Posts Tagged ‘iQuote Hints and Tips’
February 15, 2011
iQuote customers that use iQuote Swift are using it a lot. So why are so many iQuote users not using it at all? We are seeing polarisation with iQuote Swift utilisation and so this Blog is just to remind people that it exists.
There are two versions of iQuote Swift both accessible via a single link on the menu:
- The first version you see allows you to enter a system unit part number, a margin figure and then produce a list of supported products (in stock only or all items) to export to CSV in seconds. Really useful for pre-quote preparation and tender responses.
- The second version allows iQuote users to take a random list of HP (and in some cases Microsoft) part numbers, paste them in and generate a stock and price list with descriptions and even HP PL Codes on the export. Aimed at bulk buyers in channel but useful for other requirements. It will handle 100 or more SKUs.
So please have a go at using iQuote Swift it really is awesome and once you start to use it you’ll be hooked we’re sure.
Posted in Channel Business, configurator, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management, Quote Software | Tagged Channel, configurator, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote HP, iQuote Swift, iQuote Update, Swift | Leave a Comment »
February 15, 2011
Load a system unit and the best Care Pack for that model will appear in the basket (cart) automatically. That’s the concept and in fact we’ve got this working already in our test site for ProLiants. The UK will see this feature soon, and once released we’ll look to roll it out to all iQuote-ready countries. It will help to drive Care Pack sales for our Distributors and Resellers. Of course it will be possible to remove the Care Pack from the basket (cart) and replace it with an alternative.
We’ve spoken to a number of partners about how desirable this feature is and the feedback is that they all want to improve Care Pack sales and see this as a very positive step.
The Care Pack is selected from HP’s Care Pack Finder file so it is HP’s recommendation. The Care Pack Auto Add will complement other plans we have to help with Care Pack attach and selection such as the “also coming soon” HP Recommends for iQuote.
As with all new features we’re happy to take feedback from iQuote customers and users. There are currently no plans to offer this for PSG systems but that may change.
Posted in Channel Business, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management, Quote Software | Tagged Channel, configurator, HP, HP Care Pack, HP Warranty, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote HP, iQuote Update | Leave a Comment »
January 13, 2011
iQuote Options Descriptions are being improved – Hard Disk Drives for Servers already done. So not quite Spring yet in the UK but Spring cleaning has started. Our aim is to make our Options Descriptions as consistent and complete (useful) as possible. This is because we know that many iQuote descriptions are viewed by End Users plus it helps when browsing.
Example Hard Disk Drive Options Format:
530888-B21 HP 160GB 3Gb/s 7.2k rpm NHP SATA SFF (2.5in) Dual-Port MDL HDD 1yr Warranty
Part Number (530888-B21)
Vendor: (HP)
Capacity: (160GB)
Bus Speed: (3Gb/s)
Disk Speed: (7.2k rpm)
HPL/NHP: (Hot-Pluggable/Non-Hot-Pluggable)
SATA/SAS: (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment/Serial Attached SCSI)
Factor: SFF (2.5in)/LFF (3.5in) (Small Form Factor/Large Form Factor)
Ports: (Single-Port/Dual-Port)
HP Market Positioning (Entry/Midline/Enterprise)
HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
Warranty (1yr/2yr/3yr)
To show the Warranty on the Hard Disk Drives is really important as these Options do not carry the same warranty as the System Unit. Applying a Warranty Care Pack to a server does upgrade the Warranty on the Hard Disk Drives installed.
Posted in configurator, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management | Tagged configurator, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote Update | 1 Comment »
January 10, 2011
New version of Shopping List is live. Unlike most iQuote updates, where new products or features are announced, this “Technical Bulletin” is to advise iQuote Host Distributors who were experiencing intermittent timeouts with Shopping List that the new version is live and sorts this issue. Apologies if you had any issues; it impacted about 4 Distis.
Posted in iQuote, iQuote Update | Tagged configurator, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote HP, iQuote Shopping List, iQuote Update, Shopping List | Leave a Comment »
January 10, 2011
Now easier to select your System Unit when browsing in iQuote. Some feedback from our US iQuote users that showing the hard disk drive configuration within a product description would help the user select. iQuote goes a little further and adds this to the browse range view (see graphic) as a separate line item.
For example, “Hard Drives: Hot-Pluggable 2.5in Small Form Factor Drive Bays: 4″ appears between the part number, price, stock and the full server description on one of the DL360 G7s.
There is a planned enhancement so that if a System Unit supports 4 hard disk drives as standard but can support a 2nd backplane that extends this to 8 iQuote will show “Drive Bays: 4 (8)” which is the same methodology as the table of contents uses.
