B2B AI Quoting Starts With the Customer’s Last Deal
Two buyers ask for 500 filter cartridges. You can quote the new customer from your current price list. The other buyer adds four words: “Same terms as before.”
Imagine you sell industrial filters and Northline Maintenance sends its request for a quote:
“Another 500 F-40 cartridges, please. Same terms as before. Can you get them here by November 20?”
Before your quoting service copies the price from the last invoice, give it the agreement Northline signed and the deliveries you’ve made against it. The invoice tells you what you charged on one order. The agreement tells you what you promised. With the agreement ending ten days after the requested delivery, you’ll want both in front of you when you call.
The supply agreement changes the 500-unit request
Northline committed to 2,000 cartridges by November 30. Open the delivery record and you find 1,400. Six hundred remain on the agreement today. If Northline takes all 500 on November 20, you’ll still have 100 to discuss before the agreement ends.
It’s easy to read “another 500” as a reassuring sign ahead of renewal. Knowing the balance, you can ask: “Are you planning one more order for the last hundred, or has something changed at your end?” Either answer helps you plan the renewal. Leave the order at 500 unless the buyer changes it.
For the price, check whether the F-40 falls under Northline’s schedule and compare its rate with the last invoice. If the amounts differ, find out why. Perhaps someone allowed a discount for one shipment. Copy the invoice without asking and a favor begins to look remarkably like a standing arrangement.
Vendavo’s Deal Desk Assistant brings account history into quoting
How much did Northline actually buy? When does its agreement expire? Have you been billing below the agreed price? Pulling up the last order won’t settle any of the three.
Vendavo launched its AI Deal Desk Assistant inside Vendavo Quoting on October 20, 2026. A seller can ask in plain language about a customer’s agreements, purchasing patterns, progress against commitments and actual versus agreed prices. The assistant also draws on target prices from Vendavo Pricing.
A target price gives you a reference for a negotiation. Northline’s contract tells you which rate you agreed to, and the invoices show whether you’ve been charging it. Put all three beside the quote and you can ask about the odd invoice before Northline has to explain your own pricing to you.
Vendavo also outlined ways to turn a seller’s instructions or a meeting transcript into a draft, use AI in approvals and let another agent initiate a quote. It gave no general release date for those extensions. The October launch put the account answers inside the quote.
What the seller checks in Northline’s draft quote
Here’s how Northline’s request might look on your desk. The buyer supplies the part, quantity and requested date. You add the account record. The draft separates two dates: when Northline must accept the offer and when it wants the filters at its door.
Buyer request + account record
RFQ · 500 filter cartridges
| Account | Northline Maintenance · C-1042Existing distributor account. |
|---|---|
| Product / quantity | F-40 filter cartridge · 500 unitsSame cartridge as the previous order. |
| Agreement | SA-26-041 · ends November 30, 2026Northline asks for the previous terms. |
| Commitment | 2,000 units · 1,400 deliveredThe seller adds the delivered quantity from the account record. |
| Requested arrival | November 20, 2026 · usual delivery siteNorthline specifies arrival, not dispatch. |
| Buyer’s note | Repeat order ahead of renewal.Northline has yet to say whether it plans a final order. |
Seller’s working copy
Draft quote · Q-1105-01
| Account / RFQ | C-1042 · RFQ-1105-01Both references point back to Northline’s request. |
|---|---|
| Product / quantity | F-40 filter cartridge · 500 unitsNo substitution. |
| Price basis | SA-26-041 · F-40 price scheduleSeller to confirm unit rate, freight and tax. |
| Commitment after delivery | 1,900 of 2,000 units · 100 remainingProjection assumes all 500 arrive under the agreement. |
| Arrival / offer expiry | Requested arrival: November 20, 2026. Suggested offer expiry: November 12, 2026 at 17:00 UTC.Operations checks the arrival date. The seller sets the deadline for acceptance. |
| Approval | Pending seller reviewHold the offer until operations confirms delivery and the seller approves the terms. |
Suppose the warehouse comes back with November 24. Northline asked for November 20. You now have a call to make: will four days later still work? If the buyer agrees, change the arrival date in the draft and review it again. If November 20 is firm, keep the quote in draft while you look for an option you can deliver.
↶ Delivery exception: seller asks buyer → buyer clarifies → service revises draft
The service prepares the draft. If the buyer accepts a different date, the seller reviews the revised terms before issuing the quote.
One merchant drew a similar line in an October 21 discussion about running a store with agents. The agents prepared invoices, checked payments and handled shipping labels. The owner kept control of the invoice amounts. In a follow-up reply, the owner said the agents saved time and reported starting another business. For Northline, the equivalent is having the right agreement on your desk and keeping your say over the offer.
Northline’s next buyer may send an agent. Where does it take the request? A .tx name gives the parties a public reference for the service coordinating the transaction. For example, filterquotes.tx can point people and agents to the distributor’s intake instructions, operator details and current request route. HeadlessDomains.com and SkyInclude maintain the command-line and API tools for looking up headless names. Your application checks who can use Northline’s account, reads the private agreement and runs the quoting process.
Northline asked for 500. The last deal explains why you’re talking about the remaining 100, and the warehouse tells you which date you can put your name to. Both belong in the conversation before the quote leaves your desk.