Create Item Specification Forms
Setting up Item Types and Specifications will allow you to fill out your pre-designed specs lists with clients to gather the information required for their quote or job.
To set up and maintain your Item Types and Specifications, under 'Settings' on the user menu, find & click on 'Items' then Types or Specifications.
Click to be taken straight to:
- Creating an Item
- Creating and Editing Specifications
- Question & Item Types
- Deleting/Restoring Questions
- Creating Item Specifications in Leads
- Copying Item Specifications to a Job
Tip: set up your item types & specifications so your team can complete job specs for a client whilst out on site! No more notepads, add all your information into your lead, print to PDF and send to your client for confirmation.
Step One - Creating an Item Type:
For Types, this allows you to create the different requirements that you need to collect/list information for, a Type could be a room/area or a product option that you specialize in making. Following the steps above, open your 'Types' settings. To add a new type:
- Click on 'Create'.
- Name your 'Type'.
- Click 'Create' again now your type is set up!
Click the back arrow to go back to your list, from here you can also update any previous types and rename them by clicking into the type and clicking 'Update'.
Step Two - Creating a Specification
Access your specifications by following the same steps above. In Specifications by clicking the 'Add New' button at the top of the page you can add Groups & Questions.
Groups: this option is to categorise where your questions will be attached to.
Questions: allows you to create the questions required, and set up the answer types.
To create a Group:
- Click the 'Add New' button & select 'Group'
- Choose & enter the name for your new group.
- Under 'Item Type' you can choose to allow this question for all items or choose selected ones.
- Tick the checkboxes if they apply for 'Required to be completed' and 'Can be repeated'.
To create a Question:
- Either click the + logo at the bottom of your group or click 'Add New' > 'Question'.
- Enter the name of your question.
- Choose your question type from the dropdown. See below (#1) for explanation.
- If you select your Question Type as 'dropdown', you will need to provide the options.
- Assign your Question to a Group.
- Choose your item types that this question can be entered for or leave as 'All'. See below (#2).
- Click 'Create'!
Here's an example of a Group that has been set up with Questions:
Editing Item Specifications
You can edit your specs by double clicking on the specification name as shown below. From here you can change the specification name, set the field to 'required' & choose if you want this section to be able to be repeated/duplicated when completing these specs within a lead or job.
#1 - Question Types:
Text: Allows you to type in a few words or a short sentence.
Paragraph Text: Provides the option to list several sentences of text.
Email Address: apply an email address.
URL: Apply a web browser link, handy for a question regarding appliance types/models.
Number: Where the question type answer needs to be number/value-based.
Dropdown: The ability to have several options to select from, using a dropdown menu tab to expand these options when required.
Checkbox: A filter/tick box.
Material: The option to select a specific material item from your Catalogue Items, this is great if the question is relating to a colour choice for a material item.
Service: The option to choose a required Service (trade item) from your Catalogue Service Items.
#2 - Item Types:
When creating a lead you are able to select one or multiple Item Types.
These will link the precise specifications question groups into your lead. You can then rename these inside the lead if you have multiple of the same type that are different.
Delete/Restore Questions
You can either delete just one individual question, or multiple if required. To delete multiple questions, simply click the questions you want to delete, click on the 'With Selected' button and click 'Delete'.
To restore deleted questions or groups, you will need to change the filter option as highlighted below, from Active to Include Delete. The deleted will show with a line crossed through them, then you can tick the filters in front of the group/question name, and then 'With Selected' you can click on Restore to bring these back into the specifications again.
Creating Item Specifications in Leads
Click on Leads from your user menu panel, then search for your existing lead or create a new lead. Once the lead is established, click on the Resource tab & click on Items.
To create specifications:
- Under Resources > Items click 'Create'.
- Name your specification.
- Select the specification type - if you set some questions to specific types, these will now show.
- Enter the quantity of specs you require or leave as 1.
- Fill out your specifications list & questions.
- Finish by clicking 'Create'!
Congratulations on completing your first set of specs! You will now be redirected to the summary page where you can update or print to PDF.
Note: If you have set up specific questions on the form, you will see an 'Add another section' option, this will provide you with the functionality to duplicate this section. This is particularly handy if different color schemes are required for some of the materials.
Copying Item Specifications to a Job
If you've created item specifications in your lead, these are able to be copied over once you create a job by following the below steps:
- Ensure your item specification has been created in the lead using the steps above.
- Create a quote from your lead ensuring you assign the Item Spec.
- Update the status of your quote to 'Quote Accepted'.
- Update the status of the lead to 'Job Won'.
- From the lead, click 'Add New', click 'Job'.
- Choose your job types, enter your description & ensure to choose the quote from the dropdown menu.
Your job will now have your lead item specs pulled across!
Need Further Assistance?
Check out our video below on item specs, please note - we are constantly improving and adding new features so some things may have changed!