Writing a request for quotation that gets real answers

"Hello, what is the price of your ultrasound machine?" That request will never produce anything usable. You will receive three prices with no defined scope, impossible to compare, and you will start again from zero. The quality of the answers you get is determined by the precision of your request — a rule with no exceptions.

Why vague requests produce vague answers

Faced with an imprecise request, a distributor has two options: invest an hour asking you questions, or send a list price for their base configuration. Most choose the second. You then hold three offers that do not cover the same product, without the accessories you need, under different delivery terms.

The direct consequence: you are comparing nothing. A structured request is not administrative politeness, it is the tool that makes negotiation possible.

The eight-point template

1. Identify yourself precisely

Name of the institution, type (practice, clinic, hospital, laboratory), city and country. A supplier does not price the same way for a single practice and for a group of clinics — and will reply faster knowing who they are talking to.

2. Describe the use, not just the product

Instead of "an ultrasound machine", write: "ultrasound machine for general practice consultations, abdominal and obstetric, around 15 examinations per day". That sentence lets the distributor propose the right configuration — and saves you paying for options you will not use.

3. State the minimum specifications you require

Clearly separate the essential from the desirable. For example: "convex and linear probes mandatory; colour Doppler mandatory; endocavity probe desirable; DICOM export mandatory". That hierarchy prevents irrelevant proposals in both directions.

4. State the quantity and the timeline

Give the exact quantity, and the date by which you need the equipment in service. If this is a first purchase followed by others, say so: a volume prospect changes the price offered.

5. Require a complete price, under defined terms

This is the most important point. Explicitly ask for a price including:

• delivery to site, at the address given;
• installation and commissioning;
• training, with the number of hours;
• an itemised list of everything supplied, accessory by accessory.

And state the currency and the Incoterm expected. An EXW offer and a delivered-installed offer are not comparable; ask everyone for the same frame.

6. Ask for the cost of ownership

This is the question that marks out an experienced buyer. Always ask for:

• the unit price of consumables and the number of procedures per unit;
• the price of the most common wear parts;
• the rate for an annual service contract, and what it excludes.

On much equipment these lines exceed the purchase price within three to five years. They belong in the comparison.

7. Ask about warranty and service

• Warranty duration, and exactly what it covers (parts? labour? travel?).
• Response time in case of breakdown.
• Is there a technician trained on this model in my country?
• Which parts are held in local stock?

8. Ask for the regulatory documents

Declaration of conformity, notified body certificate for the exact model, the manufacturer's ISO 13485 certificate, and registration in your country where applicable. Asking for these at the quotation stage saves weeks, and immediately rules out suppliers who cannot produce them.

Set a reply date

Give a deadline: "please send your offer before the 20th of the month". Without a date, a quotation request stays indefinitely at the bottom of a pile. With one, it gets handled.

Send the same request to several suppliers

Three to five recipients is the right number: enough to create competition, not so many that you cannot analyse each reply seriously. Send exactly the same text to all of them — that is what makes the offers comparable line by line.

How to compare the replies

Build a table: one column per supplier, one row per requested item. Add three calculation rows:

1. Total price delivered and installed, in the same currency.
2. Five-year running cost: consumables, parts, servicing.
3. Total cost of ownership: the sum of the two.

This is the stage where the ranking changes, almost every time. The cheapest offer to buy is rarely the cheapest over five years.

On MedicalExpo Africa the quotation request is built in: you send the same request to several distributors in one step, from a product page or a company page. It is free, with no commission on the transaction. Browse the product catalogue or the supplier directory to start.