In manufacturing and industrial distribution, the quotation is the sale. A customer asks for a price on 14 items, the salesperson builds a quote, there is a round of negotiation, maybe a revised quote, and — if it is won — an order that someone types into another system all over again.
Most of that process still runs on spreadsheets and email. It works, until a quote goes out at last year's price, a discount nobody approved becomes the new normal, or a won quote is entered as an order with a different quantity.
What goes wrong with spreadsheet quotes
- Prices drift — each salesperson's template has its own copy of the price list.
- Discounts are invisible until margins fall.
- Versions multiply — "Quote_final_v3_revised.xlsx".
- Follow-ups are forgotten once the quote is sent.
- Won quotes are retyped into the order system, with errors.
A quote process that holds together
- Every quote is built from the catalogue, so items and list prices are consistent.
- Discounts are shown on the line, and anything beyond the salesperson's limit goes for approval.
- Each quote belongs to a deal and a customer, with a follow-up date.
- Revisions are tracked, so it's clear which version the customer accepted.
- The accepted quote becomes the order without retyping.
Worked example: what a 3% discount leak costs
A team quotes ₹4 crore a year and wins 30%, so ₹1.2 crore of orders. If unapproved discounts average an extra 3% on won business:
₹1.2 crore × 3% = ₹3.6 lakh of margin a year, given away in increments small enough that nobody noticed each one.
Measure the funnel
| Measure | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Quotes sent | Sales activity |
| Quote-to-order rate | How competitive and well-targeted quotes are |
| Days from quote to order | How long decisions take |
| Average discount on won quotes | How much price is given to win |
| Quotes without follow-up | Where deals are being left to chance |
How Zaqnet handles quotes
- Quotes with line items from your catalogue, on deals in the CRM in ControlRoom.
- Discounts that need sign-off go to the people allowed to approve them.
- Follow-ups listed by date for each salesperson.
- Won deals become customers and orders on the same records — see B2B sales CRM.
A quote retyped as an order is a quote that can be wrong twice.