Sending quotes for manager review before they go out

Imagine a sectional quoted at 30% off, in a discontinued fabric, with free white-glove delivery to a fourth-floor walk-up. The customer signs promptly. Purchasing finds the problem when the vendor refuses the specification.

A targeted manager review could have caught the price, fabric, and delivery promise before the offer left the store. The useful question is which quotes deserve that second look, who provides it, and how quickly the associate gets an answer. Review works best as a defined part of selling, with a decision attached.

Which quotes should wait for review?

Review belongs where the associate is making a commitment outside a routine, well-understood sale. That might be a substantial discount, a custom dimension, customer's-own-material, an unusual delivery, or a quote prepared by someone still learning the catalog.

An ordinary stocked lamp at the standard price may need no extra commercial review. A sofa in a fabric the maker hasn't approved is different, even if its price is modest. Ticket value is useful context, but it doesn't tell the whole story.

Here is a sample policy to adapt:

Quotes with a price exception, unconfirmed custom specification, unusual delivery promise, or work outside an associate's authority go to an authorized reviewer before the offer is sent. Routine quotes within the approved catalog and pricing policy can proceed. A named backup handles reviews when the primary reviewer is away.

Keep the policy short enough to use during a busy shift. The discount authority matrix can hold the detailed limits, while the showroom discount rules explain how an associate presents an approved concession.

What should the reviewer actually check?

The reviewer needs a consistent checklist, not a vague instruction to “look it over.” Six checks cover the main commitments in a furniture quote:

1. Price and discount: Does the total match the approved price and concession policy?
2. Specification: Are the exact fabric, finish, dimensions, and combinations available?
3. Timing: Is the stated estimate supported, with uncertainty explained where it exists?
4. Delivery: Does the service match the address, access, and proposed handover?
5. Terms: Does the customer receive the terms for these products and this sale?
6. Release requirements: Are the required signature, deposit arrangement, and internal approvals clear?

The reviewer should trace a doubtful choice back to the catalog or vendor conversation. “Looks fine” isn't a useful answer to a question about whether a narrow arm works with the deep-seat frame.

Lead time deserves particular care. OrderPilot shows option-based timing on the admin order line, but it doesn't automatically print that estimate on the quote PDF. The reviewer should read the actual promise going to the customer, not assume a staff-side figure has traveled with it.

What can OrderPilot route into review?

With Reviews enabled, the review queue gives staff a place to handle quotes and orders awaiting a decision. Review settings include default or required review behavior, and product templates can be marked as needing review. Certain custom POS flows also send work into Pending Review, so review training should include what the team creates on the showroom iPad.

The store's policy may use a discount threshold, but don't assume a matching automatic discount-percentage trigger exists. Use the available review settings and template requirements to support the policy, with staff routing exceptions where needed.

Keep staff review stages out of the customer's progress wording through the status visibility and customer-facing grouping settings. The customer needs a clear promise about when the quote will be ready, rather than a tour of internal approval terminology.

What happens when the reviewer decides?

Approve a quote when the offer is ready to proceed. Request changes when there is a fix the associate can make. Reject it when the proposed offer should not go forward in that form. Those decisions need different notes.

A useful change request names the line and the required action: “The quoted velvet is retired. Offer the current alternatives and confirm the customer's selection before resubmitting.” “Please fix fabric” leaves the associate to rediscover the problem.

A rejected quote remains a record; rejection is not deletion. Keep the reason and the conversation so the team can distinguish an offer that needs a different approach from a customer who abandoned the project. The review-status guide follows those states in more detail.

Can a salesperson approve their own quote?

Review authority follows permissions. Don't assume that a job title or the fact that someone created the quote automatically prevents approval. If the store wants an independent second reviewer, assign permissions and a working policy that deliver that separation.

The roles-and-permissions guide helps separate quote editing, price authority, and approval. Giving an associate access to prepare a sale doesn't have to give them every exception right.

A reviewer also needs to see the information required for the decision. Someone checking price against margin needs appropriate cost access; someone checking wording may not. Keep those access decisions deliberate rather than giving everyone broad rights to solve a single busy Saturday.

What if the customer is waiting in the showroom?

Give the waiting customer a specific next step and an honest time. “I'm having our buyer confirm that fabric before I send the final offer” is clearer than disappearing with the iPad.

Set a same-day review aim as a store service standard, with a backup reviewer and a way to flag a customer who is present. That's a proposed operating rule, not a guaranteed app response time. If the answer depends on a closed vendor office, say when the associate will return with it.

For the opening example, the reviewer could return the quote with a current fabric choice, a corrected discount, and a delivery scope that addresses the stairs. The associate then sends one coherent offer. That is easier on the customer than approving the price now and correcting the furniture tomorrow.

How does review connect to signature and deposit?

Internal approval, customer agreement, and payment answer different questions. A manager's approval says the store is ready to offer the sale; the customer's signature records agreement; payment records money received. Keep all required steps visible before releasing vendor work.

OrderPilot deposit orders support pre-placement deposits on any Shopify plan when enabled. Native percentage-deposit terms, POS Take Deposit, and minimum-deposit rules require Shopify Plus. Review the arrangement your store actually uses instead of treating “deposit required” as a complete instruction.

After an illustrative month of using the policy, read the decisions together. Which checks caught repeat issues? Which quotes waited without gaining anything? Tighten the catalog or training where a problem repeats, and narrow review where routine work is merely queuing.

Then return to the be-back playbook: the customer should leave with the correct offer and a clear next conversation.