The Clock Started Before You Did.

Your team was still pulling together inputs from engineering, pricing, supply chain, and compliance when the email came in.

"Thanks for your interest, but we've already moved forward with another supplier."

It was respectful. Final. And it had nothing to do with price.

A bit of digging revealed the real story: the winning supplier responded in four days, held three live conversations, and tailored their offer to match the customer's needs. That email wasn't a chance to negotiate. It was a courtesy to close the loop.

That's what coordination delays really cost.

• •Buyers won't wait 2–3 weeks when others respond in days
• •60 percent of sales time disappears into internal coordination, not customer engagement
• •Every large project/bid triggers the same fire drill across departments
• •Critical decisions stall, waiting for the right person to weigh in

And yet, quoting still gets treated like a back-office process. But it's not. It's often your first impression. It's where trust begins or quietly slips away.

Some teams are starting to think differently. They're exploring AI agents to reduce delays. These aren't magic bots. Think of them as future digital teammates that could streamline coordination:

• •Routing inquiries to the right teams instantly
• •Pulling pricing without waiting on spreadsheets
• •Drafting contracts while specs are under review
• •Keeping everyone in sync automatically

Is this plug-and-play today? Not quite. For most companies, it's 12 to 18 months away.

But AI isn't the prerequisite. Discipline is.

The smartest teams I know are already doing three things:

• •Starting where coordination breaks down most
• •Connecting systems so teams work in parallel, not sequence
• •Keeping human judgment exactly where it adds the most value

These aren't optional. They're mandatory with or without AI.

Just curious: how long did your last complex quote take? And more importantly, did the buyer wait?