Options are your proposed solutions for the issue that brought you out to the job. There may be more than one possible fix for the job, and if you want to present a range of options, you can build them out in Successware Mobile.
Once you have your options created, you can present these options to your customers. Based on the work suggested and what the customer wants, you can choose to select one option to add to your invoice or add multiple options to an invoice.
What Options Are Not
Options are a very powerful sales tool that allow you to present options to customers to allow them to choose their level of service, but there are some restrictions.
1. Options are not sales proposals. Options can help the sales process but they do not come back to Successware as proposals. However, the options can be stored in location documents and in the work suggested notes.
They cannot be used to create a proposal for work that will be performed on another day without looking at the PDF or Work Suggested.
2. Options do not carry over between calls on the same job. They are only available for the call that you are on.
3. Non-primary technicians are not able to view or edit the options.
4. Options cannot be created on project phases or within the tutorial.
Where are Options stored
Once options are created, they can be accessed in a few different ways. Options are stored in a few different ways:
1. If you have Dropbox enabled, a PDF version of the form will be put into the job folder at the end of the call.
2. The technician can email a copy of the PDF to the customer. If you have the Copy To address setup on the Successware Mobile Admin site. It will also be sent to that email address.
3. Accepted options that will be performed at a later point (not on this job) and declined notes will both appear in the work suggested notes.
Accessing the Options
To access the Options, you will need to be on a job. You will see two tabs underneath the customer record button: Invoice, Options, and Forms.
When you first appear on a job, you will be on the Invoice Tab. This allows you to build an invoice for the current job.
You can switch to Options by tapping on Options. The number of options will be visible in the options.
To switch back to the invoice, simply tap on the invoice tab.
Building Options
Options have two parts to them that need to be setup. There is the description of the option and the contents of the option. The description is the title of the option that allows you and the customer to see what the general option is for. The contents are created similarly to how an invoice is created.
Adding an option
To add an option:
1. Have the options tab open.
2. Tap on the button.
• If you have an option already, you will need to tap the button.
3. The Add Option pop-up will appear.
4. Type in a description. This will serve as the general description of the option when presenting it to the customer.
Examples could include:
a. “Good”, “Better”, “Best”.
b. “Extended Warranty Add-on”.
5. Tap Save to proceed.
6. You will be taken to the option setup screen, which will resemble an invoice.
7. Tap on the Add Items button to begin adding items.
8. Search through the PriceBook manually by tapping on items or by using the search bar to find the items.
9. Once you find your item, tap Add to add the item to the option.
10. Edit an item’s details before adding it to the option:
a. Item Description.
b. Item Price.
i. The price can be negative if it is a coupon item.
ii. Your office may have removed your permission to edit the item price in Successware.
c. Is this item an add on item?
d. Is this item a diagnostic item?
e. The piece of equipment that the item is related to.
f. Should this item be charged to warranty?
g. Should this item be charged to an agreement?
h. What department is the item for?
i. What price level should be used? (Task item only)
j. What is the quantity you will charge the customer for? (May be a fractional amount like 1.25)
k. Is the item taxable? (Your office may have this checked automatically)
l. Is the item discountable?
m. Should the item be listed “As-task”? (Part and Misc. Item only)
11. Tap “Save”.
12. Tap “Done” if you wish to return to the option, or you may continue adding items.
The Option Form
The option form allows you to change the description of the option, the options notes, options pictures, and the items on the option just like on an invoice.
Edit the Description
The option description is meant as a short summary of what this option you are presenting is supposed to represent. This will be used to identify the different options.
If you need to add more detail or complex notes, it is best to place them in the option notes.
To edit the description of the option:
1. Have the option screen open.
2. Tap on the pencil button in the Description area.
3. The Edit Option Description pop-up will appear.
4. Edit the option description as necessary.
5. Save the option once the description is appropriate.
Edit Option Notes
You can add more details to the option notes. While the option description is a summary, the notes allow you to store more details about what the option will entail. These notes will be added to the work suggested notes if the option is accepted for later or declined.
