Over the years, our Customer Success team has heard many of our customers mention that they use D-Tools for larger projects, but issue quotes out of QuickBooks or Excel (or some other tool) for all the “little stuff”. At D-Tools, we know there’s a lot of add-ons and upgrades performed by system integrators for existing customers, not to mention “favors” for industry partners, friends, and family. We want you to know that D-Tools has taken strides over the past few years to ensure that our customers have the tools available to quickly knock out quotes when these opportunities arise.

Before discussing HOW these needs are addressed with D-Tools, we feel it is important to clarify WHY it is important to have ALL projects, large and small, reside in the same software platform. In short, it comes down to:

• Preventing design oversights – Taking advantage of project templates, packages, and optional/required accessories significantly reduces the likelihood of missing items or specifying the wrong part.
• Pricing equipment and labor accurately – Presuming the D-Tools catalog is where all product and pricing information is maintained, and that labor hours are tied to each item in that catalog, it is important to acknowledge that every time a quote is generated in some application or tool other than D-Tools, you risk pricing items and/or labor incorrectly.
• Operating efficiency – With quotes on small projects also in D-Tools, employees will follow the same standardized procedure for purchasing and receiving, scheduling, work orders, task management, field reporting, etc., preventing one-off situations from getting in the way of day-to-day work.
• A single system of record – Maintaining all information for all clients in D-Tools (and keeping as-built drawings updated) creates a central repository for all project-specific information and prevents the need to search for information in multiple places. This is especially important and valuable when it comes time to service an account.

Now that we’ve outlined why to complete quotes for small projects in D-Tools, let’s discuss how.

Quick Quote is a feature that was designed specifically with these situations in mind. Simply select a client (or enter client name, if new), provide a basic scope of work (if desired), add items from the catalog, save and print. It’s that easy! D-Tools generates a one-page quote with client information, scope of work, pricing, contract/payment terms, and a signature line. The equipment list can be attached as an addendum at your option.

D-Tools Cloud, an easy-to-deploy, mobile-friendly, web-based SaaS application that intelligently guides subscribers through the quote generation process, is now integrated with System Integrator. As such, D-Tools Cloud customers can quickly build a quote, even while on site with the customer and have it e-signed, and then push it over to SI to be managed and recorded permanently with larger projects.  

Quick Quotes and D-Tools Cloud are two excellent quick turnaround alternatives for small projects, upgrades, and add-ons. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or would like our assistance in further exploring these options for your organization.

 

If you have additional questions, please email us at csm@d-tools.com

– The Customer Success Team