How to write a robot RFQ that suppliers actually answer

Suppliers get a lot of emails that say "How much for a drone?" Those emails get a slow, vague, expensive answer, or none. Here's how to get a fast, sharp one.

The 8 facts every robot RFQ needs

The job, in one sentence. "Thermal inspection of a 2 MW rooftop solar array," not "drone services."
Where, exactly. Address or coordinates, plus anything nearby that matters: an airport, power lines, a stadium, a school.
How much. Acres, square metres, drones, kilometres, rooms, hours. Robots are priced by quantity, so give one.
When. A date window beats a single date. Flexibility gets you a better price (see: July 4th drone show surge pricing).
What you need delivered. Photos? A PDF report? A 3D model? Live coverage? A clean floor? "The answer" is a valid deliverable; say what question it answers.
Budget range. Yes, really. It saves everyone a week. If you don't know, say "Under $X," and look at our price index first.
Constraints. Access hours, safety inductions, insurance minimums, data privacy needs, union rules.
How you'll decide. Price, speed, experience, references? Suppliers write better proposals when they know the rubric.

A template you can steal

Job: Façade wash of a 12-storey office building, glass curtain wall, approx. 6,000 m² of glazing.
Location: Rotterdam, NL. Street-side access, pedestrian area on the north side.
When: Any weekend between 6 and 27 April.
Deliverable: Clean glass; before/after photos.
Budget: €8k–€15k.
Constraints: Building occupied on weekdays; contractor must carry €5M public liability.
Decision: Best value with references from similar buildings. Decision within 10 days.

That's 70 words. It'll get you better replies than a 10-page PDF.

Red flags in the replies

No questions back. A good operator always asks about something: wind, access, airspace, the deliverable.
No mention of permits on a job that obviously needs them (drones near people, crop spraying, night operations).
Price with no scope. "€9,000" isn't a quote. "€9,000 for X, including Y, excluding Z" is.
"Our AI does everything." Ask what a human checks.
Can't show a similar job, or only shows glossy promo footage.

Green flags

They tell you what you don't need. ("You don't need thermal for this; the visual survey is enough.")
They name the regulation they're operating under, and their insurance limit.
They give you a range and explain what moves it.

How Whirrwork helps

Our request form asks for these facts, plus the specific details each job type needs. Drone counts for shows, acres and product for spraying, square footage for cleaning. We match your request with suppliers who say they cover your country, and forward it to them. You'll get replies directly. It's free, and we never sell your email.