To edit the option notes:
1. Tap on the edit button next to the option notes.
2. The Options Notes screen will appear.
3. Type in your notes.
4. Tap Save when you are ready to save your notes.
Attach Pictures to the Option
You can attach pictures to your options. This behaves like attaching media to the job when not on options and the picture will only be accessible on the options and on the options PDF file.
You can use either one of these two methods to upload pictures to the options:
- Take the picture outside using your devices camera app then uploading it. You can upload up to 5 pictures or one video at a time. These will be uploaded in the background.
- Use the camera within the app.
Removing Images
To remove an image from the option:
1. Tap on the image on the option screen.
2. Tap on the remove button in the top right corner.
Edit Item on Option
If you add an item to the option, you can change it:
1. Tap the pencil icon next to the item.
2. Make any changes to the Item as needed.
3. Save the item.
Remove Item from Option
If you add an item to the option, you can change it:
1. Tap the X icon next to the item.
2. Choose to delete the item.
Applying a Discount
You can apply a discount to an option. If you select multiple options to add to the invoice and they have discounts, only the discount for the option that is most recently selected will be applied.
To add a discount.
1. Tap on the expanded options button.
2. Tap on “Add/Edit Discount”.
3. Choose the appropriate discount:
i. None
ii. Amount (ex. $10)
iii. Percent (ex. 15%)
iv. Type (ex. Military Discount)
Note: Percent discounts and discount types with only percentage require that the item be marked as discountable.
4. Choose the correct type of discount, discount value, or discount percent.
5. Tap the Save button.
6. The discount will be added to your option.
7. The discount will appear on the subtotal area of the option.
Adding a New Agreement
You may add a new agreement to the option if you sell the customer a new agreement.
1. Tap on the ellipsis "..." button.
2. Tap on “Add Agreement”.
3. Select the Agreement Type.
4. Fill out the agreement details:
- Start date.
- Years (agreement duration).
- Total amount of the agreement.
- The amount you are collecting for the agreement at the time of service.
- You will also be able to see but not change:
- Whether the agreement is taxable or not.
- Whether the agreement is perpetual or fixed.
5. Tap the Save button.
6. The agreement will be added to your option.
7. Edit agreement details if needed.
8. Delete agreement if needed by tapping the “X” button next to the pencil icon.
Renew Agreement
If the customer has an agreement that they would like to renew follow these steps:
1. Tap on the ellipsis "..." button.
2. Tap on “Renew Agreement”.
3. Select the agreement that the customer wishes to renew.
4. Confirm the details of the agreement with the customer.
5. Tap “Save”.
6. The renewed agreement will appear on the option.
Option Subtotals, Tax, and Total
As the option is being constructed, the option will display the subtotal and estimated total. It will also include a discount if there is a discount applied to the option.
The Tax amount is not calculated by Successware Mobile on this screen and will always show “TBD” (to be determined) on this screen. This is normal. The tax will only be calculated once the option is applied to the invoice and the invoice is signed for.
Cost-Plus Option Building
Cost-Plus Invoicing allows you to build invoices based on the cost of the parts, labor, and miscellaneous items that are added to the item sold. If this feature is enabled for the invoice on the job page, the options will also be built using Cost-Plus.
In order to use the Cost-plus invoicing feature, your office must toggle the feature on from the Mobile Admin site.
Switching Cost Plus and Regular Options
To switch between using a Cost-Plus and Regular options, you will need to perform the following steps:
1. On the Job screen, tap on the Regular or Cost-Plus button.
2. Select Cost-Plus or Regular.
3. A pop-up will appear that will tell you the invoice and options will be deleted. Tap Confirm.
Note: By switching between invoice types, the items will be removed. You should switch the invoice before filling out the invoice otherwise the items will need to be manually re-entered.
Building a Cost-Plus Option
Building a Cost-Plus Option is similar to building a regular invoice except the parts, labor, and miscellaneous items determine the price.
