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The client had previously used their back office ERP solution to deliver quotes. This required users to use SalesLogix for most purposes, but also required the users to switch to MAS 90 to create quotes in. This required re-entering prospects into the accounting system so that a quote could be developed.
The accounting system did not allow for the speed or flexibility that the sales force needed in creating a quote for a customer. Outputting the data gathered from MAS 90 was tedious and often involved exporting the data to a document like Word or Excel so the users could format it the way they wanted. This resulted in the sales force taking an extreme amount of time developing and delivering a quote to a prospect. In some complex instances quotes took over an hour to produce.
Because of these issues it was decided to implement a custom quoting solution within the SalesLogix system that would still allow for accurate real time pricing being retrieved from the accounting system. This solution was designed with speed and flexibility in mind.
In addition to ease of use, the quoting solution also was developed to be the primary integration point between SalesLogix and the MAS 500 accounting system. At the point when a prospect accepted a quote and acknowledged they wished to purchase, a system was developed to check to see if the customer existed in the accounting system, if it did not the customer and sales orders would be passed across. If the customer did exists, the accounting system is checked to ensure the data matches SalesLogix and if not the customer is updated and the Sales order is added.
This solution eliminated the users need to switch between applications when creating a quote and eliminated the dual-entry that two systems required. This dramatically increased sales force efficiency, allowed for detailed analysis of quoting and sales trends, and decreased errors in quotes that were typical with the old workflow.
The following sections describe the many features that were developed in the custom quoting solution:
New Main View
A new main view was developed within SalesLogix to produce quotes. This main view allows the required Quote information to be collected and displayed in a format similar to other areas in SalesLogix. Developing the Quote solution in a main view allows for the standard ability to build groups of quotes and develop queries to quickly search for and find quotes meeting specific criteria.
A new main view area was added to SalesLogix for managing Quotes.
Within the Quote module, tabs exist for the various components of a quote these include the following:
On the Main Quote detail screen you can see the primary information regarding the quote, including the Account and Contact requesting the Quote, the linked opportunity to the Quote, the SalesLogix sales person handling the Quote, status information and quote expiration and delivery requirement dates. Also, the total dollars on the quote are summarized on this main screen.
There are also a series of action buttons on the right of the screen that change depending on the current user’s functional security. These buttons include the following:
Copy Quote
This button allows the current Quote to be used as a template for creating a new quote. This functionality allows for revisions to be made of a quote with various options presented, or can allow the quote to be used as a template when quoting a different customer for a similar purpose. Clicking this button will present the user with a dialog to determine what actions are performed.
This functionality greatly improves speed of re-quoting as much of a quote’s information can be re-used without re-keying.
Print Preview
The client needed the flexibility of outputting their quotes in various formats. When the user chooses one of the menu items the appropriate Crystal Report is opened in the standard SalesLogix quote viewer.
This button presents the user with a pop-up menu asking which Quote report the user would like to use.
As new Quote Crystal Reports are added to the system, this list automatically grows.
Using the Print Preview The Crystal Viewer control has the Print and export buttons disabled. This is a requirement from the client. Once a user prints a quote the quote becomes locked down from editing. This Print Preview button allows the user the ability to see what the Quote will look like without actually having the Quote locked down from further editing.
Output
Similar to the Print Preview button, this button presents the user with a menu of Quotes to print. When this option is chosen the Quote report is opened in the Crystal viewer. The viewer has full functionality enabled, including the ability to print the Quote or export it to a file.
Once this button is pressed, the Quote is locked down. This ensures that the Quote that was disseminated to the customer is not altered after the fact. A locked quote is represented with a padlock icon displaying on the Quote screen:
Once a Quote is “locked” it may only be re-output or copied.
Split View
This button toggles the list view from displaying to the far right of the Quote module. Having the list view on screen allows for quick navigation between Quote records in SalesLogix.
Email Quote
Similar again in functionality to the Output or Print Preview buttons, this button presents the user with the menu of Quote output formats they would like to use. Once a Quote is chosen the system exports the Quote to a PDF file then opens a new outlook email, preformatted to the Quote contact and with the Quote PDF attached.
The sales person may then add appropriate notes and send the email.
This direct email solution saves time by delivering a one click solution of emailing a quote to a customer. Using the standard SalesLogix email integration the email communication, and if desired the attached Quote can be saved to the SalesLogix Account History.
Fax Quote
The client had an emailed based faxing solution. This button functions similar to the Email Quote button, however instead of formatting the To address with the contact’s email it used a special format of the contacts fax number.
Approve Quote
Visible only to some users, this button appears when a quote has exceeded a sales person’s discount limits and needs a special exception before it can be output to the customer. Pressing this button records the manager who approved the Quote and unlocks it for the users to output.
For more on the approval process and discounting, see this post.
Calculate Total
This button is pressed once all products and discounts have been applied to the Quote. This button will retrieve from the accounting system the correct Sales Tax and Shipping costs based on the Shipping address location and the shipment method defined for the Quote. This price fetch information is performed real time to provide accurate totals that can be presented to the customer.
A Quote can not be output until the Calculate Total button has been pressed and all costs have been determined.
While shipping is automatically calculated, during the Calculate Total process, an additional feature was added that allows some user the ability to exclude shipping. A checkbox on the Quote detail screen identifies if shipping charges are to be excluded. If checked, the Quote’s shipping is reduced to $0. These same users can also manually override the calculated shipping charge, if desired.
Process Order
This button is used to transmit the Quote into Accounting as an Order once the client received back an accepted Quote. When this button is pressed a dialog will display summarizing the quote and prompting some final questions about the order. See this post for specifics on the order integration
In addition to the main Detail view of the Quote, several tabs were created based upon other components of a Quote. See the followings posts for information on each of the tabs:
Quote Comments
Quote Billing Information
Quote Shipping Information
Quote Discounts
Quote Products
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