How to Add Request a Quote to FluentCart

A FluentCart request-a-quote form helps when the customer can’t choose a price from your catalog yet. GT Extensions lets you collect the request, prepare a linked proposal and turn acceptance into a payable invoice, with the payment handled through FluentCart.

This works well for a service whose scope changes from one customer to another. The merchant still has to decide what the work includes and what to charge. The form starts that conversation; it doesn’t price the job for you.

When a Quote Helps

A quote is useful when an ordinary product option can’t describe the sale clearly enough. Before adding a form, decide which part of the agreement needs a conversation.

Typical reasons include:

• Variable scope: A website migration might involve a small content site or a store with customer records.
• A custom combination: The buyer needs selected services combined into one agreed job.
• Approval before payment: The customer wants to review the scope and amount before paying.

If the scope and price are fixed, a normal product checkout is usually the shorter path. A quote form adds a wait, and someone has to respond to it.

FluentCart’s native manual-order workflow already provides a way to prepare sales outside normal checkout. GT Extensions for FluentCart, my add-on, adds a connected request and proposal workflow when you need customer acceptance before the invoice becomes payable.

Enable Request a Quote

The quote workflow requires FluentCart 1.6.4 or newer. It also depends on Custom Invoices, because an accepted proposal becomes a payable invoice through that module.

The setup is:

1. Open FluentCart > GT Extensions.
2. Enable Request a Quote.
3. Notice that Custom Invoices is enabled with it.
4. Save the module settings.
5. Open Quote requests for the form instructions and incoming requests.

Custom Invoices stays required while Request a Quote is enabled. If you later want to disable invoices, turn off Request a Quote first. Disabling a module retains its existing settings and records.

Add the Quote Form

You can place a general inquiry form or associate the form with a particular catalog product. Choose the general form when the visitor hasn’t selected an offering; choose the product-specific form when the page already establishes what they’re asking about.

For a general form, add a WordPress Shortcode block containing:

[gtfc_request_quote]

That gives the request a place on a normal page without tying it to a selected product.

For a product-specific form, use:

[gtfc_request_quote product="123"]

Replace 123 with the product’s WordPress product ID. It is not a variation ID copied from a checkout button.

If you prefer a native block, insert Request a Quote and use its searchable product picker. You can search by product name or ID, or clear the selection to create a general form.

The words around the form should set an expectation you can actually meet. For example:

Tell us what you need and any deadline that affects the work. We’ll review the request and send a proposal for you to consider before payment.

That wording describes the next step without inventing an instant quote or a response-time guarantee.

Review the Request Before Pricing

The quality of the proposal depends on the information you have. For a website migration, a useful follow-up might ask:

• Which site is moving and where it will move.
• Whether it has orders or other changing customer data.
• Which parts of the migration the customer expects you to handle.
• Whether a launch date constrains the work.

These are questions to resolve with the buyer, not a claim that the quote form automatically gathers every project detail.

A vague request should stay a conversation until you can name the deliverable. Sending an exact price while leaving the work undefined makes the proposal look complete before the agreement is complete.

Prepare and Link the Proposal

The invoice draft holds the proposed items and amounts. The quote request keeps that draft connected to the inquiry that prompted it.

The working sequence is:

1. Review the incoming request in Quote requests.
2. Prepare or edit the invoice draft with the agreed scope and customer details.
3. Use Linked quote request to associate the draft with the request.
4. Check the items and totals before returning to the quote workspace.
5. Send the proposal for the customer to accept.

The linked request must use the same customer email, and a request can have one proposal invoice. If the wrong request doesn’t appear as a valid link, check the email rather than creating another customer record to work around it.

A sent proposal must be withdrawn before changing its link. That protects the connection between the proposal the customer received and the request you’re working on.

Understand Acceptance and Payment

Acceptance creates the payable invoice. It does not mean that the customer has paid.

There are separate events to follow:

• Request received: The customer has described a need.
• Proposal sent: The customer has something specific to consider.
• Proposal accepted: The workflow creates the payable invoice.
• Payment confirmed: FluentCart records the payment against the native order.

This distinction matters if your service starts after payment. An acceptance tells you the customer agreed to the proposal; your payment record tells you whether the payment condition has been met.

The full flow is request, proposal, acceptance, invoice and payment. Each transition has a different meaning, so your customer messages should name the next action plainly.

Keep the Follow-Up Manageable

A request form needs a person responsible for the reply. Before putting it on every product page, decide who will review requests and where they will record unanswered scope questions.

Moving every fixed-price sale into a quote queue is usually unnecessary. The form should appear where a conversation improves the agreement, otherwise you’re asking the buyer to wait for an answer your catalog could already give.

Another avoidable problem is sending a replacement proposal without explaining the change. If the scope changes, the customer needs to know which proposal now reflects the job. A working payment system can’t settle an unclear agreement for you.

The Limits

The quote module connects inquiry and acceptance to a one-time invoice. It should be evaluated on that job.

It doesn’t provide:

• Automatic calculation of a custom service price from an open-ended request.
• A recurring invoice schedule through Custom Invoices.
• Online collection of a deposit followed by the remaining invoice balance.
• A complete project-management or contract-negotiation system.

Email delivery also needs to work on your WordPress site. A sent action in the admin is not, on its own, proof that the customer’s inbox received the proposal.

Start With One Offer

Choose the service that needs the most clarification before purchase and add the form there first. Give the customer a clear description of what happens after submitting it, then keep the proposal focused on work you can actually deliver.

The GT Extensions training course provides the product-specific setup reference. The useful habit to keep is separating agreement from payment so you always know which step is waiting on whom.

Your customer should be able to read the proposal and understand the next action without another explanatory email.