Laddawn.com : Creating a quote

Creating the request in Avante and entering the correct bill to customer

1. In the new request, CE will enter the bill to customer. Methods for determining the correct bill to depend on how the customer submitted the RFQ. Anecdotally, about half of RFQs come in to CE via phone; the other half via fax or email.

   1. Via phone

      1. If it is not one of the 9 special binder customers, CE will ask "what is your customer number?"; if the customer contact doesn't know it, CE will request company name and do a bill to name search. 
      2. If it is one of the 9 special binder customers, CE will ask "which of your locations are you quoting for today?" and do an F3 name search.
         
         

   2. Via fax/email

      1. If it is not one of the 9 special binder customers, CE will search on company name; if that is inconclusive, they can search via phone number - usually one of these two methods work, but if not, the third option is to go to  customer contact maintenance, search on quote requester's first and last name, and then use the bill to that that contact is affiliated with.*
      2. If it is one of the 9 special binder customers, sometimes they will search out a past purchase order; if that doesn't work, it is probably new business. CE will then go to  customer contact maintenance, search on quote requester's first and last name, and then use the bill to that that contact is affiliated with.*
         
         *Note - when basing the bill to on the contact, there is a risk that the wrong bill to will be used for the quote, if this particular contact's intention is to order on behalf of another bill to. If the customer converts the quote using a different bill to, CE will have to start from scratch, unless there happens to be an 'as had' for the correct bill to.
         
         
2. After entering the contact, CE will select the new web request type 999, and be logged in to the web as the contact.
   1. If the RFQ is being done over the phone, CE will ask the customer "have you quoted this with us before?"
      
      1. If the contact says "yes, it's a reorder," or is unsure, CE will treat this as something that may have been quoted or ordered before by this bill to. CE will search on customer part number if there is one, or enter product category, dimensions and gauge if there isn't.
         
         Below the fresh search results there will be a listing (new feature, to be designed) of any items that match the part number, or the parameters entered, that are already in the contact's or bill to's saved items list, or that are in the contact's or bill to's carts or past orders (do we need a "how far back?" limit). CE will look at these before looking at the fresh results.  If the list includes any live quotes that are saved items or in a cart, CE can inform the customer and offer to share it (which generates the equivalent of a quote acknowledgment); they can also offer to requote it at today's prices. (Same thing with expired items.)   If there is something in a past order, CE, based on our current design, would have to "reorder" it, this would put it in a cart and requote it; they would then have to save and share it, to generate a quote acknowledgment. (This may be fewer clicks than today in Avante, but seems like a lot of steps. Would simply saving it from the fresh search results make more sense? Is past order useful not for requoting, but more for comparison purposes? )
         
         Questions for Tina, Meme Sarah - If not searching on part number, will CE enter additional parameters into the widget to narrow results, if the customer mentions any - like color, materials, packaging, etc.? How many parameters are too many, considering the discrepancies that you look for? I.e., if you enter a color, you will not pick up on matching items of a different color. Let's say you don't enter color; will you have a conversation with the customer who asked for blue on the phone, if there is a recent order for an item that is identical except it was green?
         
         

         

         
         
         
      2. If the contact says "no, this is new business," CE will enter complete product details (including materials and additives, printing, venting color, special packaging, if any) - and click Find. Assuming there is an exact match, CE will ...  
         Below these fresh results there will be a listing (new feature, to be designed) of any exact matches that are already in the contact's or bill to's saved items list, or that are in the contact's or bill to's cart or past orders. Since the contact claims this is new business, we anticipate these additional results will be few and far between. Assuming there are none, CE will ... TBD (probably save and share the item; sharing serves as the quote acknowledgment) .
         
         
   2. If the RFQ was submitted via fax or email, CE will follow step 2-a-i.