How to Send a Quotation on WhatsApp (and Follow Up Without Nagging)

To send a quotation on WhatsApp, save it as a PDF, attach it to the chat as a document and add a two-line message with the total, what’s included and how long the price is valid. If the customer wrote to you in the last 24 hours, you can send it straight away. If not, WhatsApp only lets a business send an approved template, so use a template with a document header.

This guide covers both cases, what to put in the PDF and the message, sample wording you can copy, a follow-up plan that doesn’t annoy buyers, and how to keep every open quote on track in a team inbox.

Two ways to send a quote, depending on the 24-hour window

Meta’s rule is simple. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and every new message from them resets it. Inside the window you can send any message: text, images, documents, buttons. Once it closes, you can only send pre-agreed formats called templates, which Meta reviews before you can use them.

Templates are a WhatsApp Business Platform (API) feature, which is also what lets several salespeople answer from one number. See the WhatsApp 24-hour window for the full rules.

Send a quote inside an open chat, step by step

This is the case most of the time: a buyer asks “what’s the price for 200 units?” and you reply with a quote.

1. Export the quote as a PDF from your billing or accounting software, or from a spreadsheet. A PDF keeps your layout, logo and totals intact on any phone, and buyers can forward it to whoever signs off.
2. Name the file clearly, such as Quote-Q1042-Example-Traders.pdf. The buyer sees this name in the chat and in their downloads.
3. Open the chat and attach it as a document. In Automate AI’s inbox, use the document button in the chat box. You can type a caption and change the name the customer sees before you send.
4. Write the caption with the total, validity date and next step (samples below), so the buyer can answer without opening the file.
5. Set a follow-up for yourself or a teammate, so the quote doesn’t go quiet.

WhatsApp accepts PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and plain-text documents up to 100 MB each, according to Meta’s media guide. Images are limited to 5 MB, which is one more reason to send a PDF rather than photos of each page.

Send a quote after the window has closed

If the buyer last wrote to you more than 24 hours ago, the chat box in Automate AI asks you to choose a template. To send a PDF this way, create a template with a document header first:

1. Open Templates and choose Create Template.
2. Pick the Utility category if the message only delivers the quote the customer asked for.
3. Choose Document as the header type and upload a sample PDF for Meta’s review.
4. Write a body with variables for the details that change, then submit it.
5. Once it’s approved, pick it from the chat’s template picker, upload the real quote (or choose a file from your Media Library) and set the name the customer will see.

A sample template body (your own wording will differ):

“Hi {{1}}, here is quotation {{2}} for {{3}}, as you requested. The prices are valid until {{4}}. Reply to this message if you’d like any changes.”

What to write with the quote

Some buyers will read the message and never open the file, especially on a busy day. Put the essentials in the text:

• Quote number, so both sides talk about the same version.
• What it covers, in one line: “200 steel racks, delivered to Pune”.
• The total, and whether tax and delivery are included.
• Validity: the date the price expires.
• One next step: reply to confirm, ask a question, or book a short call.
• Your name, so the buyer knows a person is handling it.

Sample cover messages

All names, numbers and prices below are made up.

Make the PDF easy to read on a phone

Your quote will be opened on a small screen first, often while the buyer is between meetings. A few changes help:

• Lead with a summary: items, total, validity and payment terms at the top of page one.
• Use a readable font size and avoid wide tables that need zooming sideways.
• Spell out what’s excluded, such as installation or freight, so it doesn’t become an argument later.
• Keep one file per quote. Several attachments in a row get lost in the chat.
• Keep personal data out. A quote rarely needs anything beyond the buyer’s name, company and delivery city.

If you send the same price list or brochure many times a day, save it once. In Automate AI’s AI Media Library you can add a PDF with keywords, so when a customer writes “price list” the file goes out by itself. Keyword sends need no AI, and automatic sending has its own switch, off until you turn it on.

Follow up without nagging

Quotes often need a nudge, but each follow-up should give the buyer a reason to reply. A simple plan:

A follow-up that persuades someone to buy is likely to be treated as marketing by Meta, so it needs a marketing template and the customer’s agreement to receive offers. A reply from the buyer reopens the window, and from then on you can talk freely.

If they say no or ask you to stop, stop. WhatsApp’s policy says businesses must respect every request to opt out. More wording ideas are in WhatsApp follow-up messages, and the timing logic in lead follow-ups.

When the customer says yes

A “YES, go ahead” in WhatsApp is a good start, but turn it into a clear record before you dispatch anything:

1. Confirm the details back: quote number, quantity, total, delivery date.
2. Send the order confirmation or proforma as a PDF in the same chat.
3. Share a payment link from your gateway or invoicing tool, or your usual terms for credit customers.
4. Update the contact’s status to Won, so the team stops following up.

Later reminders about an unpaid invoice follow their own rules; see payment reminder messages.

Keep every open quote on track in Automate AI

Sending one quote is easy. Keeping thirty open quotes moving across a sales team is where deals slip. In Automate AI, the shared team inbox with statuses, notes, follow-up reminders and auto-assignment is on every plan; AI Sales Center and drip sequences come with the AI + Automation Plan and Series 4:

• Statuses you define, such as Enquiry, Quote sent, Negotiating, Won and Lost, so anyone can filter for open quotes.
• A follow-up when a quote goes out. A status can be set so that moving a contact into it asks for a follow-up time and an internal note, with reminders before it’s due.
• Internal notes the customer never sees, such as “wants delivery before the 25th”.
• Auto-assignment that shares new enquiries among your team, in turn or least busy first.
• AI Sales Center reads each chat and scores the lead from 0 to 100 with the reason shown, so a buyer who asked for a quotation for 50 units rises above someone browsing. It needs your own AI key.
• Drip sequences for long sales cycles: approved templates spaced over days or weeks that stop when the customer replies.

WhatsApp messages are charged per delivered message from your wallet, by type and country, and Meta has charged for utility templates inside an open window too since 1 October 2026. See pricing.