The short answer
Split each quote into intervals of active pricing, other active work and waiting. Start at the first enquiry and finish when the quote is sent. Record a new row whenever the activity changes, with the time and a reason for any wait. This shows whether the next useful change concerns pricing, missing drawings, supplier replies or approval. Include unfinished quotes at the end of the week so the slowest work does not disappear from the picture.
Where the time goes, in two minutes
In under three minutes you will know how to track one week of quotes, why the waiting matters more than the pricing, and what to ask before changing anything.
Every example in the video is made up to show the method.
The words of the video
Do your quotes take days to go out? Before you look for software to price them faster, give me three minutes. I'll show you a one week tracker that shows where the time really goes.
First, what are we talking about? An enquiry arrives by email, often with a drawing. Someone works out the cost and the price. And the quote goes out, sometimes days later.
Here's what I've learned. When a quote is slow, people blame the pricing. But the time often goes on waiting, for a drawing, a supplier or a yes. So count the waiting, not just the work.
Here's a made up example. Customer A sends an enquiry on Monday morning, but the drawing has no dimensions. It waits until Tuesday for an answer. Then the pricing itself takes an hour.
So here's the tracker. Every quote gets a new row each time the activity changes. Pricing, other work, or waiting. And every wait gets a reason, like missing dimensions or waiting for approval.
Here's the made up week, for two quotes. The work itself, pricing and everything else, took under three hours. The rest was waiting, nearly two days of it. Software that prices faster would hardly touch that.
But a long wait doesn't prove that software will fix it. It might be a missing drawing, a supplier, or an approval rule. I'd ask the person who owns the wait first. Then change one thing, and measure the same week again.
One more thing I've learned to check. Quotes still open on Friday are often the slowest ones. If you leave them out, the worst waits disappear. So count them, and report them apart.
So that's the tracker. One week shows you where the time goes, which wait is biggest, and who can move it. Then you know what to change first, before you buy anything.
The tracker and a made up week to check against are free on shurco.ai. Copy it into a spreadsheet, and start on Monday.
1. Choose the week and the boundaries
Use one shared inbox and one kind of quote. Set a Friday cutoff and one time zone. Include every enquiry received during the week, even if it remains open. Track older open quotes separately from their original arrival. Record sent, declined or withdrawn as the end event. Do not count a declined enquiry as a completed quote.
2. Start a row when the activity changes
Use Pricing for cost and selling price calculations. Use Other active for reading drawings, checking details and preparing the reply. Use Waiting whenever nobody is progressing the quote. Enter a specific reason, such as missing dimensions or awaiting approval. Replace Owner with the role that can move the item forward. A new interval begins when the previous one ends.
3. Count time without counting it twice
Subtract Started from Ended and record elapsed minutes. Keep overnight time in waiting for this calendar view. If you also need working hours, calculate them separately using agreed opening times. The example uses full dates and a full stop in each time. In Excel, enter recognised date and time values before calculating durations.
Use one activity at a time per quote. Parallel work by two estimators needs a separate effort record. These intervals measure how long the quote spends in each state, not the total minutes worked by everyone involved.
4. Close the week and check the sums
End an open interval at the cutoff and write Still open. Resume it in a new row next week. Check for gaps and overlaps. Interval minutes must equal the time from arrival to sending or cutoff. Group waiting by reason. Compare completed quotes separately from the age of open ones.
The blank tracker
Copy these columns and add one row whenever a quote changes activity.
| Quote reference | Started | Ended | Activity | Delay reason | Owner | Minutes | End event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Download this sheet as a file for Excel
A made up working week
Made up example. Every row here is made up to show the method, using Customer A and a Friday 17.00 cutoff.
| Quote reference | Started | Ended | Activity | Delay reason | Owner | Minutes | End event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer A quote 01 | 2026-10-05 09.00 | 2026-10-05 09.15 | Other active | None | Estimator | 15 | Drawing question sent |
| Customer A quote 01 | 2026-10-05 09.15 | 2026-10-06 10.00 | Waiting | Missing dimensions | Customer contact | 1485 | Drawing received |
| Customer A quote 01 | 2026-10-06 10.00 | 2026-10-06 11.00 | Pricing | None | Estimator | 60 | Price ready |
| Customer A quote 01 | 2026-10-06 11.00 | 2026-10-06 11.15 | Other active | None | Estimator | 15 | Quote sent |
| Customer A quote 02 | 2026-10-08 14.00 | 2026-10-08 14.20 | Other active | None | Estimator | 20 | Supplier enquiry sent |
| Customer A quote 02 | 2026-10-08 14.20 | 2026-10-09 09.00 | Waiting | Supplier material cost | Buyer | 1120 | Supplier reply received |
| Customer A quote 02 | 2026-10-09 09.00 | 2026-10-09 09.40 | Pricing | None | Estimator | 40 | Approval requested |
| Customer A quote 02 | 2026-10-09 09.40 | 2026-10-09 12.00 | Waiting | Price approval | Commercial manager | 140 | Approval received |
| Customer A quote 02 | 2026-10-09 12.00 | 2026-10-09 12.10 | Other active | None | Estimator | 10 | Quote sent |
| Customer A quote 03 | 2026-10-09 15.00 | 2026-10-09 17.00 | Waiting | Not yet reviewed | Inbox owner | 120 | Still open |
Download this sheet as a file for Excel
What can change the answer
A revised drawing can restart pricing. Keep the original arrival time and label the new interval as revision work. An urgent repeat part and a new assembly need separate comparisons. Missing timestamps stay unknown until checked against the mailbox. Do not turn an unrecorded afternoon into an assumed wait.
When this is the wrong tool
This sheet cannot assess whether a price is commercially sound or a drawing is complete. It is also too simple for several engineering teams working together on a long tender. Use a project schedule for that work. People still check technical requirements, decide margins and approve unusual terms.
What to do with the result
In the made up week, the two sent quotes total 2,905 elapsed minutes. That includes 100 minutes of pricing, 60 of other active work and 2,745 of waiting. The open quote adds 120 minutes of waiting, reported separately. These are sums across quotes, not hours worked by an estimator.
Choose one repeated delay reason to investigate with its owner. Missing details may call for a clearer enquiry form. Approval waits need an agreed decision route. Consider automating repetitive reading or copying only after recording where that work occurs. Keep pricing judgements and unclear requests with a person.