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Getting started with quotes

Everything you need to know to start using the Quoting functionality on D-Tools Cloud

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Written by Ashok P

Once you have created an opportunity, you will need to create a quote that incorporates the customer's project requirements. Quoting is the entry point for Project Management and Service Management functionality on Cloud.

Here are some high-level facts you need to know about quotes.

  • You can create two types of quotes: "Project and Service quote" (with items and service plans) or "Service quote" (only service plans). This depends on the type of opportunity (Project or Service) for which you are creating the quote.

  • A quote cannot be shared directly with the customer; you will need to create a proposal from it and then share the proposal.

  • While you can create multiple quotes within an opportunity and present proposals with different items, only the total project value of the one the customer accepts will count toward the revenue from the resulting project.

  • Quotes support revisioning, allowing you to create a new version of a quote and make the changes the customer requested.

Quoting layout

When you open a quote, you will see the tabs on the left. These tabs provide options for performing various tasks when building the quote.

Here is the list of tabs and what you can accomplish under each.

Overview

You will see the following horizontal tabs under the Overview.

Summary

Under the "Summary" tab, you will see the total value of product and labor in the quote by location, system, phase, or category.

Here is a screenshot of the Summary tab sorted by phase.

Proposal Analytics

Under the "Proposal Analytics" tab, you will see data on proposal views by customer contacts after you share the proposal for the quote.

Here is a screenshot of the Proposal Analytics tab.

Scope of Work

You can add the scope of work for the project under the "Scope of Work" tab, and it will appear in the Scope of Work section of the proposal.

Files

Here, you will see the files you have uploaded and the signed proposal once the customer accepts it.

Drawings

Here, you will see the plan views, images, and whiteboards when you use the Visual Quoting functionality.

Design

You will likely spend most of your time on this tab when creating a quote. This is the tab where you add the project items (products, labor, and packages) required for the project in the tabular view.

The following is a screenshot with items added under the Design tab.

To the right of the Design tab, you will see a "View by" pane displaying the locations, systems, phases, and categories. The systems and phases shown here are the ones you have created in the catalog.

Until you add items, all nodes and subnodes in the left pane will show nothing.

Visual

Under the Visual tab, you can use the "Visual Quoting" functionality on Cloud to:

  • Place items on a floor plan or a photographic image of the site to create a detailed design of the products and their connectivity

  • Calculate the wiring lengths required to connect the items

  • Emulate the port-level connectivity between the items to assist technicians in connecting the devices

The following is a screenshot of the options under the Design tab.

In the proposal for a quote built with Visual Quoting, the customer can view the visual placement of products on the floor plan or in an attached image.

Learn more about visual quoting.

Service Plans

This is where you will add one or more service plans to maintain and repair the products installed during the project.

Cloud offers immense capabilities for creating and selling service plans, as well as fulfilling service requests both on-site and remotely.

You can add service plans to the catalog.

Learn more about service plans.

Subscriptions

This is where you will add "Subscriptions," a Cloud feature that enables you to earn recurring revenue by selling software license subscriptions.

You can convert existing products into subscriptions or add new subscriptions to the catalog.

Review

Once you have built the quote to a certain level of completion, you can check the "Review" tab to view the breakdown of products and labor by location, system, phase, and category.

Build the quote

Before you start building quotes, you will need products, labor, and, optionally, packages in the catalog. A "Package" is a bundle of products and labor that can be directly added to quotes.

When it comes to products, you can build quotes without any products in the catalog. You can add items from the D-Tools Library itself to the quotes. You can also import your "products list" from a CSV file or manually add your products to the catalog.

Learn more about importing products.

When it comes to labor, you will need to create labor definitions, known as "Labor Types," on Cloud. A "Labor Type" defines the nature of labor and its cost and price.

Learn more about labor types.

Add items

When building the quote, you can add items to the appropriate locations. When an item is added, it inherits the system, phase, and category assignments from the catalog and will appear in the relevant node in the relevant groups.

To add an item, go to the location or sublocation in the "View by" pane and do the following in the "Item Search" bar:

  • For a product, type in its brand, model, part number, keywords, or description.

  • For labor or package, type its name.

Click the "Search" icon on the left. The matching products will be listed under three tabs: Favorites, My Catalog, and D-Tools Library.

There are multiple ways to add items. The simplest is to click the "Quick add" button in the list of matching products.

In the following example, we searched for and added a TV to a location in the quote.

Learn more about adding items to a quote.

If you work on projects involving the same products and labor, you can create "Quote Templates" with preloaded products and labor. When creating an opportunity, select the template, and all quotes in the opportunity will contain the relevant products and labor by default.

You can add more items or remove the ones you don't need.

Check out this article for more details.

Update items

To make any changes to the item, click it to open its side panel. Here, you can do the following:

  • Specify the required quantity of the product

  • Change the item's price and cost

  • Add or reduce labor hours for products

  • Change the location, system, and phase grouping

  • Replace the product with another product

Any changes made here will not change the relevant value in the catalog. These changes apply only to this quote.

The following is a screenshot of a product's side panel. When you click a labor item or package, the options vary.

Learn more about updating items

Update product details from the catalog

Cloud has integrations with many product suppliers to access the latest pricing and other product-related data.

If suppliers have provided updates since the quote was created, you can selectively apply them by clicking the "Catalog" icon in the top right corner.

To-Dos, Notes, Files, and Activity

When in the quote and viewing a location, system, or phase, you can add to-dos, notes, and files, and view the activities relevant to that location, system, or phase. These features help your team collaborate when building the quote.

Taxes

The tax rates in the quote are inherited from those set in the opportunity. If you want to change the rates because the work site changed or for any other reason, you can do so under the "Overview" tab.

Learn more about setting up and using taxes.

Payment terms

If you are using the Quote Template functionality described above, you can add the payment terms to the template. The terms defined in the template will be the project's payment schedule when the opportunity is "Won," and you set the due dates.

You can change the payment terms that came with the quote template selected when creating the opportunity.

Manage quote

Cloud offers various quote management options to simplify updating, reviewing, and signing off on quotes.

Quote State

"Quote State" represents the progress toward completing the quote.

A new quote is always in the "Draft" state. When working on it, you can change it to "In Progress." Once the customer accepts or declines the proposal, Cloud will change the quote state to "Accepted" or "Declined."

Learn more about quote states.

Quote Versioning

"Quote Versioning" enables you to create a new version of the quote while retaining the original. This is helpful when the customer requests changes in a quote, and you need to keep the original quote as a reference.

Learn more about quote versioning.

Quote Locking

"Quote Locking" is a feature that automatically locks the edit options on a quote while the customer reviews the proposal. The quote is read-only.

You can unlock the quote to make the customer's requested changes, then lock it again.

Learn more about quote locking.

Review quote

Once you have added all the required items to the quote, see the summary of the product and labor involved, the work involved in the different phases of the project, and the overall profit margin.

Here are some features you can use to modify the pricing in your quote.

Adjustments

An "Adjustment" is a discount or upcharge that can be applied to the total product value, total labor value, or total value in the quote.

You can add adjustments under "Settings." These adjustments will appear in the quote; you can apply multiple adjustments as needed.

Learn more about price adjustments.

Discounts

A "Discount" is applied to a product or package in its side panel.

You can add discounts under "Settings." The discounts will appear in the side panel, and you can choose one.

If you want to apply a labor discount, apply a labor-level adjustment.

Learn more about discounts.

What's next

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