• Use Get Quote when you don't have price available. Or don't want to show the price on website. Or different member customers have different prices. Or not sure about pricing, shipping and calculated later..
• A lot businesses, Distributors, B2Bs do business by Get Quote. If your shopping cart is not built-in Get Quote, you will lost a lot of potential buyers.
• It saves your Sales Team time. Give your Sales Staff a tool to manage the potential lead customers. On the average, a Sales Person spends a lot of time for quotes, many quotes before he can sign one real deal. Some Sale Persons very busy spend a whole day for quotes. One Sale Executive said sales quotes consumes all his day. Not only he spent time for quotes, but also he spent time to search for old quotes, back and forth quotes with customers. When customers call about the past quotes, the sales staff search in to papers. Can't remember. Sometime lost the quotes. Sometimes takes so long, few days, to get back to customers for the quotes.
• Let the Website take care of the Quote. You take care of the Deal.
How to create a product item without price?
You use Product Catalog Manager tool to create a product item just like you create other product item, but enter its price = 0. The price will display N/A, * Get Quote*. See picture of a sample Product Catalog of the product item = DellOptiPlex 740 - AMD Athlon 64. Now this product item becomes a quote. Customers inquiry about the product quotes by adding the product quotes to shopping cart and check-out just like order online.
Picture: Users check website Product Catalog to get quote for product without price. Price = N/A * Get Quote * if enter Price=0 in Product Catalog Design Tool.
Click on Feedback/Ask pops up a windows that lets users send Ask/Feedback questions to the sales staff. Use Email Manager to setup email messages, who in-hose staffs will receive this. People do Ask/Feedback are leads potential customers. Messages are saved in table x_askfeedback for product research, leads, potential customers. Look another different style of Left Product Menu (tree style), Topmenu you can select.
NOTE: It doesn't matter what products and services you provide, use Product Catalog Design Tool to design an impressive and powerful showcase. It is built-in features let you to setup: detail description [More Info], upload file, Pdf: [File], upload, demo: [Video], send email: [Feedback/Ask], Bid price: [Your Bid]. Good product catalog showcase will save sales people a lot of time for on-site product demo that may take hours.
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Picture: Messages from Feedback/Ask are stored in database for product research, email contact, collaborate potential customers, leads with other departments...You can't do product research or collaborate if stored in email.
NOTE 10000 Feedback/Ask per year will translate into 10000 leads, potential customers. The list keeps growing...
Use Email Manager, ETYPE = feedback_ask, to setup who, the in-house staffs, will receive the message after customers sent. [Feedback/Ask] is all about customer's care. Show customers you listen to them.
Picture 1: Customer selects product items that have price = 0 (N/A) and check-out in order to get a quote. When check-out, customers select pay by = Get Quote, not select Pay By = Credit Card or other method of payments like Pay Pal, Check...
The customer selected your products and services without price posted at your website -> Add to the shopping cart -> Check-out the product and select Pay By = Get Quote (Not Pay By = Credit Card ...) -> Right away, the Sales Staff will receive and email Invoice Quote sent to his/her email -> The Sale Rep then logins website as Admin -> Open the [Sales Invoice Quote Manager] tool from [Tool] main menu -> Enter the prices, shipping fees... -> Then send the quote to customer.
Picture: From [Tool] menu -> Select [Sales Invoice Quote Manager] Tool used by Sales Exec to do a quote.
Every thing of this quote is loaded like Qty, Part#, Product Description, except the Price + Freight needed to enter. Extended is the Total Price = Qty x Price.
-> The Sales Person, Paul H, enters the quote ID = 152 in the input box. Click the button [Load Invoice Number] to loads the Quote #152
-> Next, enter the Price =1350, 25.4, 22.15, 23.49, and Freight =25
-> Click button [Calculate and Save] the Quote in database x_invoice the SUB_TOTAL, TAXES, SHIPPING_FEE. Before this Quote has no Price. Now it has.
-> Paul, the Sale Rep, click [View] button to review, make changes before email. Click [Send] button send email of this quote to the customer.
-> Paul can re-load and re-quote, send to customers many times.
The email content, message, logo is setup in database x_email_manager, the record has ETYPE = x_em_quote. See how to setup Email Notification.
Time for quote spent in less than 5 minutes. If quote by manual, on the phone, back and forth with customers can take hours. Human mind can't keep track.
Buttons:
• [Load Invoice Number]: First, enter the number 152 in the box. Click this button to load the quote history data: Quantity, Part#, Description.
• [Calculate and Save]: Save this quote in database. It is easy to retrieve, re-quote later.
Click on this button to update the price of each item in database table = x_OrderDetail. It is the table used to store all info about the Qty, Part#, Description and Price of each invoice. Plus update the field Sub_Total, PST, GST in table x_invoice at the time of quote, before field Sub_Total = 0.0$. Now Sub_Total = 1421.04$. It also update table x_invoice the field Sale Person = Paul H and his Notes = Please contact... So that when the customer logins check the quote, they will know who is the Sale Person name and his message.
• [View]: View the Quote before send email.
• [Send]: Send this quote to customer email.
Picture 3: This is the email of an invoice quote received by customer after the Sales Rep clicked on [Send] button.
Next, after the Sale Exec Paul sent the quote, the customer Dave receives the quote by email (see above).
He logins any time to his account in Member Home at the website, and order this quote any time he wants.
The customer Dave opens the email quote. Likes the price, and wants to order this quote. He clicks on the email link Login to his account ( or he can visit the website and Member Login) -> Select Order History list -> Click on the [Order?] button to order. DONE!
- Finally, the customer Dave wants to order. He logins as member. Select left menu Member Collaboration = Order History. Check the Quote 152 Sub Total=1421.04$ with STATUS=quote. See detail Quote too -> Dave clicks on [Order ?] button to order.
