Too Many Quotes!

[Morespeed]

Sorry if this has been discussed but I couldn't find anything on it. We unfortunately give out too many quick quotes to customers sometimes. I am just inquiring if there is any place in Mitchell to store these so they are not on my screen and in my face all day long. I usually wait for about a week, then I print it, file it and delete it off my screen, but it would be nice to be able to just push it to another area in case the customer come in after a week and a day. Just more work to do to build it again which is what I do but.......

[Silky7]

The best practice, for both the application and business, is to collect as much information as you can and create a Revision for the customer. If you can at least get the name, phone and vehicle basics, you then have a Revision that has the advantage of A. Being out of view. B. Prompting if they come back to have the work done C. (With SE) Date stamping so you know if the quote pricing is stale or not. D. Allows you to follow up with the customer during slow times (tie a recommendation to it).

Now, I know this takes more time and may seem difficult during harried times, but in the long run I think you'll find it worth it.

[JBUTITTA]

I almost always get a customer name and put on a revision. I also note if this is a walk in quote or phone quote and put a date stamp on it. Jerry

[Gary R]

I don't like having all that extra "stuff" on my WIP screen, so in the display box, I uncheck estimates, and they don't appear on the WIP.

[Morespeed]

I have tried that too. The only problem I have with not having estimates on my WIP is that I always start out with estimates when a customer shows up. I don't start out with an RO or Inv. Then I transfer to RO and INV when I am ready to print.

[ricmorin]

When a person comes in looking for an estimate and we can estimate their request without looking at the vehicle first, (rarely happens) we make an Estimate. Once the estimate is made, we ask for an appointment. Yes= estimate stays and a time and date are added for the Scheduler. No= estimate data is moved to a revision and estimate is deleted. Simple.

The only Estimates on my WIP are scheduled appointments.
The only RO's on my WIP are jobs in progress.
The only Invoices on my WIP are completed jobs that have not been paid for or not yet delivered.

[Gary R]

I have tried that too. The only problem I have with not having estimates on my WIP is that I always start out with estimates when a customer shows up. I don't start out with an RO or Inv. Then I transfer to RO and INV when I am ready to print.

When a customer comes in, we go to the schedule and open the estimate there. At this time it is converted to an RO and becomes visible on WIP. All RO's on WIP are vehicles being worked on and all INV's are completed work. When the invoice is paid and posted it goes off the radar.

[Morespeed]

You are probably going to wonder about my sanity but I have used Manager since 1998 and I have never used the scheduler. I still use a schedule pad on the front desk.

[ARS]

We do not use the scheduler that way either...
If we do not have the person as a customer... then we do a quick quote & still try to grab the person's name & phone number.. but some people do not want to give you that information. Either way, we then transfer the quote into a customer we call Quick Estimate. That way we can keep the quote for as long as needed. If we have the person's name & number we just add that as a note. We have 6.4 SE so we do not have the date stamp yet. But in the Quick Estimate we can quickly find the vehicle by organizing the year or make or model. & It keeps it off of the WIP.

We still use a schedule book to write every appt. in. Then I type the appt. into the computer. Even then I do not start with the Schedule. I use the NEW button (near the quote button), find the customer & vehicle, type in symptoms & the put the appt. into the schedule using the options button & schedule work button. My computer is the only one that has the WIP organized by the schedule. The other 3 computers are organized but ABC order.

Anyway, try the QUICK ESTIMATE as a customer to transfer your quotes. I hope it helps.