Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

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DelHatt
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Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by DelHatt »

Why is it that i can only add a Canned job? we should be able to add a custom or " on the fly" labor line. Also, at this point adding a symptom/ customer concern would be great. Possibly even toggle a comeback? I also dont understand why you cant add labor lines to an appointment is creating it from the estimate (options button). is it so you cant change the original estimate amount?
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Johnny5
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Re: Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by Johnny5 »

Hi,

The simple answer is we didn't want to duplicate the order screen in the appointment editor. After many conversations with different shops, it seemed appropriate to add canned jobs, but adding labor lines on the fly complicated the project as labor lines include all sorts of other attributes; non- standard labor rate, category, no commission, fixed commission, labor rate and tax rate.

JD
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JimQuesta
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Re: Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by JimQuesta »

I don't get a chance to follow the forums as much as I'd like, but this is an issue with us as well.

We typically use a single labor item for multiple issues and sum all of the labor together. With that being the case, when we convert our scheduled appointments into an order, we have to copy the description, paste it into a labor item, then delete the note that was created when the appointment was converted.

Is there another way around this so the conversion can create a non-standard labor item?
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Re: Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by BERGMANS1 »

JimQuesta wrote:I don't get a chance to follow the forums as much as I'd like, but this is an issue with us as well.

We typically use a single labor item for multiple issues and sum all of the labor together. With that being the case, when we convert our scheduled appointments into an order, we have to copy the description, paste it into a labor item, then delete the note that was created when the appointment was converted.

Is there another way around this so the conversion can create a non-standard labor item?
We do not use the scheduler the way it was designed to be used.... however that is anyway.

When we make appointments, everything the customer is coming in for goes into sub est 1. That way we can type whatever we want, add notes, sublet, order parts, whatever. We have to go into the customers file to look at prior recommendations, history and estimates anyway. The day before the appointment, we call the customer to confirm the appointment and at that time we move sub est 1 to the order screen. We go through the scheduler when we confirm so we do not get double appointments. We have customers coming in all the time with crazy stuff. We can not have a canned job for everything. It is not how it was meant to be used, but this is what we did when we had the old scheduler that was much more limited and it worked fine. We will continue to use it this way until the scheduler is capable of more than it is.
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Re: Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by John C. »

Johnny5 wrote:Hi,

The simple answer is we didn't want to duplicate the order screen in the appointment editor. After many conversations with different shops, it seemed appropriate to add canned jobs, but adding labor lines on the fly complicated the project as labor lines include all sorts of other attributes; non- standard labor rate, category, no commission, fixed commission, labor rate and tax rate.

JD
I would LOVE to have the order screen duplicated in the appointment editor. Seriously, add the labor line(s), when making an appointment, customer shows up, click "Create", "New Repair Order", have them sign the tablet - DONE!!! No more "copy and paste", which is what we are doing now. I don't see this as duplicating, I see it as a smooth flow - appointment to RO.

We use to do (and sometimes still do) what JimQuesta does: "...use a single labor item for multiple issues and sum all of the labor together." Although, not as much anymore, as we use the Bolt On inspections, so we like to give each "issue" it's own labor line, which looks much cleaner.

I also like having the customer requests in a labor line, as opposed to what we can do now, a "Note", so we can search each labor line in history. (History does not search "Notes".)

Not to mention, this would save a lot of time.

As for the "...other attributes; non- standard labor rate, category, no commission, fixed commission, labor rate and tax rate." wouldn't it just go to our default labor rate setting? Category, commission... are not that important to us (being selfish here), and would seem easily changeable, on the fly when in the RO.

Obviously, I am not privy to the infrastructure required to make this happen, so if it is beyond the realm of physically or financially feasible, I can understand that. I know everyone will not be pleased, with the final product, majority rules... or so we thought. :mrgreen:
Last edited by John C. on Tue Jan 10, 2017 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by Jeff @ Able Auto »

Customer calls. Start est. Go to scheduler..check available times. Block off time in scheduler. Customer shows up. click on est..go to appointment..change status. Go to work. Now it is only me and myself working here so maybe its a bit different for a larger shop but cant really that much difference. Its all about blocking out time for the customer.
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BedfordAutoClinic
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Re: Adding Labor Lines To Appear In Appt.?

Post by BedfordAutoClinic »

The scheduler for us since we are new here and just recently like within the last week updated to the newest version is okay we are getting there with it, however with what others say here it would be great to add labor lines and then when converting its already there, just like if you used canned jobs. As it is now we type the customer request in the note box, remember to uncheck to print as it shows up on tech worksheet or repair order or invoice... anyways that's another issue, but when we convert to estimate or repair order and its not a canned job then we too copy and paste for each customer request. I get the idea of the main thing is to block of a time slot for a customer, however if that's the only reason then why have it set up to do canned jobs... Its there to speed up the process and smooth the flow. Ideally with a dealership background, we do most selling on the phone when history recommendations are made and upsells happen, by the way YES this does work because they are in the comfort of their space. Then when customer comes in the preorder or estimate is already waiting for them, we reinstate the main concerns, go over the upsells to make sure everyone is one same page, then we might revisit the recommendations again that they wanted to waitt on and often times, when they are here and you do that, they state well makes sense its already here lets go ahead and do that as well.

Long way to make a point, it would just be easier and nice to add labor lines as well as canned jobs.

Just our two cents.
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