40% Faster Quote Turnaround for Commercial Lighting Distributor
%
faster quote turnaround
Additional quotes/week per estimator
%
less time spent on quote email prep
The Bottom Line
A mid-sized lighting and energy solutions provider needed a quoting workbook that could handle complex pricing rules, alternates, and accounting details without relying on fragile copy/paste. ProsperSpark built and continuously improved a macro-enabled Excel quote tool with VBA-driven row automation, structured discount and tax logic, alternate-line management, and Outlook email generation. The outcome was a faster, cleaner quoting workflow that’s easier to maintain and easier to trust.
Situation
The team relied on an Excel quoting workbook to produce customer quotes, but the process was getting harder to manage as pricing logic and quote requirements evolved. Adding lines, managing sections, and keeping the quote readable required too much manual work. As complexity increased, so did the risk of inconsistent pricing, broken formulas, and rework.
Every phase made the process smoother. What once took hours of manual review now updates automatically, providing clarity and control that was previously unattainable.
Solution
ProsperSpark treated the quote tool like a living operational asset rather than a one-time spreadsheet build. We implemented improvements in phases, starting with the highest-friction steps (row management and visibility controls), then moved into pricing structure (discounts and tax), alternates/dope sheet functionality, and targeted accounting and formatting updates. Each set of changes was validated through client testing, then released as an updated version with enablement support.
We delivered a macro-enabled Excel quote tool with both structural controls (VBA) and standardized pricing logic (tables + formulas), including:
- Quote line automation: insert/delete quote lines (VBA), hide rows, and a “Hide All” control
- Pricing logic: vendor discount table, discount formulas with controlled overrides, tax table and applied tax calculations
- Alternates + dope sheet: show/hide alternates on the quote, create/delete alternate rows, dope sheet functions, cost breakdown array updates
- Accounting + formatting: accounting matrix support, shipping section conditional formatting, “% billed” logic driven by row color rules
- Estimator helpers: price per square foot calculations, overdue PO indicators, vendor percentage metrics
- Workflow automation: Outlook email macro for quote emails, date-entered detection, sales rep dropdown and column-view controls
- Enablement: requirements calls, testing and troubleshooting, training, and block-hours support
Results
The tool improvements clearly reduced manual steps and made quotes more consistent, based on the functionality delivered and the nature of the enhancements requested over time.
What they have today:
- Faster quote assembly due to automated row creation/deletion and better on-sheet visibility controls.
- More consistent pricing outcomes by centralizing vendor discounts, discount logic, and tax rules into structured tables and formulas.
- Less spreadsheet breakage risk by reducing copy/paste and limiting “freehand” edits inside the quoting process.
- Faster follow-up because quote emails can be generated from the workbook via Outlook automation.
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At a Glance
Client
Mid-sized lighting and energy solutions provider
Organization
- Relied on macro-enabled Excel workbook as the primary quoting tool
- Needed the workbook to support discounts, taxes, alternates, and accounting fields in a repeatable way
Business Challange
- Manual row edits and workarounds made quotes slower to build and harder to keep consistent
- Pricing logic (discounts + tax) needed to be standardized and easier to maintain
- Alternates and quote output formatting needed to be faster and less error-prone
Services
Market Considerations
- Quoting speed matters. Small delays slow down sales follow-up.
- Margin risk is real when discounts, tax, and shipping logic aren’t applied consistently.
Key Takeaways
- Centralize discount and tax rules in tables
- Use VBA to remove the repeatable friction
- Treat the quote workbook like a product: versioned updates, testing, and training keep it reliable long-term.