Create and approve a quote

Do not start quote entry just because a deal feels promising. The customer should already exist, the contact and addresses should be usable, and the opportunity or inquiry should already explain what is being requested and when it is expected.

That is why the runtime separates Customers, Opportunities, Inquiries, Quotes, and Approval Inbox. Those tabs are not duplicates. They hold different decisions: account truth, deal context, requested requirements, commercial proposal, and governed approval.

Evidence should come from the customer record, quote or order state, approval trail, fulfillment posture, billing document, receipt, or credit workflow. For Before you open Quotes, a strong answer names the visible cue, record, status, or reference that supports the next step and states what would pause the learner.

In the Quotes tab, the operator should fill the commercial header deliberately: Quote Number, Inquiry or Opportunity when available, Customer, Contact, Invoice To, Ship To, Warehouse, Price List, Quote Date, validity dates, Requested Delivery, Currency, Payment Term, Shipping Method, Incoterm, and Salesperson.

Those fields are not paperwork for later. They are the terms that orders, warehouse activity, and invoice timing inherit. If the warehouse, price list, payment term, or requested delivery is wrong at quote stage, the error has already been injected into the downstream flow.

For Build the draft quote correctly, the learner should point to the specific page, record, status, or note that separates evidence from assumption before moving to the next step.

When the quote contains a pricing or commercial exception, the seller uses Submit Approval from the Quotes tab. The approver then works in Approval Inbox, where the assigned row can be approved or rejected explicitly. That separation matters because pricing setup and approval decisions are different responsibilities.

Teach the sequence plainly: build the quote, review the computed totals, submit approval only when governance is required, record the approval decision in Approval Inbox, then return to Quotes to verify the commercial record is actually ready for customer action.

Use this section to confirm the learner understands more than the page label. They should connect Approval is a queue, not a discussion thread to the business state, owner, and consequence behind it.

If approval is pending, inspect the Approval Inbox instead of resubmitting duplicate requests. If the quote is rejected, do not silently mutate the same history. Use Revise so the next version keeps a visible commercial trail.

If customer addresses, payment terms, shipping method, or requested delivery are still uncertain, stop and fix the underlying context before sending anything outward. A fast inaccurate quote only moves the confusion into orders, fulfillment, and billing.

Use this section to confirm the learner understands more than the page label. They should connect What to do when the quote stalls to the business state, owner, and consequence behind it.

A healthy quote is not merely saved. It has complete customer and delivery context, correct commercial terms, a visible approval state of approved or not required, and a clear next action: send, wait for customer response, or create a revision.

That is the moment the deal is genuinely ready to move toward order release. Until then, the sales workspace is still protecting downstream teams from bad commitment data.

For Done state the operator should recognize, the learner should point to the specific page, record, status, or note that separates evidence from assumption before moving to the next step.

Run the lesson as a quote-to-cash operating rehearsal. Start with the practical task: know when the deal is ready to move from customer, opportunity, or inquiry work into a governed quote. Ask the learner to name the role, surface, evidence, and state they would inspect before taking action.

Evidence should come from the customer record, quote or order state, approval trail, fulfillment posture, billing document, receipt, or credit workflow. The practice should end with the learner connecting the action back to the lesson summary: teach the first job in the opportunity-to-order chain as an actual operator task: build a quote from real customer context, submit it for approval when exceptions exist, and leave it in a state that sales, fulfillment, and finance can trust.

Close the exercise by asking the learner to restate the objective in operational terms: know when the deal is ready to move from customer, opportunity, or inquiry work into a governed quote. They should name what changed, what remains uncertain, and which surface or owner takes the next step.

Do not let revenue work move forward only because the next button is available. The learner should check commercial terms, customer context, fulfillment readiness, and finance impact first. In this lesson, watch for that risk while learners work on this objective: know when the deal is ready to move from customer, opportunity, or inquiry work into a governed quote.

Do not mark the lesson complete because the learner can repeat terms. Completion means they can explain when to stay in customer, opportunity, or inquiry work instead of opening Quotes too early and describe why the lesson matters in real work.

Review the answer for skipped ownership, missing evidence, or vague next steps. If the learner cannot explain when to stay in customer, opportunity, or inquiry work instead of opening Quotes too early, keep the lesson in practice mode before marking it complete.