Can I create an RFQ directly from a customer quote?

Yes, and it is the normal route. On the quotation, click Multi-Select, tick the lines you need a supplier price for, and click Create RFQ. Choose the suppliers - Add to All applies one supplier to every line, or you can set a different supplier per line and mark the lines you do not need priced as Ignore. Pick the pre-build and Zigaflow creates one RFQ per supplier, each linked back to the quotation. You can do the same from a job or sales order, or from a [purchase order](/features/purchase-orders) when you want a price before you commit to an order you have already drafted. Because the RFQ stays linked, the price you eventually apply to the [quote](/features/quotes) line can be traced back to the supplier who gave it.

How do automated follow-ups work when a supplier does not reply?

You build the chaser once, on the RFQ pre-build, and it runs on every RFQ that uses it. Create an automated message, set how many days after the status changes to Sent it should fire, and turn on Recurs with an interval if you want it to keep going. It stops on its own when the RFQ moves off Sent - which happens the moment the supplier submits, so a supplier who has answered is never chased. A second automated message handles escalation when the silence goes past the point where a polite reminder is enough. Both are ordinary email templates with the supplier's page link in them, so you write the wording your suppliers will actually respond to rather than accepting a generic reminder.

Can I send the same RFQ to several suppliers for comparison?

Yes. Select the suppliers when you create the RFQ and Zigaflow raises one RFQ per supplier from the same set of lines, so every supplier is asked for exactly the same specification. Comparing what comes back is a manual read rather than an automatic ranking: suppliers reply on their own page with a note, or by uploading their quotation file, and some do one and some do the other. Where you want the comparison to be structured, record each supplier's price against the items on their RFQ. That gives you the prices side by side on the linked documents and builds a history of what each supplier charged for that line, which is the part that pays off the third or fourth time you buy it.

How do I see which RFQs are still waiting on a supplier?

By status. An RFQ moves to Sent when you email it, to Received when the supplier submits their page, and to Declined when they say no - all without anyone updating it by hand. Make sure Received and Declined are set to show in the RFQ workflow, under the cog, Workflows, RFQs, or the statuses exist but stay hidden. Anything still sitting at Sent is still waiting, and it is being chased by the automated message on the pre-build in the meantime. You can add your own statuses to the workflow if your process has a step between those, for example a stage for prices that came back needing clarification before they can be used on a quote.

How does a supplier price get onto the quotation?

Enter the price against the item on the RFQ, then go back to the quotation, open the item's menu and choose Apply Values from Linked RFQ Item. Pick which supplier and price you want and both are pulled onto the quote line, so the cost your margin is calculated from is the number the supplier actually gave you rather than one that was retyped. Recording prices on the RFQ is optional if you are only doing this once - you could read the supplier's uploaded quotation and price the line yourself - but doing it properly is what gives you a record of what each supplier charged over time. When the customer accepts, the same lines go out as a [purchase order](/features/purchase-orders) to the supplier you chose.

Can I set up templates for different types of RFQ?

Yes, through pre-builds. A pre-build holds the document template the supplier receives, the email template that sends it, and the automated messages that chase it, so you can have one pre-build for stock items where a two-day chaser is reasonable and another for bespoke work where you give a supplier a week. You select the pre-build at the point of creating the RFQ. The email template needs the supplier page link in it - the {ReviewLink} tag - or the supplier gets a request with no way to answer it, which is the single most common setup mistake. Changing a template changes it for every future RFQ using that pre-build, not for ones already sent.

Can I see what a supplier quoted last time?

Yes, if you record prices on the RFQ. Each RFQ stays on the record of the supplier it was sent to and on the document it was raised from, so the prices you entered are there to look back at when the same line comes round again. This is the reason to do the optional pricing step even when you have already read the number off the supplier's uploaded file: an RFQ with prices recorded is a data point, an RFQ with a PDF attached is a document somebody has to open. Over a year of repeat lines that difference is what lets you see which supplier's price has drifted, before it drifts into a job you have already quoted.

Which plan are RFQs on, and how much does it cost?

RFQs are on Momentum, which is £399 a month and includes three users, with additional users at £89 each. Momentum also carries inventory and reorder levels, eForms, customer returns and automated reports. If you buy against prices you have already agreed and do not need to shop a job around first, [purchase orders](/features/purchase-orders) are on every plan from Essentials at £79 a month, and you may not need RFQs at all. Every plan has a 14-day free trial with no card required, so the honest test is to run one live enquiry through it: raise the RFQ off a real quotation, send it to two suppliers who will humour you, and see whether the price gets back onto the line without being typed. [Pricing](/pricing) has the full comparison.

Procurement

RFQ software for the price you need before you quote

Send a request for quotation to several suppliers from the quote itself, chase the slow ones automatically, and put the winning price back on the line.

