How best to structure your Quote Documents?

A Quote isn’t just a "legal" document outlining what your customer gets and what they pay for; it's also a Sales and Marketing document. This post will focus on the Sales aspect, and I'll cover the Marketing side in a separate post.

What does Sales Care About in a Quote Document?

1. Professional appearance
2. Clarity and simplicity
3. Limited room for negotiation

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While the importance of a professional look and clear, simple content is obvious, let's dive into why limiting negotiation room is crucial.

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How Can Thoughtful Quote Presentation Limit Negotiation Room?

Refer to this previous LinkedIn Post about "package stuffing," which involves adding features your customer may not want to justify a higher price.

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When you present these features as separate line items with individual prices, you give your customer leverage to negotiate by asking to remove certain features.

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For example, consider Notion's Plus package, which costs $10/seat/month and includes:

• Unlimited blocks for teams
• Unlimited file uploads
• 30-day page history
• Inviting 100 guests

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On a Quote, it's best practice to show a single price for Notion Plus ($10/seat/month) and reference a website or attached document for the feature details. The worst approach is listing all the features as separate line items and dividing the $10 price among them.

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What might customers say if you do this?

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• "I don't need 30-day page history for $2/month. Can you reduce it to 15 days for $1/month?"
• "I don't need to invite guests. Can you lower the price by removing that feature?"

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But How Do I Handle Entitlement Provisioning?  

Entitlement Provisioning is critical. But it should not be confused with the line items you shown on the Quote document.

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It is best practice to maintain a separate entitlements table that maps each of your customer-facing products (i.e., the Quote line items) to a set of entitlements in your product. As your products evolve, update customer Contracts through Amendments to move them to new versions of your customer-facing product with different entitlements.  

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Conclusion

Package stuffing can feel like receiving a lump of coal in a stocking—disappointing and unwelcome.

Avoid opening the door to unnecessary price negotiations. Treat your quote document as a polished presentation of your company's offerings, not just a legal formality.

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About MonetizeNow

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Founded in 2021, MonetizeNow is revolutionizing GTM operations for B2B SaaS Enterprises of any size. At MonetizeNow, our mission is simple: to make B2B commerce completely frictionless and provide a delightful experience for your customers to do business with you.

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Our innovative platform combines Quoting/CPQ, Metering, Billing, and Reporting, to deliver a truly plug-and-play Quote-to-Cash experience across all sales channels.

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It’s time to empower your Sales, RevOps, and Finance teams with an all-in-one solution that will revolutionize your entire business. Reduce manual tasks, allowing a stronger focus on strategic pricing and innovative GTM strategies. Generate complex quotes quickly and enjoy full automation of your billing processes. Easily handle proration, co-term agreements, and renewals for seamless operations.

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Get back to focusing on value. If you can build it, you can sell it with MonetizeNow.

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