to cart button with a contact link. 

Click here to see how to do this 

However, if you need a tool without having to know any coding, Shopify app storeprovides you a bunch of options for Request a quote app. 

Get a plugin and install it on your store to check how it works now. 

Click here to visit Shopify store and install Request a Quote plugin

Request a quote is not just a button on your Shopify store, also not only for customers to send requests and receive quotations back. It is a powerful tool for sellers to work effectively, reduce the costs and provide a better customer service.