In the printing world, every job begins the same way — a customer needs something printed and sends out a request for a quote.
Four printers receive the same message. Only one will win the order.
Welcome to the Game of Quotes — where speed, efficiency, and automation decide who claims the throne.
Level 1: The Printer Without a Website
Some contenders never even make it to the battlefield.
No website means no visibility — customers simply can’t find you.
No leads, no quotes, no glory.
Defeated before the battle begins.
Level 2: The Printer With a Basic Website
This house has a banner and a messenger — a contact form. A potential customer fills it out and waits.
The sales rep forwards the message to prepress. They see the request — but the estimator who usually handles quotes is busy on press checks. Another team member tries to help, but the details are unclear. Then a rush job comes in and pulls everyone away.
After lunch, the right estimator finally sits down, crunches the numbers for paper, ink, finishing, and press time, and sends the estimate back to sales.
But the sales rep has already left early that day. The quote goes out the next morning. By then, the customer has already placed the order elsewhere.
Game over...
If they try to lower the price to stay competitive, they risk underestimating and losing profit.
Either way, manual quoting is expensive — in both time and money.
Level 3: The Printer With MIS Automation
Now enters a smarter contender.
This printer connects their CRM, print MIS system, and estimating modules. When a quote request comes in, the system automatically calculates the cost of materials, labor, and finishing using real production data.
The result? Consistent pricing, faster turnaround, and fewer human hours per quote. They can respond within 30 minutes — not because they’re rushing, but because they’re efficient.
Each quote now costs a fraction of what it used to. Margins stabilize. Sales teams focus on closing, not calculating.
But while this automation wins many battles, there’s still one kingdom left to conquer.
Level 4: The Printer With Online Quoting and Design Tools
From the shadows emerges a new ruler — the printer with a web-to-print quoting portal.
Here, customers can choose product options, get real-time pricing, upload artwork, or personalize templates directly online. No emails. No waiting. No guesswork. The customer sees the price instantly, confirms it’s within budget, and places the order on the spot.
This printer doesn’t just answer faster — they’ve eliminated the cost of quoting altogether. No sales hours. No estimating hours. The quoting process runs itself, 24/7.
Even if the price is slightly higher, convenience wins the war. The customer won’t bother sending RFQs elsewhere — they’ve already placed the order.
The Iron Throne of Print Sales belongs to the house of Web-to-Print.
Speed Wins the Battle. Efficiency Wins the War
Most printers focus on responding faster, but the real advantage comes from reducing the cost of quoting.
Each RFQ has a hidden price tag — the time spent by sales reps, estimators, and prepress staff before a single sheet is printed.
Automation cuts both response time and internal costs:
- MIS integrations remove manual data entry.
- Online quoting tools eliminate repetitive estimating work.
- Web-to-print portals turn quoting into instant order placement.
When quoting becomes instant, its cost approaches zero — and that’s when a printer truly scales profitably.
The Moral of the Story
In the Game of Quotes, you don’t win just by being fast — you win by being efficient.
Every step toward automation brings you closer to profitable growth:
- A website gives you visibility.
- MIS integration gives you consistency.
- Online quoting gives you scale.
Printers who embrace web-to-print software and automated estimating don’t just save time — they transform their business economics.
Because in this game, the fastest and the most efficient quote always wins.
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