03 · Convert

Sales & Quotes

Faster, checked quotes and follow-up that never depends on memory.

Stage: Pilot with review

Your problem

Quoting competes with billable work, so quotes go out days late — and late quotes lose.

Follow-up relies on whoever remembers. Opportunities quietly die in the inbox.

Why it matters

The few published small-business accounts — like a small manufacturer featured in a bank’s SME report — centre on exactly this job: AI-assisted quoting and admin, with the owner keeping approval. Academic work adds the caution: AI helps inside its frontier and hurts outside it, so the task choice and the review step carry the value.

Where this does not apply: If you win nearly every quote and reply same-day already, your bottleneck is elsewhere — look at Deliver or Money.

Before, then with AI

A new enquiry becomes a checked quote

A trades or services business that quotes most jobs by email.

Illustrative example — not a live customer result

Before

  1. Enquiry lands in the inbox and waits for whoever is least busy

    Owner

  2. Someone digs through old quotes and the price list for similar jobs

    Staff

  3. A quote is typed up from memory, often after hours

    Owner

    Output: Quote, sent 2–3 days later

  4. Follow-up happens if someone remembers

    Staff

With AI

  1. AI reads the enquiry and lists missing information against your service boundaries

    AI prepares

    Output: Gap list: site access? timeline? budget range?

  2. AI drafts a quote from your approved price list and past accepted quotes

    AI prepares

    Output: Draft quote with each line referenced to your price list

  3. A person checks amounts, scope and any discount before anything is sent

    Human reviews

  4. Unanswered quotes enter a reminder queue; a person approves each follow-up

    Human reviews

    Output: Follow-up drafts on your schedule

Where this fails: if your price list is out of date or discount rules live in someone’s head, the AI drafts from wrong data. Fix the source first — that is what the Company Brain area covers.

Flagship use case

Draft quotes from enquiries, with human approval

For businesses that quote most jobs: AI reads each enquiry, flags missing information and drafts a quote from your approved price list. A person approves every quote and every follow-up before it is sent.

Open the full use case →

Other parts of this area

  • Reply in minutes
  • Draft quotes
  • Follow-up that never forgets
  • Learn from every call

How to start

  1. Assemble the quoting pack: prices, 10 accepted quotes, boundaries

    Owner · Quoting knowledge pack

  2. Trial on 5 past enquiries against what you actually sent

    Owner · Comparison notes

  3. Pilot live for two weeks with 100% review

    Sales owner · Pilot log

  4. A person approves every quote and follow-up

    Sales owner · Approval record

  5. Every error fixes the pack, not just the draft

    Owner · Updated pack

Tools to look at first

Can your current tools do this? These are category candidates, not a recommendation to buy.

Microsoft 365 + Copilot

Documents & knowledge

Good for: Company knowledge in SharePoint/OneDrive with permissions · Drafting in Word/Outlook where your files already live

Not for: Businesses not already in the Microsoft ecosystem · Accounting-specific workflows

Works with: Best if your business already runs on Outlook, Word and Teams.

Official pricing · Data handling

Alternatives: Google Workspace, Notion · Disclosure: No commercial relationship. Category candidate, not a verified fit for every business. · Reviewed 2026-10-19

Google Workspace + Gemini

Documents & knowledge

Good for: Shared Drive as a lightweight Company Brain · Drafting in Gmail/Docs where your team already works

Not for: Deep Microsoft-ecosystem shops · Line-of-business accounting tasks

Works with: Best if your business already runs on Gmail, Docs and Drive.

Official pricing · Data handling

Alternatives: Microsoft 365, Notion · Disclosure: No commercial relationship. Category candidate, not a verified fit for every business. · Reviewed 2026-10-19

ChatGPT (business plans)

General assistant

Good for: Feedback grouping, drafting and analysis tasks with pasted context · Testing a use case before buying anything specialised

Not for: Anything with customer personal data unless your plan’s data terms cover it · Unattended or automated sending of any kind

Works with: Standalone; check the data-handling terms of the specific plan before business use.

Official pricing · Data handling

Alternatives: Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot · Disclosure: No commercial relationship. Data-handling and training settings differ by plan and change over time — verify on the official page, not here. · Reviewed 2026-10-19

Notion + Notion AI

Knowledge base

Good for: A structured Company Brain with owners and last-updated dates · Role cards, rules pages and checklists in one place

Not for: Heavy document/email workflows · Financial records

Works with: Works alongside either Microsoft or Google stacks as the knowledge layer.

Official pricing · Data handling

Alternatives: SharePoint, Google Drive + Docs · Disclosure: No commercial relationship. Category candidate, not a verified fit for every business. · Reviewed 2026-10-19

Evidence

Vendor story

A small manufacturer on AI-assisted quoting (self-reported)

A bank-published Australian SME report features a small manufacturer describing how AI-assisted quoting and admin changed its workload — one of the few published small-business accounts.

What this does not show: Self-reported in a bank publication; figures are not independently audited.

Source: NAB — SME AI adoption report (includes Bella Manufacturing case) · Bank-published report; business outcomes are self-reported, not audited. · Reviewed 2026-10-19

External research

AI has a jagged frontier — know which side your task is on

Consultants using AI did significantly better on tasks inside the model’s capability and worse on tasks outside it. Choosing the right task matters more than choosing the fanciest tool.

What this does not show: Professional consultants on controlled tasks; your jobs need their own small trial.

Source: Harvard Business School — Navigating the jagged technological frontier (field study with BCG consultants) · Independent academic study; subjects were professional consultants, not SME owners. · Reviewed 2026-10-19

Do one thing

Do one thing: prepare your quoting pack

0/5 done · saved on this device

The prompt includes placeholders — never paste customer personal data or company secrets into a tool that has not passed your data check.

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AI for Sales, Quotes and Follow-Ups · Boteam