Online Quotes

[Krsullivan]

Hello all,

is anyone using "Manage Quotes" by Miva? or any other software integration that automates processing quotes directly into Miva? I'm tired of creating a quote and emailing it to a customer, only to have the customer email or fax it back and then give us a credit card over the phone. I'm looking for a way to send the quote, approve and pay the quote online. Hopefully in Miva.

Thanks

Kevin
AutomotiveWorkwear.com

[Ron Frigon]

The manage quotes module by Miva is pretty nice. I have a copy of it set up for testing on one of our sites. Only problem is that it doesn't play nice with Price Groups. Our products have volume pricing and the volume price "price group" gets reapplied to the negotiated/quoted price during checkout. So at this time it doesn't work for us.. I think the module predates the new price groups. I've been told that they are working on an update for this. If price groups aren't an issue I would say it works really well.

[Rick Wilson]

We have a V2 coming out shortly that is leaps and bounds better as well.

[GDesigns]

Rick Wilson put us on the demo/test list, please when it comes out.

[Rick Wilson]

Email Brennan about that, he can also demo what's coming for you now.

[Krsullivan]

How far is MIVA from completing V2 version and how can we get a demo? or if we need something sooner or to work with price groups, as we do, should we contact MIVA design to customize it for us?.

Thanks,

Kevin

[Rick Wilson]

It's out now and in the App Store. apps.miva.com

[Krsullivan]

Does MIVA have a demo site, that shows this new quote module

thank, Kevin

[Rick Wilson]

I know we can do a demo for you Kevin, I'm asking Brennan if we have a demo site (but I don't think so, nor do I think it would be super effective).

[oliverands]

I've just put this module in place, and it's great!

There is one thing I would like to do with it that I haven't been able to resolve. (My skills gap, not a module problem....) I'm wondering if someone might be able to help.

If the quote is created by assigning a customer to it, the requester fields populate and the pricing (if the customer is in a price group) comes up correctly. Very slick! But when the quote is sent, the link the customer gets takes him straight to a log in page. (If a quote is not assigned to a customer, the customer goes straight to the quote page.) This is fine, but when I put in the customer's username and password, I get redirected to the storefront page. Is there a way to redirect to the quote page after the successful login instead?

Any assistance would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Krsullivan]

If anyone is using this module or know of any sites that do. Could you please pass them my way. I very curious how you implemented the public side (what customers see and how they flow through the website. I have it installed on one of our dev sites, look good, missing a few minor features that I would have thought should have been in place. But, my concern is how websites are implementing it on public (website) side. IE; Do you lead them to a quote page, or on ever product page, or only until the basket. Just looking for ideas and best practices. This is why I like demo sites, but with this mod it not demo anywhere. Thanks

[oliverands]

The module is full-featured enough to be able to be adapted for business processes other than generating quotes. That's what I'm doing with it.

We have a process for on-boarding new wholesale customers that has always been manual and required data entry into multiple systems to complete their first order--since they need to be set up as members of a special price group in Miva. We gather their customer account data, business credentials, and first order information using a fillable PDF form that they return to us. In the past, after validating that the client was indeed legit and should receive wholesale pricing, we had to manually enter the first order info into three systems to get it processed and out the door. And we had to juggle it in a queue after setting up the account but while waiting for the customer to provide payment info. And if an order aged before payment was received we had to follow up manually.

We're now handling the process using the quotes module. When a customer returns the form, we validate their information. We then set up a customer account in Miva, assign it to the wholesale price group, and create a quote that matches their first order at wholesale pricing. We then send the email from Miva to the client saying their account is approved and their order is ready. The customer clicks the link in the email and gets taken to the page with their order--which is presented to them as a quote. (So we're using the email to send them directly to the quote page.) They click one link at the bottom of the quote page to add all the items in the quote to their basket, and then they check out using the normal checkout flow. This way, we don't have to deal with pending wholesale orders (since it's not an order; it's managed in the quote queue), reminder notifications to complete payment are automated, payment is managed securely through Miva, and we don't need to input the order data manually into multiple systems as that first order is now part of our website order flow. It goes out for shipping immediately after payment is received just like all other orders.

The module has more features that we're not using. But we've been able to adapt it to solve a pain point we've had with this previously manual process.

Now, if I could only solve the little issue I mentioned above, I would have it working perfectly....

[Krsullivan]

Hello Oliverrands, since you are already using the quotes module, any chance you can share your websites URL with me, so I can take a peek. I'm looking for idea how to implement the public side of the website.

Thanks
Kevin
AutomotiveWorkwear.com

[oliverands]

Sure, Kevin. Happy to share. (Same offer goes for anyone else here as well.)

I'll need to generate a sample quote for you which will get emailed to you. Provide me with your email address, and I'll send that email off to you.

[Krsullivan]

Hello All, A couple of questions on this quote module

1. Concerning User Level, which role would we we assign to someone on our staff to access and provide quotes. Since we use Stone Edge to process order, only our IT staff have access to the admin. Need a level for our sales staff to access and respond to quotes. roles shown are: Marketing, Customer Service & Sales, Order Processing & Fulfillment, Product Management, Accounting & Reporting, User Interface, or Sherlock. Admin access is out of the question for our sales staff.

2. Quote expiration. I see only two options: never and then to manually set a date. Is there a way to set an automatic date of expiration. Such as 30 days from the time its sent. I would prefer not to manually have to set the date each time. We do about 20 quotes a day, and our sales staff is bound to screw up an manual entry.

3. What happens to quotes when they expire. Are they deleted or archived. If archived, can they be reactivated?

Thanks