RFQ Turnaround Time
Manufacturing companies that respond to RFQs within 4 hours win 35-50% more deals than those responding in 24+ hours. For complex quotes, same-day response increases win rate by 28%. (Source: Industrial Distribution 2024 Benchmark)
💡TL;DR
RFQ Turnaround Time measures how fast you respond to quote requests. In manufacturing, this is often THE deciding factor—buyers frequently award contracts to the first qualified vendor who responds. Key benchmarks: Simple parts = 4 hours, Configured products = 24 hours, Engineered solutions = 48-72 hours. Delays usually come from: (1) RFQ sitting in inbox unnoticed, (2) Internal routing to wrong engineer, (3) Missing specs requiring clarification, (4) Manual pricing lookups. Automation at each stage compounds into massive competitive advantage.
Definition
The elapsed time between receiving a Request for Quote (RFQ) from a prospect and delivering a complete quotation. In manufacturing and industrial sales, RFQ turnaround time is a critical competitive differentiator—faster quotes often win deals regardless of price.
🏢What This Means for SMB Teams
SMB manufacturers often lose to larger competitors not on price or quality, but on response time. A 50-person shop with automated RFQ alerts and templated responses can outpace a 500-person competitor still using email-based workflows. Speed is the great equalizer.
Long sales cycles? Auto-nurture 90-180 day deals, never lose touch.
Patience + persistence, automated for manufacturing.
📋Practical Example
A 75-person industrial components manufacturer tracked their RFQ process: average response time was 52 hours. Analysis showed: 18 hours in inbox before someone noticed, 12 hours routing to correct product specialist, 22 hours building quote. After implementing: (1) Instant RFQ detection + mobile alerts, (2) Auto-routing by product category, (3) Pre-configured pricing templates—response time dropped to 8 hours. Win rate increased 41% in 6 months with zero price changes.
🔧Implementation Steps
- 1
Measure current state: track RFQ receipt timestamp → quote sent timestamp for last 50 RFQs. Calculate average, identify outliers.
- 2
Map the delays: where does time get lost? Inbox dwell time? Internal routing? Engineering review? Pricing lookup? Approval chain?
- 3
Implement instant detection: email parsing rules, web form webhooks, or dedicated RFQ inbox with mobile alerts to assigned owners.
- 4
Create response templates: pre-built quotes for common configurations. Even complex RFQs benefit from "received, reviewing, will respond by X" acknowledgment.
- 5
Set SLAs by complexity: Simple = 4hr, Standard = 24hr, Complex = 48hr. Track and report weekly. Make turnaround time a team KPI.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
What's a good RFQ turnaround time benchmark?
Depends on complexity. Simple/catalog items: under 4 hours (same business day). Configured products: under 24 hours. Engineered/custom solutions: 48-72 hours with interim acknowledgment. The key is consistency—erratic response times (sometimes 2 hours, sometimes 2 weeks) erode trust more than slow-but-predictable times.
How do you speed up RFQ response without sacrificing accuracy?
Three tactics: (1) Tiered response—send quick acknowledgment immediately, detailed quote follows. (2) Pre-configured pricing for 80% of common requests. (3) Parallel processing—engineering and commercial review happen simultaneously, not sequentially. Most delays come from waiting, not working.
⚡How Optifai Uses This
Optifai detects incoming RFQs across email and web forms, instantly alerting the assigned sales rep with mobile notification. The system auto-routes by product category and tracks response time as a core metric. If no response within SLA threshold, escalation alerts fire automatically. Result: consistent sub-4-hour response times without manual monitoring.
📚References
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Related Terms
Speed to Lead
The time elapsed between a lead's first interaction (form submission, demo request, pricing page visit) and a sales rep's first response. Research consistently shows that response time is the single biggest controllable factor in conversion rates, with optimal windows measured in minutes, not hours.
Lead Response Time
The measured duration between when a lead takes a qualifying action (form fill, chat initiation, demo request) and when a sales representative makes first contact. This metric directly correlates with conversion probability and is considered the most controllable factor in sales performance.
Quote-to-Cash Cycle
The complete business process from initial quote creation through final payment collection. In manufacturing, this cycle is often 60-180 days and involves multiple handoffs: quoting → negotiation → order entry → production → shipping → invoicing → collection. Each stage represents potential revenue leakage.
Sales Velocity
A metric measuring how quickly deals move through the pipeline and generate revenue, calculated as: (Number of Opportunities × Win Rate × Average Deal Size) / Sales Cycle Length.