Using Nexternal for Quotes
Has a wholesale customer wanting to make a large purchase ever requested a written quote from you, or your sales reps? Do you sell customizable products with unique options which are so complex that each case needs to be quoted individually?
If you don’t have a quoting feature built into your eCommerce system, this can be an inefficient, error prone process marked by the use of retyping, and multiple back and forth communications. However, if you have a quoting feature built into your eCommerce system, such as the one Nexternal recently released, you now have a way to smooth out and systemize this process.
Here’s how it can work:
1) Your customer logs into your online store as usual, and selects the items they are interested in purchasing in volume. On the final checkout screen, they will select “Request for Quote” as their payment option, and click submit.
2) Instantly, you receive a notification email, saying that a customer has requested a quote. You can log into your Order Management System and see the order listed as “pending” status among your other orders. Here, you can modify the order. Perhaps you edit the line items and reflect a new cost per unit, and then add a personal note about the expiration date of the quote. When finished, click “Customer emails” and send the “Update email”.
3) The customer then receives an email notice that their order has been updated with the new pricing reflected in the email. They can also see your little note telling the customer when the quote will expire. There is a link embedded in the email taking them back to your store’s login screen and immediately into this pending order. All they need to do is change their payment method. If they have a saved credit card in the system, it’s a simple click to activate the order.
4) The order becomes active in your Order Management System alongside all other orders ready for processing.
Quoting and quote approvals can be a cumbersome and time intensive for both you and your customers. Leveraging online technology to handle the communication will simplify life for both parties resulting in a win-win scenario!
For instructions on how to set this up in your Nexternal Order Management system, see this Help Desk question. We also have a demonstration webinar available to assist you in setting up this feature.
Lanette Willis is a Senior Account Manager at Nexternal. Before joining Nexternal she spent nearly a decade working in market research and professional services marketing, before running her own successful eCommerce apparel business. Lanette is passionate about helping people and businesses thrive.
