Nurhidayah Mahmood
It is 4:45 p.m. on the day quotations close. One vendor never saw the new deadline because the email went to the wrong thread. Another is on the phone asking whether the specifications changed. A third has sent prices for a slightly different list of items. Your team now has to stitch it all together before the approval meeting.
If that feels familiar, your quotation management is probably leaking money in small ways, not through one big mistake. Here are five common leaks for teams that run quotations on email and spreadsheets. For each one: what it looks like, why it costs you, and how WeManage Procurement handles it, step by step.
1. Plan, approve, then publish: every vendor gets the same request
What it looks like. The request is rebuilt from scratch each time and sent by email. One vendor gets the updated line items, another the old ones, and nobody outside the buying team has signed the request off before it goes out.
Why it costs you. You end up comparing prices for different things, and fixing the mismatch means more rounds with vendors and more time before you can decide.
How WeManage handles it:
- A Procurement Officer creates one Quotation Plan with the title, deadlines, invited vendors, line items and supporting documents (such as detailed specifications). It stays in Draft while it is being prepared.
- The officer submits the plan for approval. Where approval is switched on, the approver (by default the Head of Department) reviews it and approves it or sends it back for rework.
- Invited vendors receive an Invitation to Bid email on the quotation start date, and the quotation opens for submissions. Every vendor sees the same request.
- Buying something similar again? Clone an existing quotation (where your administrator has switched cloning on). The copy opens as a new Draft that you can edit and submit as usual.
2. Every vendor hears about a deadline change
What it looks like. The deadline moves, someone sends an email, and the people who read it that day adjust. Everyone else bids against the old date, or does not bid at all.
Why it costs you. Fewer vendors respond, so you get less price competition, and a vendor who missed the news has a fair reason to complain.
How WeManage handles it:
- The officer clicks Extend Quotation, chooses a new date later than the current closing date, and enters the reason.
- The extension goes to the approver for approval, by default the Head of Department.
- Once it is approved, all invited vendors receive a notification email about the extension.
- If the requirement is no longer valid, the officer can request cancellation at any time before the quotation is awarded, with a reason and approval.
3. Keep vendor questions and answers on the record
What it looks like. A vendor phones with a question about the specification. The buyer answers from memory, and nothing is written down.
Why it costs you. When an auditor or an unsuccessful vendor asks what each bidder was told, there is no record to show.
An example. A vendor asks whether the price should include delivery. The officer answers in the Clarification tab and ticks Published, so every invited vendor sees the same question and the same answer.
How WeManage handles it:
- A vendor submits a clarification question before the Clarification End Date, and the Record Owner receives an email.
- The officer opens the Clarification tab and types the answer.
- To share it, the officer ticks Published so other vendors see the same question and answer. The question can be rephrased first.
- The vendor who asked receives an email with the answer. The officer can also publish a question and answer without being asked, to cover details that were missing from the plan.
4. Compare every bid side by side, not in a spreadsheet
What it looks like. After the deadline, someone copies prices into a spreadsheet and adds a few columns. The recommendation reflects whoever built the sheet.
Why it costs you. Copying prices takes time and invites typing errors, and the people approving cannot easily check how the comparison was built.
How WeManage handles it:
- When the quotation closes, the officer sees every vendor’s submission in one place, including who didn’t respond.
- A built-in price comparison lines up all the bids, so nobody has to copy prices into a spreadsheet.
- The officer selects the recommended vendor, and the recommendation goes for approval.
Turn the decision into a purchase order without re-keying
What it looks like. A winner is chosen, and then someone retypes the details into a purchase order.
Why it costs you. Pricing errors creep in whenever details are retyped, and every retyped line is time that could be spent on the next purchase.
How WeManage handles it:
- Once the recommendation is approved, the quotation status changes to Awarded automatically.
- Within the validity period, the officer can raise a Purchase Order by selecting the awarded items, so nothing is retyped.
- The Purchase Order goes to the successful vendor.
What if a vendor cannot submit?
Real life is messy. A vendor may not yet be registered, or may have technical trouble on deadline day. While the quotation is open for submissions, a Procurement Officer or the Record Owner can submit a quotation for the vendor from the Vendor List tab.
Quick self-check: how many of these sound like your team?
- Vendors have received different versions of the same request.
- A deadline change went out by email only.
- A vendor question was answered by phone and nothing was recorded.
- The recommendation came from a spreadsheet the approvers could not check.
- Award details were retyped into a purchase order.
Two or more? Moving the whole quotation lifecycle (plan, approve, publish, clarify, evaluate, award) into one record gives your vendors consistency and gives you an audit trail.
5. Turn the decision into a purchase order without re-keying
What it looks like. A winner is chosen, and then someone retypes the details into a purchase order.
Why it costs you. Pricing errors creep in whenever details are retyped, and every retyped line is time that could be spent on the next purchase.
How WeManage handles it:
- Once the recommendation is approved, the quotation status changes to Awarded automatically.
- Within the validity period, the officer can raise a Purchase Order by selecting the awarded items, so nothing is retyped.
- The Purchase Order goes to the successful vendor.
What if a vendor cannot submit?
Real life is messy. A vendor may not yet be registered, or may have technical trouble on deadline day. While the quotation is open for submissions, a Procurement Officer or the Record Owner can submit a quotation for the vendor from the Vendor List tab.
Quick self-check: how many of these sound like your team?
- Vendors have received different versions of the same request.
- A deadline change went out by email only.
- A vendor question was answered by phone and nothing was recorded.
- The recommendation came from a spreadsheet the approvers could not check.
- Award details were retyped into a purchase order.
Two or more? Moving the whole quotation lifecycle (plan, approve, publish, clarify, evaluate, award) into one record gives your vendors consistency and gives you an audit trail.
See quotation management in action
WeManage Procurement keeps every step of a quotation in one record. Want to see it? Talk to the V-Work team through wemanage.cloud and we will walk you through a quotation from plan to award.