The fastest quote often wins. A customer asks, you send a clean quote the same day with the right prices and terms, and the competitor is a day late. In practice: it takes you an hour because you click through six screens in Exact Online, manually look up prices and carefully write the lines.
With an AI assistant via MCP you produce a quote in one conversation. Including customer selection, lines, discounts, charges, and conversion to a sales order on acceptance. This article: the full workflow.
A quote in one prompt
"Create a quote for customer Bakery De Groot: 500 units of item A1001, 200 units A1002, and 50 units A1005. Use standard prices. Validity 30 days."
The AI calls crm_quotations_create and three times crm_quotations_add_line in sequence. Customer details, prices and VAT are filled in automatically. You get the quote number back.
With discounts and charges
Customer gets a 10% discount on one item and you charge €150 freight:
"On quote Q-2026-0234 apply a 10% discount to line 1, and add a charge line of €150 freight."
The AI uses crm_quotations_update_line and crm_quotations_add_charge_line. With upfront validation of amounts and percentages.
Working from an opportunity
Already logged the opportunity in your CRM? Build the quote from it:
"Create a quote for opportunity OPP-2026-0078 based on the product lines we discussed. Add a 5% loyalty discount line."
See also our guide on analyzing sales opportunities with AI for the steps before.
Backing the price with history
Custom quotes need a price reference point. The AI helps:
"What did I charge on average in 2025 for item B-Spec-100 to customers in the same size bracket as Bakery De Groot?"
Back the quote with your data instead of intuition.
Modifying a quote
Customer wants to change quantities after a call:
"On quote Q-2026-0234 change line 1 quantity from 500 to 750, and delete line 3."
Faster than the screen itself, and you keep a complete view rather than clicking line by line.
Sending the quote
The AI cannot send the email itself, but can draft one:
"Draft an email for quote Q-2026-0234 to Sandra at Bakery De Groot. Mention the 30-day validity and the possibility of an earlier delivery on quick acceptance."
Adjust the tone, send.
Conversion to sales order on acceptance
Customer says yes. The crucial step — convert to sales order:
"Customer Bakery De Groot accepted quote Q-2026-0234. Convert to sales order with requested delivery 15 June."
The AI carries over all lines and queues the sales order for logistics.
Measuring quote conversion
Quarterly:
"What is my quote conversion in Q1 2026: how many quotes sent, how many converted to sales order, how many expired without reply?"
Improvement: see which quotes often expire without a reply. Usually a pricing or timing issue.
Tips for effective quoting
- Use templates for recurring quote patterns — in Exact Online and in your AI prompts.
- Always include validity and payment terms in one pass.
- Ask periodically "which quotes expire this week without a customer response?" — follow-up is half the conversion.
- For the bigger picture: combine with sales pipeline analysis.
Getting started
Follow the MCP setup guide and check the prompt library for more quote examples. Want the full sales cycle? Read our blog on creating sales orders with AI.