How to Create a Proposal

KitchenDEV Cabinet Pricing & Ordering Software gives one global, simple view on manufacturers, parts, customers, proposals, and orders from a central dedicated showroom database. Follow these steps to easily create proposals and simplify your ordering process.

Start creating a proposal by clicking on New Proposal or Quick Proposal buttons in the dashboard. You can also click on Proposals on the main menu.

There are 5 steps in the process of creating and ordering a proposal:

Step 1. Fill in Initial Data

Customer, Designer, Description, and Location are required fields, while Type, Lead Source, and Outside Sales Rep are optional fields. Fill in Type and Lead source when you want to create a customer on the fly (then you don’t have to select a customer name from the dropdown; instead, just enter a new name).

fill in initial data
Fill in initial data

If you choose and click the Quick Proposal button, step 1 can be skipped. However, if you decide to save the quick proposal for later, you will be asked to fill in the data from Step 1.

Step 2. Create a Proposal Version

Easily create a Proposal Version by selecting a manufacturer and by providing a version name. One proposal can have many versions. For example, your customer may want 5 cabinets from style A and 3 cabinets from style B. If that is the case, you would need to create 2 versions. To create additional versions of a proposal, simply come back to this step later. This option helps with creating multi-style orders or simply compare styles.

create a proposal version
Create a proposal version

Step 3. Select Cabinet Door Styles

You can upload exported txt design from 2020 Design software (export and upload instructions provided) or press Select Door Styles to choose from the KitchenDEV database manually. Regardless of your choice, after this step, you will be prompted to Step 4. If you select to upload 2020 Design, all the items will be already added to the cart.

proposal: select cabinet door styles
Select door styles

Step 4. Add Items to Cart

 To do this, filter items by part code or description.

proposal step 4: add items to cart
Add items to cart

You have an option to add modifications to each item, any specific part if your customer has a special request.

add modifications
Add modifications

In addition to selecting from existing items, you can add custom items (and charges like delivery fee) by providing the name and price (fee).

add custom items
Add custom items

Use the switch on the top to choose an assembled or knockdown option. If the switch is already ON (this is the case by default), you can specify hinge/exposed sides for each cabinet. If you choose the assembled option, the assembly fee will be automatically added to cabinet prices.

choose assembled or knockdown option
Choose assembled or knockdown option

Optionally, you can apply a custom discount percentage and tax at the bottom of the page. Review the price summary.

review the price summary
Review the price summary

When you finish reviewing the proposal, choose one of the three options to save the proposal:
Save — the proposal is simply saved without navigating to another page;
Accept and Order — this option saves the proposal and takes you to Step 5;
Reject and Archive — marks the proposal as rejected, saves it, and navigates you to the main Proposals page. After saving it, you will see one active proposal on the dashboard.

You can easily switch between different versions, remove the selected version, and edit them if needed. You can also revisit the proposal when needed and order it. Simply click the Accept & Order button.

Step 5. Review Items and Send Proposal

Fill the text fields — add recipients manually or choose default vendor email.

Add any instructions for the cabinet manufacturer and select a delivery method (pickup, deliver to the customer, deliver to showroom).

If you decide to remove any custom items from the order, these items will still be available in the database as a part of the proposal.

Once the fields are filled, click on the Order button. This is how you create an order record and send the order email to the cabinet manufacturer.

After saving all changes, go to the dashboard to see your new, active order.

review items and send proposal
See your new, active order

To easily find a specific order, filter orders by Customer, Designer, Status, Price, or State.

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