When you add items, you can add item details to it. Parts can only have part detail. Labors can have only labor detail. Miscellaneous items can only have miscellaneous item detail. Tasks however can have all 3 types of items as detail.
1. Start to add your items as you normally would.
Note that the price cannot be changed here. This is because the price is determined later.
Changing the quantity when you first add the item will adjust the number of sub items used accordingly. For example, if one Panel Protection task has 2 surge protectors as part of it. Adjusting the quantity on the Add Item screen to 2 will cause 4 of the surge protectors to be added.
2. Tap Save to continue.
3. You will then be taken to the item screen. This screen will have the base item at the top and the component items below based in groups of Parts, Labor, and Miscellaneous items.
At this point the price the customer sees will be based on the cost of the sub items times the markup of each sub item.
4. Next to each section you may choose to add more detail items.
Parts can only have part detail. Labors can have only labor detail. Miscellaneous items can only have miscellaneous item detail. Tasks however can have all 3 types of items as detail.
5. You may choose to edit the specific items.
- Edit the sub item details.
- Delete the items.
6. To change the price of a sub-item edit the item.
7. When editing a regular, non-serialized item up, you may edit the:
- Description.
- Markup multiplier.
- Quantity of items present.
8. When editing a serialized item, you may edit the:
- Description.
- Serial Number.
- Markup multiplier.
Note: The quantity cannot be changed for an item that is serialized.
Editing a Cost-Plus Option
1. Edit item details if needed by tapping on Edit. This will take you to the item screen where you can change the item composition.
2. Delete item if needed by tapping the “X” button next to the edit button.
3. You may choose to add more items, visits, agreements, and discounts from this screen as normal.
Option Management
When working with the options, you may need to edit the options.
Duplicating Options
Technicians can duplicate/clone existing options to present multiple selling options to customers.
Moving Option Order
If you need to adjust the order of the options:
1. Tap the up or down arrow to adjust the order
Edit the Option
If you need to edit the option:
1. Tap on the items of the option or the arrow to open the option to edit it.
Remove an Option
If you need to remove an option:
1. Tap on the ellipsis "..." button.
2. Tap Delete.
3. Confirm you want to delete.
Presenting Options
Once the option is ready, you can present the options to the customer.
Accessing Presentation Mode
To present the options:
1. Tap the “Present” button on the Assignment screen.
2. The options will be listed out with just the description and total. The discount will be shown if it was included on the option.
You may scroll to see other options if you have multiple options.
3. You may tap on Email to send an PDF version of the option to your customer.
4. Tap on the View button on each item to see the details of the option.
5. When viewing an option, the details of that option will be seen including the description, option notes, option pictures, item list, and the total of the option (excluding tax).
6. You may tap on Email to send an PDF version of the option to your customer.
7. If the customer wants to select an option, either tap on the decline or accept option yourself or have the customer tap the appropriate option.
a. If you select Decline, the option details will show up in the Work Suggested notes. It will display in the notes like:
__________
DECLINED OPTION (Good):
Option Notes: These are the good option notes.
> C1000 - Install Bryont 4ton AC - quantity of 1 at $5,000.00 each
__________
b. If you tap Accept, you will be asked to choose between:
- Do the work now – This will add the option to the invoice.
- Do the work later – This will record that the option was accepted and notes will be added to the Work Suggested notes as:
__________
ACCEPTED OPTION (Better):
Option Notes: These are the good option notes.
> C1000 - Install Bryont 4ton AC - quantity of 1 at $5,500.00 each
__________
8. If you accepted the option and selected “Do the work now”, you will be taken to the job form with the items added to the invoice.
9. You will be able to return to the options to add other options to the invoice if you wish.
10. If you preview the specific option that is already accepted or declined, you may tap on the Accept or Declined option again to remove the accepted/declined status.
You will still need to remove the items from the invoice and/or work suggested notes.
Looking for a more interactive course on Successware Mobile Options? Check out our Learning Management System (LMS)! Our courses are available to all Successware users. If you don't have a sign-in for our LMS, contact us at training@successware.com for a free account.