What is a QuoteWerks Product Data Source?
One of the key components of building a quote or proposal is identifying and properly quoting the correct products, at the right cost. Some QuoteWerks users will opt to leverage existing product databases that live within their CRM, PSA, or Accounting solution. Those that do not have an existing system or do not want to use their systems ability to store product information can leverage a QuoteWerks Product Data Source to store their product information directly in QuoteWerks. These data sources can be manually created or created via a .txt or .csv file import and you can create as many as you would like.
The ability to create and use QuoteWerks Product Data Sources is included as a standard feature of QuoteWerks and there is no additional cost to leverage them. Below is an example of multiple QuoteWerks Data Sources being used to store different products information. You can create a product data source for each vendor, for products and services respectfully, or organize them in which ever way makes the most sense for your business.
Creating a New QuoteWerks Product Data Source
Creating a new QuoteWerks Product Data Source is easy. Simply navigate to Setup then Product Data Sources in QuoteWerks Web or Products then Setup Product Data Sources in QuoteWerks Desktop. Once in this window you will see your configured data sources listed as seen in the picture above. To create a new data source simply click on the New button. On the next page you will see a list of all of the different database types that can be configured as Product Data Sources. Select QuoteWerks.
You will be presented with options to set access rights from this data source. Doing so allows you to restrict access to use this data source based on the user profile or group association. Once your selections have been made you will be brought to the “Finished” page. Here you can toggle the data source on or off, designate whether or not you would like to show all product/services when the data source is selected, and opt to auto-generate folders.
When you click finished you will be asked to enter a vendor and SQL product table name. Make sure that these are unique and will help you to identify this product data source when you go to use it. Once this step is complete you will be brought back to the Setting up product data source screen and you will see your newly created data source listed.
For step-by-step instructions on how to create a new Product Data Source, please see the QuoteWerks Web: Creating and Using QuoteWerks Product Data Sources video.
Importing Products into a QuoteWerks Product Data Source
You can import products into a Product Data Source using the Product Import Wizard. This tool walks you through all the steps you need to take to get your products imported. Before you begin you will want to ensure you have a .txt or .csv file that contains your product information. You will want to make sure that this file contains at minimum columns for the product description, manufacturer part number, and cost, but you will also have the ability to map many additional fields.
To begin click on Setup then Import Products in QuoteWerks Web or Products then Import Wizard in QuoteWerks Desktop. This will open the Product Import Wizard. You will first select your file for import then move on to field mapping. The first page will give you a list of the most common fields in QuoteWerks and you can use the dropdown to select the column from your file you would like to map them to. The next page, Advanced Mapping gives you the ability to map any of your columns to any of the fields in QuoteWerks.
To map a field simply select a QuoteWerks Field on the left, followed by a from your imported document on the right, and click map. Once the field are mapped the QuoteWerks field will list the field number that it is mapped to and the imported field will have a * in the center column. Once you have mapped your fields you will be asked which database to import the product into. You can select an existing one, but if this is a new import, you can just leave it as “Have QuoteWerks create a new database to put the products into.”
You will likely want to start your import at row 2 as row 1 is typically a header row and you have option to create product folders. Your import mode will be based on your setup, but if creating a database for the first time it is perfectly fine to use “Delete all existing products in the selected database and append new products.” If you are updating an existing database, please read your options and if you have any questions, reach out to QuoteWerks technical support.
You can save this import as a template if you expect to import additional products that will be using the same column layout. Doing so will eliminate the need for mapping on your next import. When you click Start Import the import will complete and your products will now be available under your product data source in the product lookup window.
For step-by-step instructions on how to import products into a newly created Product Data Source, please see the QuoteWerks Web: Importing Products into Folders video.
Creating Quotes Using a QuoteWerks Product Data Source
Just as with creating the data source and importing products, leveraging the data source and using it to insert products and product information into a quote is easy. While in a quote document simply click on the Products icon in the standard toolbar or the Products dropdown, then Lookup. Both of these will bring you to the Product Lookup Window. On the left hand side of the Product Lookup Window are your configured product databases.
To add product to the quote from a particular data source simply click on the name of the data source. This will bring you to a search window where you can search that data source for items to add to your quote. You can type into any of the search fields, of which there are many, and when you hit find it will return results from your selected data source.
Once you have found the item(s) you would like to add to your quote simply select them and hit Add Selected Product(s) to Current Document. This will add the products to the Quote Workbook. This includes any of the product information contained in the data source such as description, cost, price, modifier, and more.
If you have any questions, call us at 407-248-1481 to speak with one of our representatives today, available 9AM-5PM Eastern, Monday through Friday. You can also email us at sales@quotewerks.com or contact your QuoteWerks Reseller.
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