- A small window pops up. It synchronizes with database to make sure the price is the latest updated because price may change in minutes. If updated, the customer will see the latest price on screen before click [Yes] button. After click [Yes] to order, email sends final invoice receive to both customer and the Sales Person. After the email confirmation order, the Quote 152 now is updated STATUS = order to become an official invoice 152. DONE!
- After having confirmed the order, the customer click on the icon $, and pay. See Order History List below for how customer paid.
- If this quote is not ordered yet by customer, it stays there until you, the seller, delete. Every time customer logins, they see the quote to remind a quote not yet order.
myNet.Dbase 1-2-3
Learn: • Run this code in Code Area to delete all the quotes in database invoice: Delete from x_invoice where status ='quote'
• Run this code to delete quote of customer email= davesmith@ibm.com in database x_invoice:
Delete from x_invoice where status ='quote' and email ='davesmith@ibm.com'
• To list all quotes: run this code in Code Area to search for all lead customers who have quoted : Select * from x_invoice where status ='quote' . Then contact them.
You can't achieve Get Quote more efficient if it is done by
email or by phone. Because lost track, no record, virus, huge emails. Can't
remember. Easy to forget. Manually enter data. Cause confusing. Take longer
time back and forth. No collaboration between customers and staffs by phone
or by email. Take longer time to search for old quotes. Most importantly lost
potential customers. Email is not computerized database! You can't
process data and information in Email. You can't do business by email all
the time. Email is like big garbage ground mixed with junk mails, viruses. You can't search name or phone in emails. You can't share or collaborate data with others by emails.
Calculate the Productivity
for Sales Quotes automated online vs. Sales quotes by human:
Your company does 100 quotes / day. On the average, quote manually by human takes at least 30 minutes. Some quotes take days back-and-forth with customers still unfinished. On the Net takes only 10 minutes. The difference is 20 minutes. Thus this will cost the company: (20 minutes x 100 x 365 ) / 60 / 160 = 76 months approximately of waste time, of un productivity per year. Moreover, human can't keep track, retrieve all quotes. Lost quotes. Forget quotes.
Human is not database that can store millions of data, process accurately, and retrieve them in few seconds. And that we mean productivity.
The SALES QUOTE TOOL is also used as a tool to send Invoice payment reminder
Let say, there is an outstanding invoice 252. You want to remind this customer to pay for this invoice.
- Your Sales Staff login website as Admin -> Open the Sales Quote Tool -> Load the out standing Invoice 252
-> In the box [Enter Notes For Customers], enter notes, such as: This invoice is overdue. Please login your account and pay. Or call us for info.
-> Click on button [Send] to send this out-standing invoice to that customer.
The customer will receive the email with a whole Invoice including Qty, Description, Price, Tax, Total...(see picture of an email invoice) + a notes reminding to pay for this invoice. They login Order History and pay.
Picture: Customers login their account in Member Home -> Select Order History List -> Click on icon $ -> Pay online for that invoice 252.
Get Quotes FAQs
- How can I create a
Product Item in a Catalog that is used for quote only?
Ans: You use Product Catalog Manager Tool to create a product quote
just like you create sales Product has price. Except you enter the price = 0
for product quote only.
- How can a customer get a quote for a Product Item
with price N/A (Price = 0)?
Ans: The customer orders the product for quote (without the price),
add in the shopping cart,
like they order the normal sales products (product with price) except when
check out, they select Pay By = Get Quote.
- How can a customer agreed the quote, and want to
order that quote?
Ans: After the customer check-out shopping cart of the quote online,
the sales staff will receive the email quote sent from website. The sales
staff login to the website as Admin -> Do the quote and send to customer
email. The customer received the email quote -> Look at the quote -> To
order, the customer logins their account in Member Home -> Select Order
History -> Place the order. The quote now is updating and become an true
invoice.
- In Order History list, there is an email icon that lets the customers send
email to the sales staff any time. Or the
customers can always call the sales staff.
- How long the Sales
Quote are kept in the database?
Ans: The Sales Quotes are kept in database for ever until the Admin
Staff want to delete. The Admin Staff can list all the sales quotes in
database by using this database script: -
Select * from x_invoice where status ='quote'
- To find specific sales quotes of a company or a customer by run
this database script: Select * from x_invoice where status ='quote'
and company ='ABC Inc'
- To find all sales quotes in a period: Jan/1 -> April1/2009: Select
* from x_invoice where status ='quote' and invoice_date >= '2009-01-01' and
invoice_date <= '2009-04-01'
- Can the Sales Person
do the same sales quote many times?
Ans: Yes. The Sales Quotes are kept in database. The Sales Staff can
re-load, re-enter the Price, Freight. And re-send the quote to customer.
CONCLUSION
•
It is not just having the Get Quote in the Shopping cart is enough. We also
built in Get Quote Tool in order to manage the Get Quote orders fast
and efficiently. Otherwise, it will cause confusing between customers and sales person.
•
The Get Quote will not be possible implemented without myNet.Dbase. It is
also explain why a lot online businesses don't have Get Quote built in
because lack of back-end relational database.
• Of course, it is for sure that, the way you
used to Get Quote for many years, will be different from the way the Net
does. But you should change and adapt it. It is not only
about working harder but also about working smarter.
• Human can't keep track every thing in
their head.
• Get Quote, Ask/Feed Back, Your Bid
from myNet.Office are another innovative sale and marketing tools that lets
you get more potential customers.
• Let the
Website take care of the Quote. You take care of the Deal.
• Can we repeat this "- Human is not
database that can store millions of data, process accurately, and retrieve
them in few seconds. And that we mean productivity."