The spreadsheet and the paper contract vs. an in-home sales system
By Dave Roland, Co-Founder and COO
Most siding and deck companies run their appointments on the same three things: a pricing spreadsheet the owner built, a stack of brochures, and a paper or PDF contract. It works. Plenty of good companies were built on it. So here's an honest comparison: what the spreadsheet does well, where it costs you, and what a system does differently.
What the spreadsheet does well
- It's yours. You built it, you know every cell, and it prices your jobs your way.
- It's free, or close to it.
- Your reps already know it.
Those are real advantages. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Where it costs you
Typing errors. One wrong cell, one old price, one forgotten line item, and the job is mis-priced. You usually find out after the install, when it's too late to fix.
The price comes out all at once. A spreadsheet gives one number. Reps say it, the homeowner flinches, and the next thing out of the rep's mouth is a discount.
No picture. The homeowner is choosing a $30,000 color and product from a 2-inch brochure swatch. Many of them can't picture it, so they "need to think about it."
Paperwork after the appointment. The proposal gets typed that night. The contract gets filled out by hand. The office re-keys it all for production. Every step is a chance for a mistake and a delay.
It lives in your head. The spreadsheet knows prices. It doesn't know the order you present them in, the questions you ask, or how you handle "we need to think about it." That part only works when you're the one running the appointment.
Before
AfterSide by side
| Spreadsheet + paper | In-home sales system | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Typed by the rep; easy to mistype | Built in once; rep picks products |
| Price presentation | One number, all at once | Value first, then the promotion, then the ways to pay |
| Options | Usually one price | Good, better, best on their house |
| Seeing it | Brochure swatches | Their own home, rendered in the colors they chose |
| Financing | A lender's app, separate | Shown as a monthly figure next to the price |
| Proposal | Typed that night | Ready at the table |
| Agreement | Paper or PDF, filled by hand | Signed on the tablet before the rep leaves |
| Handoff | The office re-keys it | Goes to production complete |
| Consistency | Depends on the rep | Every rep runs the same appointment |
| Cost | Close to free | Setup plus a monthly fee |
So which is right for you?
If you run every appointment yourself and close most of them, the spreadsheet may be all you need. If you have reps, and their results vary a lot from yours, the spreadsheet is quietly costing you in the places above.
Put your spreadsheet next to it
Bring your numbers to a 30-minute demo. We show the whole appointment and what one more point of close rate, one more upgrade a month, or one fewer cancellation is worth to you.