Steel and metals
How do we quote steel without a rep typing every message?
With Eva, an AI agent that answers on WhatsApp, asks for product, size, gauge and quantity, verifies the data against your catalog and leaves every quote with its follow-up in the CRM.
A steel quotation is never a one-line answer. Before a price exists somebody has to pin down product, dimensions, grade or gauge and quantity, check whether the material is there, and state how long the offer holds. The same person is usually also chasing shipments, entering purchase orders and collecting payment.
Eva is an AI sales agent with a built-in CRM that takes the first stretch of that work: it asks the missing questions on your website, by email, on Instagram, on Messenger or on WhatsApp, searches your catalog, verifies the product record before quoting, and leaves the thread in the CRM with follow-up scheduled. This page describes that for a distributor or service center.
Constructora El Roble
online
Sunday
I need 4 tons of galvanized sheet, gauge 22, 3×10. Can you quote me?
23:07
Sure: galvanized sheet ga. 22, 3×10 ft, at 18,450 pesos per ton with 32 tons in stock. 4 tons come to 73,800 pesos + tax, valid for 3 days. Want the quote?
23:07
Yes, send it. Can I pay by bank transfer?
23:08
Here is your quote, valid through Wednesday, and the transfer payment link.
Quote_5107.pdf
23:08
Payment confirmed · 73,800 pesos
Payment received. Your invoice is on its way and the material is set aside. Shipping confirmation first thing tomorrow.
23:15
I need 4 tons of galvanized sheet, gauge 22, 3×10. Can you quote me?
23:07
Sure: galvanized sheet ga. 22, 3×10 ft, at 18,450 pesos per ton with 32 tons in stock. 4 tons come to 73,800 pesos + tax, valid for 3 days. Want the quote?
23:07
Yes, send it. Can I pay by bank transfer?
23:08
Here is your quote, valid through Wednesday, and the transfer payment link.
Quote_5107.pdf
23:08
Payment confirmed · 73,800 pesos
Payment received. Your invoice is on its way and the material is set aside. Shipping confirmation first thing tomorrow.
23:15
What Eva did meanwhile
Catalog
Galvanized sheet ga. 22 · 3×10
18,450 pesos/ton · 32 tons in stock
Looked up in your real catalog
Payment and invoice
Quote_5107.pdf generated
Payment link · bank transfer
CRM
Constructora El Roble · 73,800 pesos
Sunday, eleven at night, end to end: quoted at your real prices and stock, collected, invoiced, and the order left on record.
- Quotes
- Charges
- Books
- Logs it in the CRM
- Follows up
From $229 USD a month · setup from $579 USD · live in 5 business days → See pricing
The problem
The daily problem
- One shift carries shipping, quotations, order entry, collections and invoicing at the same time, so answering quickly competes with everything else on the desk.
- A request that only says «I need steel» is not quotable: product, dimensions, gauge and quantity are missing, and collecting them turns into a back-and-forth that starts whenever somebody has a free minute.
- Price is not fixed. A quotation carries validity and conditions, so an answer needs its date and version attached rather than a bare number.
A day with Eva
A day with Eva
A buyer fills in the web form at eleven at night, or replies to a sales email, or messages the chat app your market uses. Eva answers in seconds and asks exactly what is missing to quote: gauge, dimensions and quantity, in the vocabulary your team already uses. If the buyer sends a photo of the part or of a label, Eva matches that image against your catalog images and proposes candidates with a confidence level.
With a complete specification, Eva searches your catalog, pulls the verified product record and answers using only the fields you marked visible. What is not in the catalog does not get invented: when a value is missing or verification is incomplete, Eva says so, asks for a person on your team and hands the thread over with the context already assembled.
The thread then does not go cold. Eva creates or updates the contact and the opportunity, schedules follow-up and comes back on its own, with sequences of up to five steps and delays of up to 180 days. Each follow-up runs a full agent turn, so it can check the catalog, update the CRM, reschedule or decide that writing again is not the right move yet.
For Mexican operations, Eva can also create a SPEI bank-transfer payment link and issue the CFDI tax invoice once the tax profile is complete. The moment a person on your team replies in the thread, Eva goes quiet: your rep steps in when the buyer already wants to buy.
Concrete workflows
Three concrete workflows
Quote with a complete specification
Eva asks for product, dimensions, gauge and quantity, searches your catalog, returns up to 25 candidates, verifies the record and answers with price and current conditions.
The quote is built from your data
Catalog
Ga. 22 · 3×10 · 18,450 pesos/ton
Stock
32 tons available
Terms
Quote valid: 3 days
Galvanized sheet ga. 22, 3×10 ft: 18,450 pesos per ton with 32 tons in stock. 4 tons come to 73,800 pesos + tax, valid for 3 days.
Identify the part from a photo
The buyer sends a photo or a label. Eva matches it against catalog images and returns candidates with a confidence level; price and availability are always confirmed against the product record.
Whatever the customer sends, Eva understands
Follow-up, payment and invoice
Eva leaves the opportunity in the CRM, follows up for days or months without anyone remembering, and in Mexico creates the SPEI payment link and issues the CFDI when the tax profile is complete.
Collects and invoices on its own
Payment link · transfer or card
Payment confirmed
Invoice_A241.pdf
CFDI 4.0 invoice issued and sent
Typical integration: The catalog arrives as a file or through an API, and the agent's tools can call HTTP endpoints in your ERP, customer portal or invoicing system to check stock, price or order status. What gets connected, and under which contract, is decided during implementation rather than promised beforehand.
We configure everything for you.
online sales in six months
Grew its online sales more than fourfold in six months with Eva handling its WhatsApp channel. It is the only client we can name today, and it runs without revenue or tonnage figures because that is what was authorized.
Read the full storyQuestions
FAQ
Does Eva quote from my price list or make numbers up?
From your list. Eva searches the catalog you loaded and pulls the verified product record before answering, using only the fields you marked visible to customers. When a value is missing or verification is incomplete, it does not fill the gap: it says so and escalates to a person on your team.
Can it identify a part from a photo?
Yes, with an explicit condition. Eva matches the photo against your catalog images and returns candidates with a confidence level and the evidence behind it; those are candidates, not a verdict. Price, currency, availability and variants are confirmed against the product record before anything is quoted.
What if my stock and prices change every day?
Catalog sources connected through an API sync every 24 hours, and file sources refresh when you upload them again. If an update fails and a catalog already exists, Eva keeps serving the last good version rather than serving nothing. For minute-by-minute stock, expose a live lookup from your system and connect it as a tool.
Do we have to replace our ERP or customer portal?
No. Eva sits on the conversation side and reads whatever your system exposes through an API. What can be read or written depends on that system's endpoints, authentication and contract, and it is scoped during implementation with your systems team.
Does it handle invoicing?
In Mexico, Eva issues and stores CFDI tax invoices through Facturapi for eligible charges, triggered by the confirmed payment and keeping the PDF and XML. It requires a complete tax profile and valid configuration; when the tax data is incomplete the invoice stays pending instead of going out wrong.
Put Eva to work.
Send us your price list or a photo of a real quotation. We will show you how Eva would answer it, with your prices and your rules.
Message us on WhatsAppUpdated