The advantages of using 17hats quotes in your business
Using 17hats to run your business with lead capture forms, online scheduling, quotes, contracts, invoices and more can really streamline things for both you and your customers. And one of the most beneficial pieces in this streamlining toolkit is 17hats quotes.
But what’s the difference between sending a quote and an invoice when you’ve reached the billing part of the process with your customers? There are a number of settings and capabilities that the two documents share, but a few key differences that almost always make a quote the better option include:
Having a “standard” quote section, a “choose one” section and a “choose any” section
Allowing customers to be able to choose a quantity of an item in the “choose any” section
Being able to send a quote along with other documents (contract and/or invoice)
Let’s examine these differences between 17hats quotes and invoices.
Why would you use the "choose one" section in a 17hats quote?
This section is great for allowing your customer to choose between things like:
Delivery or pickup
Installation and breakdown or installation only
Different product/service package levels
Different designs of the same product they’ve requested
As noted by the name of the section, customers will only be able to choose one of the items listed here, so you’ll want to be careful that you’re giving your customers enough options that fulfill the needs of their request.
Why would you use the "choose any" section?
The “choose any” section is perfect for listing some complimentary upsells that your customer might also like to consider adding to their purchase.They can then choose any of those upsell items or choose none before accepting the quote.
Adding “choose any” items can also eliminate some of the back and forth emails in order to get the invoice just right. You can just give your customer some final choices about what you offer on the quote when they’re already in payment mode.
Another unique thing about this “chose any” section is that it’s the only place that can allow your customer to also select the number of units they’d like of any particular item. A great example of this type of item for decor businesses might be centerpieces, because they’re usually small enough and easy enough to put together for their order, even if you weren’t sure your customer would request them.
And no, you are not required
to add items to all of these sections - only one!
But what happens if you just don’t have a need for your customers to be able to choose anything on your quotes? Should you just send an invoice instead?
I’d still opt for no, because (as we’ll see in the next point), starting with a quote will also allow you to send other documents along with. And even if there are no choices to be made on the quote, your customer can still have the chance to accept the quote and confirm their interest in doing business with you.
Need a step-by-step walkthrough of how to use all of your 17hats features?
What if you don't use contracts in your business?
Well, I’m not a legal expert and am definitely not giving any legal advice here, but I certainly think you should take the time to get yourself set up with a contract that protects you and your business.
Even if you don’t go as far as a contract written up by a lawyer, you might even consider starting with a checklist of notes that you want your customer to be aware of and agree to. Whatever type of agreement language you come up with, you can include it between your quote and your invoice for your customer to complete with just a few clicks.
And as a last resort, you are able to skip the contract / agreement entirely and still benefit from the features of a quote by including only the invoice along with the quote. In any case, whatever your customer selects on their quote will transfer onto their invoice and you can benefit from having both of those documents taken care of through one email.
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So what do you think? Did this spark some ideas for what you could include in the options of your quotes? I hope so!
And I’d love to help you use these features to your advantage. Check out my #stopthescatter Setup Service and Account Review Calls to see how we can work together on utilizing quotes (and all the powerful features) in 17hats!
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