An "Alternate Set" is a bundle of similar items you can create in your Cloud catalog. Items can be products, allowances, or packages. When you add it to the quote, the customer sees all items in the alternate set in the proposal and can choose their preferred option.

Example 1: An alternate set for ENS Security camera, Luma, and Engenius cameras, and the customer can choose one of them.

Example 2: An alternate set for a premium-priced Home Theater package, a Mid-range package, and an Economy package, and the customer can choose one of them.

You can add as many alternate sets as you wish to your catalog. To add an alternate set:

1/ Go to "Catalog > Alternate Sets" and click "Add alternate set" in the top-right. This will open the modal to add items from your catalog or D-Tools Library.

2/ Give the set an intuitive name and description, and add as many items as you want.

3/ Click "Create."

4/ Now, open the Edit view of the set by clicking its 3-dot menu and "Edit." In the modal, you can define the set with the following options.

Type of Set

Choose from the following options:

Item Label

You can provide intuitive item labels and descriptions to help customers make informed decisions.

Accessories and Labor

You can let Cloud apply the exact accessories and labor of the recommended item to the customer-selected item when the customer selects a different item in the set.

5/ Once defined, click "Save" to save the updates.

Here are some of the benefits of using alternates in the proposal.

One of the main benefits of item alternates is the ability to upsell on your proposal without coming across as a sales pitch. This allows you to provide customers with options that are more expensive, enabling them to realize that upgrading might only cost them $X more.

By giving customers options, you let them customize on their own time and consider how they want to personalize their home. This creates a positive experience; your recommendations help them feel in control.

At D-Tools, we believe this is the most important reason. By engaging your customers in your proposal, they subconsciously become more invested in you than in the competitor who presented a printed document. It stops being a question of who to work with and becomes a question of what options they want to pursue, increasing your closing rate and helping you close more deals.

Iterating with the client can require multiple quote versions, which can be time-consuming due to back-and-forth communication. Putting options at the client's fingertips can save time and help them decide faster.

You can add alternate items in the quote in two ways:

Add a predefined alternate set created in the catalog

Here, you add a predefined alternate set from the catalog as an item to the quote.

Check out this article for more details.

Add alternates for an item

Here, you can define a temporary alternate set just for the quote. You can save the temporary set in the catalog alongside the predefined alternate sets if you think you will need it in other quotes.

Check out this article for more details.