Quoting in a conversation, when the price is a discussion

Put the number in the message text, attach the detail as a document, and give every quote an explicit expiry date. A price that exists only inside a PDF or a photograph is a price nobody can search for, including you.

Why the number goes in the text

Six weeks later somebody searches the conversation for "14,800" or for the customer's name. If the figure was only ever in an attachment, the search finds nothing and the quote is effectively lost. It is also what makes the conversation usable as a record when there is a disagreement.

The expiry

The shape of a quote message

Hi Peter - for the two 195/65 R15 tyres, fitted and
balanced: 14,800 total. Valid to 30 September.

That includes fitting, balancing and disposal of the
old ones. Full breakdown attached.

Want me to book you in?

The last line matters as much as the number. A quote that ends without a next step invites the silence that follow-ups are for.

Haggling, which chat makes easier

A chat channel lowers the cost of asking for a discount to almost nothing, so you will get asked more than you would in person or by email. Two things help:

1. Decide your floor before you quote, and let the person answering know it. Negotiating upward from an improvised position is how margin leaves.
2. Trade rather than discount. "I can do 14,000 if you can come Tuesday morning when we are quiet" keeps the price anchored and buys you something.

Version the quote

When the price changes during a conversation, send the whole quote again rather than the difference. "Make that 13,500" three messages later is ambiguous about what it includes, and ambiguity in a price is resolved in the customer's favour by every dispute process there is.