Quotation Letter and Email: Wording That Gets a Reply
What to write in the covering letter or email that carries your quotation — with templates for sending, chasing and requesting a quotation.
- No signup or login
- Instant PDF download
- Processed in your browser
- Free, with no invoice limit
The quotation document carries the numbers. The message carrying it does something else: it decides whether the numbers get read at all, and it tells the customer what you want them to do next.
Most quotations are sent with a covering line that says “Please find attached, let me know if you have any questions”. That sentence invites silence. Below are the three messages you actually need.
Template 1
Sending a quotation
Short, specific, with an instruction at the end.
Subject: Quotation QUO-0148 — reception refit, east wing — valid to 13 Nov
Dear Ms Oyelaran,
Thank you for showing me the east wing reception on Tuesday. The quotation is attached: 6,582.36 including VAT, covering the oak desk, the rear wall panelling, and removal of the existing desk. Lead time is four weeks from acceptance.
The price holds until 13 November. It excludes electrical work and redecoration beyond the panelled area — I have set those out on page two so there are no surprises.
To go ahead, reply to this email quoting QUO-0148 and I will invoice the 30% deposit and book your installation week. Happy to talk through any of it first.
Kind regards,
Tom Ellery · Harbour Joinery Ltd · 0117 555 0180
The subject line does most of the work. It carries the number, the job and the expiry, so the message is findable in three weeks and the deadline is visible without opening anything. The total appears in the second sentence because that is what the reader is looking for, and hiding it in an attachment reads as evasive.
Template 2
Following up before expiry
One follow-up, timed to the validity date, with a reason attached.
Subject: QUO-0148 expires Thursday — holding your March fitting slot
Dear Ms Oyelaran,
A quick note that the quotation for the reception refit holds until Thursday 13 November. Oak veneer prices are moving, so after that I would need to requote rather than extend.
I also have a fitting week free from 9 March that would suit the four-week lead time. If the refit is still going ahead, replying this week secures both the price and that slot.
If it has been shelved, just say — I will close the file and stop chasing you.
Kind regards,
Tom
The last line is the one that gets replies. Giving the customer permission to say no removes the social cost of answering, and a clear no is worth more than a maybe you keep paying attention to.
Template 3
Requesting a quotation from a supplier
The other direction — and the more precise this is, the better the price.
Subject: Quotation request — 14 m² oak veneer panelling, delivery Bristol, quote by 3 Oct
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please quote for the following:
Item: American white oak veneered MDF panels, 18 mm, A-grade face
Quantity: 14 m² (nominal — 2440 × 1220 sheets acceptable)
Finish: unlacquered
Delivery: BS1 4RW, kerbside, weekday mornings
Required on site: 4 November 2026
Please include delivery, state your lead time from order, and confirm how long the price is held. We would like the quotation by 3 October.
Kind regards,
Tom Ellery · Harbour Joinery Ltd
Specification, quantity, destination, date, and a deadline for the quote itself. A supplier who knows exactly what is being asked prices it tightly; a supplier guessing at scope adds a margin for the guess, and you pay for their uncertainty.
Details
Wording that changes the outcome
- Put the number in the subject line. It makes the thread searchable for both of you and gives the customer something to quote back when they accept.
- Name the total in the body. Decisions get made in the preview pane. A total hidden in an attachment delays the decision by however long it takes them to open it.
- Give one instruction, not three. “Reply quoting QUO-0148” converts better than offering a call, a reply or a signature, because a choice of actions is itself a decision to postpone.
- Say the exclusions out loud. Burying them on page two and mentioning them in the email are different acts. One is a term; the other is a courtesy the customer remembers.
- Attach a PDF, never a Word file. An editable quotation reads as a draft, and a draft does not need answering today.
- Send it the same day where you can. Same-day quotes are answered far more often than ones that arrive a week after the visit, when the customer has already been quoted twice more.
Send it before you leave the car park
The wording above works best the same day. Invoice & Quotation Generator builds the quotation on your phone and shares the PDF straight into email or WhatsApp.
- Build the quotation on site
- Share the PDF without a computer
- Customer details saved for the follow-up
- The accepted quote becomes the invoice
- Free, with unlimited quotations
Questions
Quotation letter FAQ
How do I write a quotation letter?
Four paragraphs: thank them and name what they asked for, state the price and what it covers, state the validity and what is excluded, and tell them exactly how to accept. The priced detail belongs on the attached quotation document, not in the body of the letter.
What is the email format for sending a quotation?
A subject line containing the quotation number and the job, three or four short sentences, and the PDF attached. Put the total and the valid-until date in the body as well as the attachment — a surprising number of recipients decide from the preview pane without opening the file.
Should the quotation letter repeat the prices?
Repeat only the total and the deposit. Repeating every line invites a version conflict between the letter and the attachment, and whichever one is wrong is the one the customer will have read.
How do I ask for a quotation from a supplier?
State what you need with quantities and specification, when you need it, where it goes, and by when you want the quote. Suppliers price vague enquiries defensively, so precision in the request usually lowers the number that comes back.
How do I follow up on a quotation without sounding desperate?
Follow up once, a few days before the validity expires, and give the message a reason to exist: the expiry date, a lead-time change, or a slot in the schedule. “Just checking in” gets ignored; “this holds until Friday and I have a fitting week free in March” gets answered.