RFQ is one acronym some people wish they could forget. At one point I may have had close to 200 saved excel files on my desktop with the naming convention [Supplier]_RFQ.xlsx. RFQ Management is key to quote-to-cash cycle. It's paperwork, sure, but it's paperwork that directly impacts your revenue recognition, cash flow, and customer relationships.

‍

What makes a good RFQ?

Request for Quote (RFQ): You know exactly what you need and want pricing. Perfect when specifications are clear and you're evaluating suppliers primarily on cost, terms, and delivery capabilities.

RFQs sit at the beginning of your order-to-cash process, initiating the revenue cycle that culminates in payment collection and reconciliation. Getting this first step right sets the tone for everything that follows. Usually people get caught up here.

‍

‍

Strategic Quote Management: CPQ

When you connect RFQs with your Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) system, they become revenue accelerators.

The right integration eliminates the lag between customer needs and your pricing logic. Instead of sales teams manually wrangling specs and spreadsheets, the system automatically configures products, prices them accurately, and generates clean, compliant quotes.

‍

Four Pillars of Effective RFQ Management

Define Clear Specifications: Ambiguity extends sales cycles and creates revenue leakage. Precise requirements enable faster quotes and eliminate costly scope changes that erode margins. When sales and operations teams work from the same specification document, your quotes reflect reality rather than aspirations.

Standardize Your Format: Structured RFQ formats accelerate your quote-to-cash cycle. When customer requirements arrive in consistent formats, your CPQ system can apply pricing rules automatically, reducing manual intervention and accelerating revenue recognition.

Establish Evaluation Criteria Upfront: Know how you'll decide before you ask. Clear criteria create transparency with vendors and internal stakeholders, reducing the approval bottlenecks that delay order processing and cash collection.

Integrate with Your Order-to-Cash Platform: Manual quotes create revenue blind spots. When your RFQ process connects directly to your CPQ and order management systems, you gain visibility across your entire revenue cycle. This integration transforms quote management from an administrative task to a strategic revenue function.

‍

Why Legacy RFQ Workflows Are a Liability

Email chains and spreadsheet attachments don’t scale. They create pricing inconsistency, introduce risk, and block strategic visibility. Leading orgs are replacing these with systems that:

• Feed RFQs into CPQ for real-time configuration
• Track quote-to-order conversion across customer segments
• Use quote data to power cash flow projections

‍

Beyond Transactions: Strategic Quote-to-Cash Management

Smart organizations treat RFQ management as a strategic revenue function. They analyze quote data to identify pricing optimization opportunities across product categories and customer segments. These insights inform pricing strategies and discount governance that maximize lifetime customer value.

By understanding their quoting patterns at a granular level, they identify opportunities to accelerate the order-to-cash cycle through automated approvals and streamlined fulfillment paths. They build performance dashboards that track the entire revenue cycle from initial RFQ through cash application.

‍

Getting Started: Practical Next Steps

1. Map your current quote-to-cash process to find revenue bottlenecks
2. Standardize RFQ templates to accelerate response time
3. Connect RFQ management to your CPQ platform for pricing consistency
4. Track quote-to-cash metrics beyond simple quote volumes

RFQ management directly impacts your revenue realization and cash position. Apply the same rigor here that you bring to other revenue operations, and you'll uncover efficiencies that accelerate your entire financial cycle.

Need help centralizing your RFQs? Setting up proper CPQ workflows? Let us know!

‍