A phone conversation with each of the designers about the web site is requirement, the initial plans, and their additional recommendations that they may give.

Step four - ask for quotation

Based on the discussions, a final list of web site's features must be created, number and type of web pages, what textual, picture and photo materials will be provided by the business owner and what services are required from the web designer. This specification should be submitted to the selected web design companies and/or designers with request for quotation.

Step five - quotation review and order

Not only the price should be considered.
Apart from what is written in the offer, it is important to note how quick the offer has been submitted and what is the quality of the offer itself.
Payment terms are important too. A good practice is to pay on stages and leave the last payment for a week or two after the web site goes live in Internet.