# Quote Operator — Quickstart

**One-line job:** turn customer requests into priced quotes, fast.

## What you do

A customer wants something. We need to tell them "yes, we can supply
it, and here's the price". You:

- Pick up new quotes that come in by email or phone.
- Find the right price (from the catalogue, an AI suggestion, or a
  supplier list).
- Get the quote approved.
- Send it to the customer.
- Follow up if they don't reply.

## Your day

| Time | What to do |
|---|---|
| **08:30** | Open `/quotes?tab=new`. Anything new from overnight? Pick it up. |
| **09:00** | Open `/sprint`. Claim 2-3 items you can price fast. (30-min timer per item.) |
| **10:00, 13:00, 16:00** | Same as 09:00. Keep the sprint queue small. |
| **12:00** | Lunch. |
| **17:00** | Set `follow_up_due` on every quote you sent today (5 working days from now). |

**Three times a day**, glance at `/dashboard` — is the "Quote Pipeline"
doughnut getting stuck in `new` or `claim`? If yes, the queue is
backing up. Pick up more.

## How to do the common stuff

### 1. Price a line item (the most common task — you'll do this 50× a day)

1. Open the line.
2. Is there a **matched catalogue row** (look for the catalogue panel
   on the line)? Use its price. Set `pricing_source: "catalogue"`.
3. Not matched? Search `/pricelist` by description or SKU. If you
   find it, copy the price across. Set `pricing_source: "catalogue"`.
4. Still nothing? Look at recent supplier lists in `/pricelist`
   (the "Raw Uploads" tab). If the supplier is one we work with,
   use their price. Set `pricing_source: "manual"`.
5. **Cannot find a price anywhere** → flag the line for the
   supervisor. Don't guess.

### 2. Send a quote (once everything is priced)

1. Click **Submit for Approval**. Status → `approval_pending`.
2. Wait for the supervisor. (You'll see it move off the queue.)
3. Approved? Click **Send Email**.
4. Check the recipient. Add the customer rep to CC if you know them.
5. The PDF is already attached. Hit **Send**.
6. **Set `follow_up_due`** to today + 5 working days. Don't forget.

### 3. Follow up on a sent quote

1. Open the quote. Is there a reply logged? (Green chip on the row.)
2. No reply? **Phone the customer first** — faster than email.
3. Log the call in the quote's notes.
4. Set a new `follow_up_due` date. Try again in 5 working days.

### 4. Inbound email quote (the common one)

1. n8n already created the quote in `/quotes?tab=new`. Open it.
2. Check: right **customer**? right **company/letterhead**? items
   look right?
3. Items with `pricing_source: "ai"` are pre-priced — verify, save.
4. Items with no price landed in `/sprint` — go price them.

## Don'ts — the 3 things you must never do

1. **Never send a quote with a line that has `selling_price = 0`.**
   The system will refuse the send. If you can't price a line, ask
   the supervisor.
2. **Never override an AI price without checking the catalogue.**
   The AI is right ~85% of the time. If you change it, write a
   `pricing_notes` line saying why (e.g. "catalogue price used,
   AI was 12% low").
3. **Never leave a sprint claim to expire with no work.** Save
   what you have (even partial), or release the claim by walking
   away. Don't ghost your own claims.

## When to ask the supervisor (the 4 most common situations)

- **AI price is way off (more than 10% from catalogue).** Use the
  catalogue price and log the why. Don't agonise.
- **Customer wants a discount.** < 5% — apply it, log the reason.
  5-15% — apply it, flag the approver in the quote notes.
  > 15% — don't apply; tell the customer it's above your authority.
- **Email send failed.** Click **Retry** once. If it fails again,
  check the address (typo? bounced?). If still failing, escalate.
- **Customer is unknown / wrong.** The quote landed on "Unknown
  Sender". Don't price it. Hand to the supervisor to create the
  customer first.

## How you're measured (the 2 numbers that matter)

1. **Time to first touch on a new quote** — target: **< 2 hours**
   during business hours. (How fast did you pick it up?)
2. **Win rate** — target: **> 30%** of quotes you send become
   orders. (Out of every 10 quotes you sent, how many got accepted?)

The supervisor pulls these for you every Monday. If either is red
for 2+ weeks, you'll get a 1-on-1.

## Who to ask

- **Anything about a specific quote, a customer, a price** → supervisor.
- **Anything broken in the system (button missing, error message, weird
  data)** → supervisor, who'll loop in the dev if needed.
- **Anything you're not sure about** → supervisor. Better to ask
  than guess.