QuoteWerks Support Portal

I am having a lot of problems with customer visualizing the optional items check box. I just closed a deal where the customer forgot to check the box and was expecting the item to be included in the price that was approved. This is becoming a big problem for me because people are busy and are not reviewing the QuoteValet quote thoroughly and often skip the optional items thinking that they are included. 

I was able to display the message "(Optional Item NOT Selected)" or "(Optional Item Selected)" underneath the extended price field of the PDF document, you cannot miss it. If I could code something similar in QuoteValet, it will serve me two-fold because either the customer will catch it or I will while on the preview. 

I am not an expert on css or html but I know enough to have comfortably done some extensive customization on some of the templates however this coding has proven to be a little bit more challenging than what I expected. I started by trying to add test text to what I assume is the optional line item under the line items section but nothing so far has shown up on the preview. Can somebody be so kind as to offer some sort of tip or trick that can help me jump start the coding or is all this coding internal Java that I will not be able to touch?

We've added a bolded, red font line into the interactive section of the PDF box reminding the customer to click the "UPDATE" button on any changes. Seems like a decent low effort fix. Not foolproof, of course.

One of my clients has a small script that appends the text "Optional Item" automatically to a CustomText field for relevant item(s) to address the potential for a client not quite understanding.

This field is then displayed on QuoteValet.

If it's not optional, there's obviously no text to display.

I'll have a little fiddle to see if it's possible to change the formatting (say put the text in green) if it's optional via the HTML/CSS

Joe, I had an idea down similar lines, I was thinking of trying to display a message next to the accept button highlighted in red, maybe it is not a bad idea to do both.

Matt, changing the text via HTML/CSS is very easy, I actually set up my template to display the items within a group in italics/light grey and I believe smaller font when selected to be displayed in QuoteWerks. To me and for customers and even for my staff it was very confusing because the only difference between the group and the items in the group was the font being bold, same color, same size.

The biggest hurdle I see is how to code the If/Then/Else, once this can be coded or scripted you can then choose to either change the color of the font or add a text message.

I am still interested in pursuing the coding option, when I have time I will play with it a bit more but I have a feeling, based on what I can see with the current code and supporting css files, that this approach may be out of bounds and embedded within the java scripts, maybe additional documentation is required or let's be honest maybe it is simply way over my head.

Does QuoteWerks offer additional templates that can be downloaded or copy-pasted into QuoteValet like they offer for QuoteWerks templates?

Yes, I've made a raft of changes and my default QuoteValet template looks very different to the out of the box one provided by QuoteWerks.

Changes such as different formatting for group members/headers/summary/comment, etc. lines are straightforward.

It's the attribute element (is it optional, is it recurring) that's a little more tricky.

I don't believe QW offer any alternatives on QuoteValet templates as they're, relatively, much more complex that QuoteWerks (PDF) templates

An example of one of my quotevalet templates is available as an attachment (I hope!), this includes online chat and various other elements too

(I also overhaul the email/acceptance confirmation pages, etc.)

I think the problem, Joe, is that Roberto's clients aren't seeing the (unselected?) checkbox as not being included in the total. Or simply not seeing the checkbox.

If this were pre-ticked, it's a little more obvious.

Right. It's definitely a concern for us. Especially since the default template doesn't auto-update on selections.

That's probably our ultimate fix, but my javascript-fu is lacking.

Yes, I concur, the most common issue is when the customers fail to view the optional item checkbox, with the recommended section header or heading or without it. The customer approves and later when they receive the invoice, they dispute it because it includes services that they do not want. When that happens it is not a big deal because it can be corrected but when I leave it unchecked by accident or on purpose and the customer approves thinking it is included then that's when it becomes a problem, a big problem. 

I sometimes copy paste items or groups from other quotes and I miss the unchecked optional attribute because I am so focused on the totals and that my design is correct. The color code in the Quotewerks document screen doesn't help much either, it is sketchy, somewhat confusing and I am yet to find a document in help that explains the color code in detail.

I like the Monthly under the total, let me try to see if I can figure that one out, thanks for all the help I do appreciate it. 

Matt, I liked the chat box too, that's not a bad idea.

Easiest way to change colors and other options is <span> tag... I've had some success with it.

https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_span.asp

Joe, I appreciate your suggestion and I will give it a try, however, what I referring to by color code is within the QuoteWerks application document window where I believe the hidden price is in gray, optional I think is green, I also think purple is group total, etc. of course I am speculating here because I am yet to see the document in the QuoteWerks website that explains it in detail or that explains it at all. 

Ah, right. Yeah, we've had some issues with that in the past. I've gotten in the habit of clearing all lines when duplicating, but it's definitely laden with error possibilities.

By the way, you guys know that you can actually embed HTML code in the item description? It works, you can change the color and size of fonts, create links to sites and more but just make sure you do not include a PDF file in your QuoteValet or that you skip these lines in your QuoteWerks template otherwise the PDF is going to look like an HTML document. 

Another solution is much simpler.

If you have all your items in a separate section, use the section header, so the dollar value is zero.

Then put in a comment that says, here are some options you might consider.... tick the check box, and then click the update button below....

You could do lots of fancy formatting, (which I've done with my QuoteValet layouts), but the unsubtle direct approach may be the best.

If you have a sales team, create a template and get them to use it.

All that places a little reliance on Sales Reps doing what they're asked to do.. and we know what that can sometimes lead to ;)

Your solution is absolutely right.

Templates are woefully underused in my experience of working with long time QW users.

I also find that using the F2 lookup in the description field, to add this sort of 'intruction', can help.