Digitalization tangible: quotes as project foundation

Digitalization is on everyone’s lips, but what potential does it actually offer for service companies? In our series Digitalization Tangible, we shed light on the processes and habits of project-oriented service providers and develop feasible solutions.

What potential lies dormant in quotes

The Swiss quote and the German quote are both a curse and a blessing for project-oriented service providers. Everyone likes to write them, but the road to the finished quote can be frustrating and, above all, time-consuming. We think this needs to be done better.

Our experience from over 20 years of CRM and ERP business shows that many customers do not use standardized processes or digital tools for this task. Let us consider quotes as a solid foundation for digital project structures. What exactly these look like differs from company to company, of course.

Our customers save time, money and avoid mistakes with integrated quotes. A major benefit is that the process from quotation to invoicing is seamlessly integrated. Like a smart home on a solid foundation.

Excel does not mean digital

Everyone is talking about digitization and preparing for self-driving cars, but quotes cannot be routed to automated invoicing. No wonder, Excel and Word are still often used today – rather than centralized systems that “pass” a quote on to the next phase, so to speak.

Instructions for content-correct quotes are available online like the famous sand by the sea. However, the typical Vertec customer does not have any problems with the contents, since we usually have to deal with grown corporate structures. However, if we look at the business processes associated with the preparation of quotes, a different picture emerges. Transfer of quotation building blocks into project phases? Subsequent entering of services directly on the project? Charging?

The quote as part of the project

If you consider the quote as a project foundation, then it is clear that further building blocks must be added precisely. In Vertec, this is achieved with the so-called project phases.

Based on conversations with potential customers, appropriate phases are created with budgeted fees or cost estimates. The phases can now be assigned to an quote. Recur content, such as clarifying Purchase Costs, can be created as service types and assigned to phases. This saves time and ensures consistent content across all quotes. If you really want to get the most out of your CRM and ERP software, then work with project templates in this area. Choose a template, assign service types and adjust them if necessary, create.

While many solutions only have one standard template for quote and invoice, Vertec’s templates are customizable for your business. Your corporate design manager will thank you for it. By the way, these customizations are also available in the Cloud Suite using the Cloud App.

From quote to time tracking and invoice

The benefits of a centralized solution become apparent as soon as the customer confirms the quote. Previously created project phases can now be activated for processing by setting the status from “quote” to “accepted”. Assign users can now post their services to the corresponding project phases or service types. Work hours and budgets are deducted from the phases based on the rate and user levels. Vertec customers always have an overview of their work inventory. How to visualize these inventories even better is explained in the blog post Paints as an resource – application tricks for vertec.

All these features would be of limited use if the invoicing of the services rendered were not also connected. While many customers have previously transferred the recorded services (Excel sends greetings) to an invoice software, this process is done in Vertec by click or automated. The scope of functions Vertec offers in the area of invoice is explained in the Knowledge Base Article Invoicing.

Conclusion

Digital work with a project focus starts with an integrated quote. Only if this can be used for further steps in CRM and ERP can we talk about digitization. The advantages of an integrated solution are obvious:

• Save time with modular, customizable project and quotation templates
• Immediate transfer of quotation modules into a project structure
• Posting of the service types performed is done directly into the previously developed project structure
• Simple invoicing with documents in corporate design
• Automatic reminder to follow up

More information on digitization potentials with Vertec can be found in a free Online Demo.

Other items from the series Digitization tangible:

Part 2: Invoicing

Part 3: approvals and workflow