Still Quoting in Spreadsheets? It’s Costing You Deals

Spreadsheets were never meant to run your quoting process. But for too many sales teams, they still do.

Quoting should be simple: price the job, get it approved, send it out. But when you're managing it all through Excel and email, every deal becomes a risk. One wrong formula, one outdated version, one missed approval—and suddenly you’re losing money, credibility, or both.

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets or legacy tools to quote services, not only are you slowing down deals, you’re putting your business at risk.

In this two-part series, we’re digging into how quoting has evolved in Salesforce over the last 20 years, and how you can modernize your process to win more deals, faster. In Part 1, we’ll explore the early spreadsheet era, the rise of CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) tools, and why the old way doesn’t cut it anymore. Along the way, you’ll hear insights from Colin McCaffrey, Senior Account Director at SETGO Partners, who’s helped dozens of clients move from quoting chaos to clarity.

The Spreadsheet Era

“Before tools like CPQ, everything was spreadsheet-based. There was no standardization, just siloed documents passed from person to person,” Colin says.

In the early days, spreadsheets were the default quoting tool. They gave teams control, but at a cost. Every rep had their own version. Pricing was inconsistent, nothing synced with the CRM, and most critically, no one had visibility into what was being quoted.

“It worked… until it didn’t. It was always a matter of time before something got lost, overwritten, or misquoted.”

What this looked like in real life: A rep from a manufacturing company builds a quote in Excel, saves a copy to their desktop, emails it to their manager for approval… and then revises it again without updating the approval. Multiply that by five reps, three product lines, and a fast-moving sales cycle and mistakes are inevitable.

Why it matters now: If your team is still quoting like this, you may not realize how much it’s costing you with delays, errors and missed margins. In today’s environment, it’s not sustainable or scalable.

Enter: Salesforce CPQ

“Once Salesforce CPQ entered the market, it was a game changer, especially for companies with complex product catalogs or approval flows,” Colin notes.

CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) tools changed the game by standardizing pricing, automating approvals, and syncing quotes directly with Salesforce. Suddenly, sales teams had:

• Real-time product and pricing updates

• Approval rules baked into the system

• Quotes automatically tied to opportunities

But CPQ wasn’t for everyone.

“Some businesses tried to force CPQ when they didn’t need it. Others avoided it for too long, even when their quoting needs clearly outgrew spreadsheets.

What this looked like in the field: A service company with region-based pricing and job minimums tries to use CPQ out of the box and ends up fighting the tool more than using it. Or, a growing team delays implementing any system at all, until they’re buried in a mess of manual quotes and workarounds.

Why it matters now: Tools have matured. There are now flexible, right-sized quoting solutions for companies who don’t need full CPQ, but desperately need to upgrade from manual processes.

The Risks of Waiting

“We’ve seen deals stall or fall apart entirely because a team couldn’t get a quote out in time. Or worse, they got it out with the wrong price.”

Delaying your quoting upgrade isn’t just a technical decision. It’s a revenue risk. When your tools can’t keep up with your sales team, or your customers’ expectations, you lose deals.

Here’s what we see most often:

• Sales cycles stretch because pricing approvals get bottlenecked

• Margin gets lost when reps use outdated templates or pricing

• Leadership lacks visibility into what’s quoted vs. what’s sold

  
  

What this means for commercial services companies in particular: Quoting may feel like “just admin,” but it’s often the last step before revenue hits the board. In service-based work, especially with variables like site-specific pricing, job minimums, or recurring terms, quoting needs to be fast, flexible, and accurate. If your team is building each quote from scratch, that’s time you don’t get back.

“When we modernize quoting for our clients, the speed-to-quote drops dramatically. It’s not just about selling faster, it’s about creating a repeatable process that scales with you.”

Ready for What’s Next?

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Maybe your quoting process “works,” but only because your team knows how to work around it. Maybe it’s been on the list to fix, but other priorities keep taking its place. Or maybe you’re not even sure what’s possible beyond spreadsheets and email.

Wherever you are today, know this: quoting doesn’t have to be a pain point. With the right tools and setup, it can become one of the most reliable, repeatable parts of your sales process and a real driver of revenue.

In Part 2, we’ll walk through the options available now, from full Salesforce CPQ to lighter quoting tools that integrate seamlessly, and how to figure out what’s right for your business. Whether you’re quoting simple services or highly customized work, the right solution should support your sales process, not slow it down.

If you'd like an outside perspective or a second set of eyes on your setup, we’re here to help.