Manufacturing Shop RFQ Form: Which Fields to Ask For So You Can Quote Without Back-and-Forth

BOTrento Team17 October 20269 min read

What a good RFQ form does for a small shop

Most back-and-forth on custom parts happens because the first message says something like "Can you quote these brackets? Drawing attached." Then you have to ask how many, what material and by when, and whether the tight tolerance on the drawing really matters. Every one of those questions costs you a day of waiting.

A well-designed form fixes three things:

• Completeness. The estimator gets everything needed for a first price in one place.
• Comparability. Every RFQ arrives in the same structure, so you can triage quickly and spot which ones are serious.
• Expectation setting. Asking about tolerances, certificates and deadlines tells the buyer what you need to know. That alone filters out a lot of vague "just checking prices" requests.

The trick is balance. Too few fields and you are back to email ping-pong. Too many required fields and buyers give up and send a bare email anyway.

The fields to include, grouped by purpose

1. Buyer and context

• Company, contact name, email, phone: required.
• Is this a new part, a repeat order or a replacement for another supplier? This changes how you price and how fast you need to move.
• Project or part reference: their internal number, so later emails can be matched.

2. Part definition

• Drawing upload (PDF) and 3D model upload (STEP is the safest format to ask for). Accept several files.
• Drawing revision: a short text field. Quoting the wrong revision is one of the most expensive mistakes a shop can make.
• Short description: one line in their words, e.g. "aluminium mounting bracket, 4 holes, anodised".

3. Quantities and batches

• Quantity per order: let them enter up to three break points (e.g. a prototype batch, a small run and a full production run).
• Expected annual volume: optional, but it tells you whether fixtures and set-up costs can be spread out.
• Prototype first? Yes / No / Not sure.

4. Material and finish

• Material: a dropdown of what you commonly machine, plus "as per drawing" and "other".
• Material supplied by customer? Yes / No.
• Surface treatment / finish: anodising, painting, plating, none, as per drawing.
• Material certificate required? Yes / No.

5. Tolerances and quality

• General tolerance standard: "as per drawing" or a free-text field.
• Critical dimensions: "Which features are critical to function?" This is the field that saves the most time, because it tells you where the tight tolerances really matter.
• Inspection documents: none, dimensional report, first article inspection, other.

6. Delivery and commercial

• Required delivery date and is it fixed or flexible?
• Delivery location: country and postcode are enough for a first quote.
• Quote needed by: tells you how to prioritise.
• How will you decide? Price, lead time, quality, existing supplier comparison. Optional, but very useful.
• Anything else we should know?: free text.

Copy-paste RFQ form template

Use this as the starting structure for your website form. Required fields are marked with an asterisk.

Keep the required list short, ideally no longer than the starred fields above. Everything else can stay optional and still be useful when filled in.

Form design rules that keep buyers filling it in

1. Always offer "as per drawing" and "not sure". Buyers often don't know the finish or the tolerance standard. Forcing a guess gives you wrong data, which is worse than no data.
2. Make the notification email readable. Configure the form so every field value appears in the body of the email you receive, not only in an attachment or a separate dashboard. Whoever opens the inbox should be able to read the RFQ without clicking around.
3. Put the RFQ reference in the subject line. For example: "RFQ – Company name – part description". Searching and matching replies gets much easier.
4. Collect only the personal data you need. Name, business email and phone are enough. Add a short privacy notice link under the form. For anything beyond that, check with your adviser. Our GDPR checklist for AI sales tools covers the processing side.
5. Confirm receipt straight away. An automatic "we received your RFQ, here is what happens next" message is fine. Promise only a realistic reply window.
6. Review the form every quarter. If you keep asking the same follow-up question, turn it into a field.

When an RFQ still arrives incomplete

Some buyers will skip the form and send a bare email anyway, or tick "I'll send the drawing later". Answer with one message that asks for everything missing at once, rather than one question per day:

Subject: RFQ [part description] – a few details so we can quote

Hello [Name],

Thank you for your request for [part description]. To give you an accurate price and lead time, we need the following:

1. Drawing or STEP model, with revision number
2. Quantity per order (and annual volume if known)
3. Material and surface finish, or confirmation that both are as per drawing
4. Any critical dimensions or required inspection documents
5. Your required delivery date, and whether it is fixed

Once we have these, we'll send the quote by [day]. If it's easier, you can fill in our RFQ form here: [link].

Best regards,
[Name]

Then make a note of the date you promised and stick to it. If you tend to lose track of those promises, read how to stop forgetting quote follow-ups. For quicker first replies in general, see five steps to reply to sales enquiries faster. The same form logic also works outside machining. Our article on equipment rental enquiries applies it to dates and availability.

How BOTrento handles RFQs once the form is in place

A good form gets the right information into your inbox. Someone still has to notice each RFQ, chase what's missing, draft the quote cover email and follow up. BOTrento Chief of Staff runs that as a managed process:

• It watches your inbox and uploaded data for enquiries and quotes. IMAP mailboxes connect directly. Gmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 currently work through forwarding or import. Pipedrive, HubSpot or spreadsheet data can be uploaded as CSV/XLSX.
• Every working day it sends a morning overview called Today 1+3, in the app and by email, showing which RFQs need attention first.
• It prepares drafts of replies, clarification emails, quote cover emails and follow-ups in four languages (English, Czech, German, French).
• It catches promises like "we'll send the quote by Friday" and reminds you before you miss them.
• Nothing is sent without a person approving it. BOTrento doesn't confirm delivery dates or orders, and it doesn't replace your CRM or accounting.

One practical point for manufacturers: BOTrento works from the email text. It doesn't read the contents of attachments such as drawings or STEP files. That's one more reason to make your form put every field value in the body of the notification email, as described above.

You can see how the steps fit together in the process walkthrough, and plans are listed on the pricing page. To test it on your own RFQs, start the 14-day free trial. You don't need a card or your own API key, and the 14 days only start once your first data is uploaded or your mailbox is connected. AI usage is included in the plan.