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ZZigaflow

Dashboard

Leads

Quotations

Jobs

Purchase Orders

Delivery Notes

Invoices

eForms

Purchase Orders

Midocean · PO-0912

SearchDM

Supplier DispatchedFor JB-0441 · Summit Conferences

Print labelsReceive

ItemsExpected dates from supplier

ItemQtyCostExpected DateReceived

Canvas tote, natural, 38 x 424502.4511 Jun450

Ballpoint pen, white barrel4500.5211 Jun450

16GB USB drive, bamboo4502.9811 Jun0

A5 recycled notebook, kraft4501.9213 Jun0

PO value

3,542

4 lines

Received

2 of 4

DN 88412 booked in

Outstanding

2 lines

Due 11 and 13 Jun

Acknowledged

30 May

Sent same day

Purchase order PO-0912 · tracking

PO-0912 from Summit PromoMidocean

Order acknowledged · 30 May

Tracking details entered · 10 Jun

Carrier

DPD

Tracking number

1549 0021 7734

Sets the PO to Supplier DispatchedConfirm dispatch

Spend limitRole: Buyer

Approved by Dana before sending

Rule: total PO value over 2,500

Asking four suppliers without writing four emails

Before

A customer wants a price on eleven lines and four suppliers hold the answers, so someone writes four emails, each with a slightly different version of the specification.

With Zigaflow

Multi-select the lines on the quotation, click Create RFQ, and set a supplier against each line or one supplier for all of them.

Chasing without doing the chasing

Before

Two suppliers reply the same day and two go quiet, and the quote is due Friday.

With Zigaflow

An automated message on the RFQ pre-build fires a set number of days after the RFQ reaches Sent, and recurs at an interval you set until the status moves off Sent.

Getting the price onto the quote line

Before

The price arrives, and now it has to be typed onto the quote - the supplier name in one field, the cost in another, on the right line.

With Zigaflow

Record the returned prices against the items on the RFQ, then open the item menu on the quotation and choose Apply Values from Linked RFQ Item.

What you get

Raise an RFQ from a quotation, a job or a purchase order by multi-selecting the lines
Send the same request to several suppliers at once, or a different supplier per line
Suppliers reply on their own page - a note, a price, or their own quotation file uploaded
The RFQ moves to Sent, then Received, on its own as the supplier acts
Automated chasers that recur until the supplier responds, and a second that escalates
Prices recorded per item on the RFQ, so you can see what a supplier charged last time
Apply values from a linked RFQ item to pull the chosen supplier and price onto the quote line
Pre-builds that fix the document template, the email template and the chaser schedule

How it works

Raise it from the quoteOn the quotation, job or purchase order, multi-select the lines you need priced and click Create RFQ.
Send itOpen each RFQ, preview the PDF and email, check the supplier address is on the To line, and send.
Let the chasers runThe automated message on the pre-build fires a set number of days after the RFQ reaches Sent and recurs until the status moves off Sent.
Take the replyThe supplier enters their name and a note on their page, and can upload their own quotation file, which lands in the RFQ's internal files.
Apply the priceRecord the prices against the items on the RFQ, then use Apply Values from Linked RFQ Item on the quotation to pull the supplier and price onto the line.

More about RFQs in Zigaflow

An RFQ in Zigaflow starts on the document that needs the price. Open the quotation, job or purchase order, multi-select the lines you need costing, and click Create RFQ. Set one supplier for everything with Add to All, or set a supplier per line and mark the lines you do not need priced as Ignore. Pick the pre-build and Zigaflow creates one RFQ per supplier. You preview the PDF, send the email, and the RFQ moves itself to Sent.

The supplier does not need an account. The email carries a link to a page where they enter their name, add a note and, if they prefer, upload their own quotation file. Some suppliers type a price into the note; others attach a PDF, which lands in the RFQ's internal files. Either way, submitting moves the RFQ to Received, and an automated message can tell your team it has landed. Suppliers who say no are moved to Declined so nobody chases them again.

Chasing is the part that runs without you. An automated message on the pre-build fires a set number of days after the RFQ hits Sent, and can recur at an interval you choose until the status moves off Sent. A second message escalates when the silence goes on. Both are ordinary email templates you write once and reuse.

When prices are in, you can record them against each item on the RFQ. That step is optional for a one-off, and worth doing when you want to see how a supplier's price on a line has moved over time. On the quotation, open the item menu and choose Apply Values from Linked RFQ Item, pick the supplier and price you want, and the supplier and cost land on the quote line - which is what keeps the margin on that line honest. When you are ready to commit, the same lines become a purchase order.

RFQs are on the Momentum plan at £399 a month. If you only need to raise orders against agreed prices rather than shop around first, purchase orders are on every plan from £79 a month.

Frequently asked

Works with RFQs

Features

Purchase Orders Quotes Inventory

Integrations

Xero QuickBooks

Industries

Promotional Products & Branded Merchandise Construction & Trade Audio-Visual Office Furniture Lighting & Electrical

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