The Quoting tool built by QuoteWerks is a great next step for a company that uses Autotask but has outgrown the quoting capabilities built into Autotask.
In 1993 Aspire software started selling QuoteWerks, a now mature quoting / proposal tool. QuoteWerks is not a browser based application like Autotask. It is an application that either needs to be installed on your Windows based PC or it can also be run remotely by using a Windows Terminal Server or Citrix Server. Data in QuoteWerks can be stored on the local PC hard drive, a network server or with the corporate edition, in a Microsoft SQL server.
Autotask wrote an integration / extension into QuoteWerks a few years ago that is available for a onetime fee of approximately $500 from Autotask sales. This integration/ extension is best for companies producing quotes / proposals that will resemble what will be delivered from the projects module in Autotask. The module used to be limited to single user instances of QuoteWerks. We have a patch for that limitation and to support x64 machines is posted here.
There is also a new integration that QuoteWerks wrote with support from Autotask that was released for Autotask Community Live 2011. This integration is available for free for the current edition of QuoteWerks Corporate Edition. This integration can work in tandem with the old integration or without it. Contact information inside Autotask can be queried from inside QuoteWerks. Products and services from Autotask can be seamlessly added to QuoteWerks Quotes as well.
When a quote is saved in QuoteWerks an Autotask Opportunity can be created or updated. If detailed information associated with recurring revenue is needed QuoteWerks must create products in the Autotask database that may be missing. Careful consideration should always be given to automated product creation in the Autotask database.
QuoteWerks combines ease of use with maximum flexibility for quote layout. Items on the quote can be grouped together and moved around as desired with drag and drop ease. Whole quotes or parts of a quote can be copied and pasted into existing quotes or new quotes.
QuoteWerks has always produced nice paper based / PDF based quotes / proposals. Just recently QuoteWerks introduced a new electronic quote delivery system called QuoteValet. With QuoteValet your quote is automatically converted into a custom web page hosted on QuoteWerks servers. Using QuoteValet we’ve been able to increase the number of value added options we sell on our quotes significantly. Our quotes now resemble something like the Dell online sales process, but without the options that are pointless for our clients and with preselected recommendations.
We attach PDF based word documents to the electronic quote details sheet to include “small print” which would otherwise clutter the financial selection options. We increased both the quote approval rate and the margin rates by showing on quotes that some products are only available for a limited time at discounted price points.
Once a decision has been reached, our clients can electronically sign the quote which results in an email notification. We use this in tandem with a web based credit card processing system for prepayments. QuoteWerks will shortly have an integrated credit card processing system built into QuoteValet.
Our biggest problem with the QuoteValet system is an inability to change the look of the quotes delivered. Electronic Quotes have excessive marketing information for QuoteValet. QuoteWerks knows their clients are not happy about this and plans on releasing custom template capabilities shortly. The other issue we wrestle with is not being able to hide sub options when a main option is not selected. This too is something that the QuoteWerks team understands and will endeavor to address shortly, perhaps with templates.
If a quote is going to change significantly and you want to keep prior revisions there is a revision process built into QuoteWerks. If you use quote components frequently you can template the entire quote or part of the quote to reduce quoting time.
When your quote is approved and you’re ready to deliver an order or an invoice document to your client a customized print template editor like Quickbooks is built into QuoteWerks. The QuoteWerks template process allows for customization at an extreme level. Optional items that were not selected can be automatically stripped from the resulting invoice and headers and footers that were not selected can be marked as non-printable so the elements in the original quote can remain in the quote as archived data. This makes future quote construction faster. It also allows your company to quickly and easily produce an invoice that looks just like your quote.
Our company workflow delivers invoices as outlined above as well as delivering them via Autotask directly. Regardless of the way we deliver them we ALWAYS update Autotask with proper financial information so that we know financially where we are with a client. We use the Autotask integration with Quickbooks to transfer invoices from Autotask. QuoteWerks also has an integration with Quickbooks to transfer information.
Distributor integration in QuoteWerks is top notch. Products can be sourced electronically and ordered with real time pricing which includes any discounting your company receives from a distributor. Electronic ordering from each distributor is a custom process to take advantage of the tools the distributors use to compete against each other. After an order is placed electronically all order information is retained inside QuoteWerks for future reference.
That sums up QuoteWerks quoting. Stay tuned for Quosal and VarStreet.
BK
Today marks the 10th year of business for Byte Harmony!
Brian will be attending the Chicago ASCII summit and The MSP MASTERY Event being put on by Stu and Stu in Chicago with Randolph Carnegie. Hope to see you there!
