From Excel to Excellence

Key takeaways

• Excel isn’t built for scale. It works for small product ranges, but it breaks under complexity.
• Modern configurators reduce errors and save time. Automating pricing, rules, and documents removes repetitive work.
• Both sales and production benefit. Fewer back-and-forth approvals mean faster delivery and better margins.
• A CPQ solution aligns the entire organisation. From the first customer conversation to the production line, everyone works with the same rules and data.

Overview

1. What is an Excel configurator?
2. The risks and limitations of spreadsheet-based quoting and configuration.
3. What a professional configurator looks like in a modern sales process.
4. The technical and commercial benefits of moving beyond Excel.
5. How the shift impacts your day-to-day operations.
6. When to make the move to a CPQ solution.
7. How CPQ Belgium helps manufacturers make the leap.

What are Excel configurators?

An Excel configurator is usually a heavily customised spreadsheet that allows users to select options, calculate prices, and produce a basic quote. In most companies, this is developed by one or more select people.

For example:

• A machine builder might have a sheet with dropdown menus for capacity, size, and materials, linked to a cost calculation.
• A modular construction company might use tabs for each component: walls, windows, doors; and a formula to sum the final price.
• A technical wholesaler might have a master list of parts, with columns for discounts and delivery times.

These spreadsheets often grow over time. They start simple, but as products, rules, and exceptions pile up, they can become enormous. We’ve seen spreadsheets with 27+ tabs (does your company beat this?)

How do they limit a company’s growth?

At first, an Excel configurator feels like it does the job. You can see all the numbers, adjust them, and adapt the sheet to new situations. But over time, the file becomes so complex, only the creator can find his/her way through the maze.

That’s the moment the cracks appear:

• Limited scalability
  Spreadsheets aren’t built to handle thousands of variables or complex dependencies. As complexity grows, performance drops and errors multiply. Moreover, Excel can only be used internally, meaning none of your clients can produce their own quotes or orders (and you’re stuck with doing all the work).
• Error-prone and outdated versions
  One wrong formula or outdated rule produces a cascade of incorrect quotes. Without strict version control, salespeople or calculators might use different files, which leads to inconsistent pricing.
• Slow updates and go-to-market
  Adding new products, rules, or pricing requires manual changes across multiple sheets. This can take weeks, slowing your time-to-market.
• No integration with other software
  Excel lives on its own. It can’t directly connect to your ERP, CRM, CAD, or production systems without fragile workarounds. When producing a quote, usually selected data has to be copied in Word or a similar application. This means manual data re-entry and more room for mistakes.
• Knowledge trapped in files
  Often, only one or two people truly understand how the sheet works. If they leave, you risk losing critical business knowledge. And if they leave with your Excel-sheets, then your pricing may leak to the competition.

What is a configurator?

In a professional sales environment, a configurator is a guided sales tool. It helps your engineering and production teams to accurately store technical data and knowledge. You can create complex pricing logic and document automation, connecting your sales team with the all-in-one platform for tailored solutions. Sales people design and price solutions quickly and accurately, based on pre-defined rules. Configurations, prices and quote documents are always accurate, and generated fast. Your sales teams are working with the latest offer and pricing, always.

There are two main configurator types (more on this topic here):

• Product configurator
  Focuses on the technical composition of the product. It ensures all chosen options work together and meet engineering requirements.
  Example: A modular machine builder ensuring that selected components fit both mechanically and electrically.
• Sales configurator
  Focuses on the commercial flow: from capturing requirements to generating a quote. It integrates pricing logic, discounts, and document generation.
  Example: A sales rep creating an accurate, branded proposal in minutes, with correct pricing and product visuals.

At CPQ Belgium, you easily build both with the same building blocks. You ensure both technical and commercial teams get their needs fulfilled, and maximise connection and efficiency over multiple departments.

Key benefits in function and purpose

An advanced configurator delivers benefits for both technical and commercial teams.

Technical benefits

Eliminate errors through automated rules and validations. You don’t need engineering input for at least 90% of your orders with a configurator. The orders that truly require special attention can get it. All the rest? That’s actually configuration work: automate it with Merkato.

• Consistent designs that comply with engineering constraints
• Integration with CAD and ERP for automatic BOM (Bill of Materials) generation
• A scalable structure that can handle thousands of product variables

Commercial benefits

Your sales team becomes far more independent, and in many cases, entirely. Waiting on price quote calculations? Not anymore. Unsure if the configuration is correct? Now they’ll know. Sales is about confidence. With a configurator, you give your sellers not only that confidence, but also the system to sell the way they want to sell.

• Fast, automated quotes: from days to minutes
• Consistent pricing and branding across all sales channels
• Reduced administrative workload for salespeople
• Shorter sales cycles, giving you a competitive advantage

How will the shift from Excel to Excellence impact your processes?

The impact is both immediate and long-term. Let’s start with the fact that the moment you go live, you’ll see ROI in 3–6 months (contact us to calculate your expected ROI).

In the beginning your teams stop being overloaded and disconnected through old spreadsheets. Everyone works in the same environment, with live pricing and rules. Quotes are faster, consistent across different teams and people, and require fewer to no internal approvals.

After a while, when your entire process gets integrated into your CPQ software, your sales cycles shorten, margins improve, and production gets complete, correct orders without endless clarifications.

At the end, you can launch new products or options without disrupting your sales flow, because your configurator updates instantly for all relevant users. The configurator has become second nature to all sales teams and they won’t be able to imagine a way of working before this.

When to use a CPQ solution

Let’s be clear: Excel is a great starting point for many companies. It’s flexible and perfect for sketching out your offer when your products and processes are still taking shape. But after a few years, typically between two and four, the limits start to show. Your offer becomes more defined. Your sales and order processes are in place. And that’s exactly when the benefits of upgrading become undeniable.

By integrating your complete offer into a CPQ platform, you bring clarity to every configuration. You simplify your workflows, remove unnecessary manual steps, and let a configurator handle the complexity, so your sales teams can focus on selling and delivering.

It’s time to consider moving beyond Excel if:

• Your quotes require the involvement of engineering
• Pricing is inconsistent between salespeople or branches
• Complex quotes take more than a day to prepare
• You’re launching new products more than twice a year
• Errors in orders are causing production delays or cost overruns
• You’d like to give more autonomy to your customers in developing quotes and orders

CPQ Belgium: your partner in moving beyond Excel

At CPQ Belgium, we help manufacturing and B2B companies replace spreadsheet-based quoting with a fully integrated CPQ platform.

With Merkato CPQ, you can:

• Combine product and sales configurators in one environment
• Automate configurations, pricing, document generation, and order processing
• Integrate directly with ERP, CRM, CAD, BIM, and other core systems
• Capture and safeguard technical and commercial knowledge
• Scale your sales process without adding complexity

Our approach is consultative and tailored. We don’t just deliver software: we work with your team to make sure your configurator fits your business like a glove. We deliver fast and we deliver as promised.

Conclusion & next steps

Excel helped you get this far. But to compete and win in today’s complex B2B markets, you need tools that scale with your ambition.

A modern CPQ platform doesn’t just replace your spreadsheets. It aligns your entire organisation, accelerates sales, and ensures that what’s promised to the customer is exactly what’s delivered in production.

Ready to move from Excel to excellence?
Let’s explore how CPQ Belgium can help you streamline, scale, and sell smarter.