A quote in quoting software always has similar lines: "Pergola 4 × 5 m", "Installation", "Delivery". Each has a price, and each price was typed in by someone. From Excel, from memory, or from the last quote that was easy to copy.
The software is fine. Numbering, the template, the PDF, sending and the "accepted" status all work, and people like using it. What isn't fine is that the price of the "Pergola 4 × 5 m" line is worked out by someone outside the software. It stores the result. It doesn't know the rules the result came from.
Quoting software for made-to-order manufacturers speeds up the document. For made-to-order products, though, the document is rarely the bottleneck. The bottleneck is the brief, and working a price out from dimensions and rules. A configurator does that.
What quoting software does well
Typical quoting software does these things well:
- Template and document. Logo, numbering, validity, a PDF and an e-mail in one click.
- A catalogue of items. Goods and services with a fixed price per piece, hour or metre.
- Quote status. Sent, accepted, declined. Often a hand-over to an invoice too.
- An overview. Which quotes are waiting and which have gone stale.
If you sell items with a fixed price, it is exactly the right tool. Nothing more is needed.
Where it breaks for made-to-order products
For a made-to-order product the price of a line isn't in a catalogue. It comes from dimensions and rules, and the software can't work it out:
- Someone works out the line's price outside the software. Dimension times surcharges times exceptions is an Excel file. The software sees only the final number.
- The software doesn't know what can't be built. A pergola with a span over the limit can be typed into a quote. The software doesn't ask.
- The customer's brief isn't in the software. The dimensions and accessories stayed in an e-mail. The software holds the text of a line.
- A changed dimension means a new calculation. From 4 m to 4.5 m: the salesperson recalculates in Excel and retypes the lines.
- The price list changes outside the software. The catalogue and the Excel file drift apart, and the quote obediently prints last season's price.
Nobody is doing anything wrong here. The software is bought for the document, and it does the document well.
Quoting software, a configurator and CPQ: what each one holds
Each of them holds something different:
- Quoting software holds the document: items and prices as you enter them.
- A configurator holds the rules: items and a price come out of dimensions and options.
- CPQ holds the rules plus discounts and approvals, usually connected to an ERP.
The difference between a configurator, a calculator and CPQ is the subject of Product configurator, calculator or CPQ?.
What changes when quote lines come from rules
The software stays for the document. What changes is where the lines come from.
The lines come out of the brief
The customer enters dimensions and options, and the quote's items are assembled from your price list. For a fence with 2.5 m sections, 23 m comes to 10 sections and 11 posts, not 9.2 sections. It is an example of what a price per metre can't see. Where a price per metre breaks is the subject of Why a per-metre calculator lies, and what to do instead.
The rules apply every time
Maximum span, allowed combinations, required accessories. The configurator won't let anyone assemble what can't be built, so it never reaches a quote. The configurator checks the rules within the agreed scope.
The document stays in your software
In the demo you can export a design to PDF. PDF output for your deployment is in preparation. The salesperson prepares the quote from the configuration in your software or template, as today, only without retyping dimensions.
The price list changes in one place
When a profile's price changes, it changes once, in the rules. A new enquiry gets the new price, and nobody hunts for which file is current.
When not to build a configurator
Not every firm does. In these situations quoting software is enough:
- You sell items with a fixed price. An hour, a piece, a finished model. The price doesn't depend on dimensions or combinations, and the whole price list can be written as a list of lines.
- There are only a few quotes and they differ only by item. If nobody works a price out from dimensions, a catalogue is enough.
- The price list's rules aren't written down. A configurator won't fix a bad price list, it carries it into 3D with the errors intact. Write the rules down first.
If you didn't recognise yourself in any of these, carry on.
A five-minute test: is it time?
Take your last three quotes and answer four questions:
- How many lines did you type by hand from Excel? The more there are, the more rules live outside the software.
- Does a line's price depend on a dimension? If so, a catalogue isn't enough.
- Can a quote contain something that can't be built? If so, nobody checks it in time.
- Who recalculates the quote when the customer changes a dimension? If it is always the same person, that is a risk.
The first step takes five minutes and doesn't need us: in the three quotes, highlight the lines whose price came from a formula or from memory. Those are the rules to write down.
Which products feel it most
It shows most where the price of a line comes from dimensions and rules:
- Pergolas and carports: dimensions, roof type, louvres, side walls and lighting.
- Fences and gates: side lengths, corners, height, infill and gates.
- Verandas and conservatories: floor plan, roof pitch and glazing.
- Garden sheds and saunas: dimensions, layout, cladding and extras.
The full list of 305 product types is in the configurator catalogue.
Frequently asked questions
Is free quoting software enough?
If you sell items with a fixed price, yes. If a line's price comes from dimensions and rules, free software won't work it out, it only records it.
Is a configurator the same as quoting software?
No. Quoting software holds the document and the items you enter. A configurator holds the rules the items and the price come from.
Will a configurator replace my quoting software?
No. Today the document stays in your software or template. PDF output for your deployment is in preparation, so the salesperson prepares the quote from the configuration.
What now
And the "Pergola 4 × 5 m" line? From a number someone typed, it becomes the result of rules everyone knows.
If you have a price list in Excel, you have a brief. See what a configurator costs, or send us your price list and we will show you a configurator on your own product.
