You're losing deals you'll never see in your pipeline.
Not because your reps can't close. Not because your product isn't good enough. Because your quoting process creates so much friction that deals die before they get quoted.
This is the revenue you don't measure. The complex deal your rep qualifies out because getting a quote takes three days and involves two approval loops. The prospect who goes quiet during your five-day turnaround while your competitor quotes same day. The order form that arrives signed for a service you can't actually deliver because your rep bypassed the process to hit a deadline.
Most sales leaders think their problem is rep quality or product-market fit. The real problem is friction in the quoting process killing deals you never knew existed.
The Vocus Example
Here's what fixing this looks like at scale.
At Vocus Communications we delivered fibre-based data services. If a building wasn't connected to our fibre network, we had to get the Fibre Operations team to quote the build cost. Average turnaround: five working days.
We analysed the data. 80% of quotes were in CBDs and key business corridors of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We calculated an average build cost for these areas and classified tens of thousands of buildings as near-net and immediately quotable.
Quoting time went from five business days to instant.
Result: 4x increase in fibre services sold in the next 12 months.
Not because we hired better reps. Not because the product improved. Because we removed the friction that was killing deals.
Where Friction Hides
Quoting friction kills deals in three places.
Before the quote
Your rep has a complex deal. Not impossible, just non-standard. They know it needs pre-sales involvement. They also know pre-sales is slammed and it'll take three days minimum.
They qualify the prospect out. "Not quite the right fit for us." The deal never hits your pipeline. You never know it existed.
During the quote
Your competitor quotes same day. You take five days because the quote needs technical review and commercial approval.
Five days is enough time for a prospect to reconsider, talk to another vendor, or have their budget frozen. You lose deals during the wait, not because your product is worse.
After the quote
Customer needs a quote by Friday. Your formal process takes three days. Your rep knows they'll miss the deadline.
So they bypass it. They pull up an old product guide, grab another rep to check their work, send the quote. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn't.
The signed order form arrives. Suddenly you've got three people from different teams spending half a day trying to work out how to deliver something you don't actually support anymore. Or the configuration isn't technically feasible. Or the pricing doesn't cover costs.
This happens for two reasons:
Your process is too slow, so reps choose speed over accuracy and hope for the best.
Your product information is scattered across multiple documents, some outdated, and reps use whatever they can find.
Both stem from the same problem: quoting friction forces reps to choose between speed and accuracy.
The Fix: Business Rules
Your goal: 80% of quotes should take under five minutes.
Not by cutting corners. By building business rules that let reps quote fast within guardrails.
Document your standard deals. What products can be quoted without approval? What margin is required? What discounting is allowed? Write it down.
Then enforce it. Business rules only work if following them is mandatory and breaking them has consequences.
This does two things:
Your reps quote fast for standard deals because they don't need approval.
Your pre-sales team works on genuinely complex deals instead of acting as order form police for straightforward quotes.
The edge cases still need approvals. That's fine. You should only do unusual or bespoke deals when they're highly profitable anyway.
The Trade-Off
Every approval you add, every check you require, is a filter that stops deals from happening.
Yes, you need some checks. Yes, you need to minimise risk. But your sales process should maximise sales and minimise risk—not eliminate it.
Most sales leaders add friction trying to prevent one-off problems that had low impact. Someone quotes the wrong configuration once, so now every quote needs technical review. Someone discounts too aggressively, so now every deal needs commercial approval.
You're solving for the exception and slowing down the rule.
Build your process for the 80%. Standard deals, standard margin, standard products. Make those fast. Let your reps sell.
The other 20%? Handle them as they come up. Just don't let the exceptions dictate the process for everyone.
What to Do Now
Map your quoting process. How long does each step take? Where do deals get stuck?
Then ask: what revenue are we losing that we're not measuring?
The complex deals your reps don't quote because it's too hard. The prospects who ghost during multi-day turnarounds. The chaos created when reps bypass the process and get it wrong.
Fix the friction. You'll sell more.