Posted in configurator, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management | Tagged Channel, configurator, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote HP, iQuote Update | 1 Comment »
January 5, 2011
The most requested feature for iQuote is now live. iQuote users want to be able to merge quotes for different systems into a single quotation. Now you can with iQuote Solution Builder. 
Instead of adding a new application we decided to make it simple by leveraging the existing Saved Quotes view.
How to: just use the blue arrow to add either Saved or Exported versions of your quotes to create a solution. The quotes will then appear in a “Super Basket/Cart” like the graphic. Once you’ve finished combining quotations click on preview to view the quotations and then you have the facility to either preserve original pricing or refresh to current pricing. Once done you can export.
A number of additional functions are planned: the first is to allow the margin level to be changed for the Solution from the margin that was applied to each system; the second is to look for products that fit together (e.g. server and storage system) and provide some help around components needed for them to work together and the third is to allow users to store Solutions and retrieve them.
We hope you enjoy using iQuote Solution Builder. Best wishes for 2011 from the iQuote Team here at channelcentral.net.
Posted in Channel Business, configurator, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management | Tagged Channel, configurator, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote HP, iQuote Update | Leave a Comment »
December 17, 2010
Great for consolidated buyers! iQuote Swift version 1 allowed iQuote users to enter a system unit part number and generate a price/stock list along with PL Code, categorisation and description for all supported options. iQuote Swift v2 builds on that and addresses a different requirement. If you have a list of unrelated parts and you want to turn that into a Price List with availability, PL Code, categorisation and description then you’ll love iQuote Swift v2. That’s what it does.
A picture says a thousand words so here’s what it looks like when these parts are pasted in (it can handle many, many parts):
AZ886AW
ED707AT
WK301EA
470065-156
495938-B21
Posted in Channel Business, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management | Tagged Channel, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote HP, iQuote Swift, iQuote Update, IT Channel, Swift | Leave a Comment »
December 10, 2010
Some small changes in iQuote that add up. Our iQuote users provide feedback and we’re always looking for ways to improve the user experience. So you may notice subtle changes in iQuote that we’ve made recently. If you didn’t notice them here are a few:
- You can now view Exports in the Quote Management Page (see graphic below) and you’ll see why soon !
- We added hyperlinks in the Contents Table for Power Supplies (we already have them for Processors, Memory and Hard Disk Drives).
- We fixed our Power Supply Unit validation so it caps correctly.
- Our Validation Checklist kicks in as soon as a server (or any other system) is loaded (before it did it as options were added).
- Handling of items where the price is not available from a Host Distributor is much better.
Posted in Channel Business, configurator, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Product Management, Quote Software | Tagged Channel, configurator, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, iQuote Update | Leave a Comment »
December 2, 2010
A first for iQuote as the HP Personal Systems Group products feature Microsoft Office 2010 with Microsoft part numbers. Yes it is the first time that we’ve ever introduced non-HP part numbers (we already show Distributor service parts). It won’t be the last time either as iQuote moves ahead HP will authorise complementary products into iQuote. The benefits for iQuote users is clear: rather than complete a quote for HP products in one tool then manually add software products it can all be through a single, simple interface: iQuote.
If you want to increase sales and margin add more products to your quotation with iQuote. Drive the pitch rate and the attach rate will follow.
Posted in Channel Business, configurator, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update, Marketing, Product Management, Uncategorized | Tagged Channel, configurator, HP, iQuote Hints and Tips, Microsoft, Office 2010, PSG | Leave a Comment »
November 30, 2010
Management Users to get improved reporting. Eagle-eyed iQuote Management Users will already have noticed that there have been changes to the Reporting Dashboard. The most visible one is that global ‘pitch rate’ by HP Business Unit is now shown MTD and Last Month for easy comparison. Pitch rate is the number of times you quote a part number on a quote (per system). If your pitch rate improves it follows that your attach rate will improve and this is a key part of iQuote’s business case.
Also if you have internal users, resellers using your web store and even customer clones there has been no easy way of getting that information off the dashboard (although we can supply ad hoc reports). So now the Dashboard has been stripped back so that it only shows internal users and over the next few weeks we will be building on that to provide web store users if you have them and reseller clone users if you have them. Everything in a single view will be really powerful and a major simplification. Remember it’s all about the pitch rate !
Posted in Channel Business, configurator, Hewlett Packard, iQuote, iQuote Update | Tagged Attach Rate, Channel, HP, iQuote, iQuote Hints and Tips, Pitch Rate, Return on investment | Leave a Comment »
