Repeated enquiries
Customers needed a straightforward way to check applicable rates for their shipments without having to contact their sales representative every time.
Business Analysis & Decision Support
Making freight pricing simpler for customers.
An Excel-based self-service calculator designed to help customers access applicable freight rates from their existing quotations without repeatedly contacting the Local Sales team.
01 / The challenge
Rates were available. Accessing them took extra effort.
Customers who had already received a quotation frequently contacted Local Sales by phone or email to ask for a rate covered by that quotation. Each enquiry required additional communication and repeated manual work.
Repetitive manual work
Sales representatives spent time responding to rate enquiries and looking up information that had already been provided through customer quotations.
02 / My approach
A practical idea based on first-hand experience.
After two years in a sales role where I personally handled shipment pricing enquiries by email, I recognised an opportunity to simplify the process. I independently came up with the idea and built the original Excel calculator from scratch.
01. Understand the problem
Identify repeated rate enquiries and unnecessary manual steps.
02. Structure the solution
Organise customer-specific rates and define the lookup logic.
03. Build the calculator
Create an Excel tool customers could use independently.
03 / The solution
A customer-specific Excel pricing tool.
After preparing a quotation, the sales representative could provide the customer with a calculator based on the applicable rates. Customers entered shipment details, while Excel formulas looked up the matching rate from a separate, hidden worksheet containing the rate table.
CUSTOMER FREIGHT PRICING CALCULATOR
Customer self-service
Shipment details
62-035
70-812
850
2
120cm x 80cm
Calculated result
Illustrative result
150 EUR + BAF
The calculator looks up the applicable rate using
the entered shipment details, pick-up and destination postal codes.
Example interface only. No real rates are shown.
Note: These visuals represent real, implemented business solutions. Original data and screenshots have been replaced with recreated examples to protect confidential information.
Customer-specific rate table
Applicable rates were stored on a separate hidden worksheet within the workbook. Each customer received dedicated price list, created just for them.
Formula-based lookup
Excel lookup formulas, such as INDEX or VLOOKUP, retrieved the relevant rate from the stored table.
Shipment parameters
Customers entered pick-up and destination postal codes, weight, dimensions and pallet count.
Calculated pricing
The calculator applied the relevant rate logic to the shipment parameters to return the applicable price.
04 / The impact
Less repetitive work. Qucik decisions.
The calculator gave customers served by Local Sales a practical way to check rates already covered by their quotations, while reducing the need for repeated manual enquiries.
Self-service access
- Check applicable rates independently.
- Reduce the need for repeated phone calls and emails.
- Straight forward to place a booking, instead of waiting for quotation.
Less repetitive manual work
- Spend less time answering repeated rate enquiries.
- Reduce manual rate lookups and related error risk.
- Make more efficient use of sales team time.
From local initiative to a broader concept.
The original calculator was my own solution for customers served by Local Sales. Management later became aware of the concept, which was adopted more broadly within the company. The wider implementation was delivered by IT; I am not claiming ownership of that later implementation.
05 / Skills demonstrated
Turning a recurring business problem into a usable tool.
This project demonstrates how first-hand operational experience can reveal opportunities for process improvement — and how a practical, independently developed solution can make an everyday business process simpler for both customers and colleagues.
Business Analysis
Excel
Lookup Formulas
Pricing Logic
Process Improvement
Customer Experience
Problem Solving
Sales Operations