Procurement fails in the gaps between people: the person who knows the spec is not the person who wrote the email, and the person who receives the goods was never asked. This checklist is a way to close those gaps before you request a quotation. It is written for commercial buyers. It is not an audit program and not a description of a system SummitCore runs for clients.
Inside your own organization
- Name the budget owner and the person allowed to approve a quotation.
- Name the person who can answer a technical follow-up within a few days.
- Decide whether this buy is for your own use or for resale. The paperwork diverges.
- Decide which lines are allowed to be substituted and which are not.
- Confirm you are ready to share a delivery ZIP and a receiving contact when the conversation gets that far. Do not send door codes or security procedures on a public form.
On the request itself
- One line per product, with a unit of measure.
- The specification, or an attachment that contains it.
- Quantity, marked as firm or as an estimate.
- The timeframe, marked as a preference or a constraint.
- The category, if you know it. Our category architecture is a guide, not a limit on what you may ask about.
If the list crosses maintenance, packaging, and general supplies, say so in one enquiry and keep the lines distinct. The page on business and commercial supply solutions describes that kind of multi-category discussion without pretending it is a managed-procurement contract.
Receiving and after
Agree, internally, what “wrong” means before the goods exist. Wrong size, damaged freight, and “we changed our mind” are different events and belong in different clauses of an order. You will not get those clauses from a website. You should expect to see them, in some form, on a quotation you are willing to accept.
Also decide who checks the delivery against the quotation. On a small team that may be the same person who ordered. The point is to name them.
What not to assume from any distributor’s website
- That a category page is a stock position.
- That a sample product is authorized, certified, or priced.
- That a form submission created a delivery appointment.
- That a general inbox is the same thing as an account manager. Ask who will actually reply.
SummitCore’s answers to those assumptions are collected in the FAQ. The evaluation questions you should still ask any supplier, including us, are in how to evaluate a wholesale supplier.
A short version you can paste above a request
“We are [legal name], buying for [own use or resale]. The attached lines are the request. Substitutions are marked per line. Quantity is [firm or an estimate]. Delivery would be discussed for ZIP [xxxxx]. Timing is [a preference or a constraint]. Please quote only the lines you can stand behind, and say which lines you cannot.”
That paragraph, plus the attachment, is enough to begin. The RFQ guide expands it. Facilities and multi-site buyers can also read commercial facilities for what to include when more than one building is involved.