How to Get Started With StoneSpot’s NEW Pricing Wizard!

It’s officially “spooky season”, and StoneSpot has been brewing up something spooktacular! With a dash of creativity and a generous sprinkle of expertise, StoneSpot has concocted a new tech treat that promises to be a thrilling addition to your monument business.

The magic of StoneSpot’s newly released and highly anticipated Powerups features is absolutely enchanting. Each feature is like a powerful business cauldron- bubbling with innovation and just waiting for you to input the spell-binding ingredients.

This week I am SO excited to share with you my favorite StoneSpot Powerup- The Pricing Wizard!

Double, Double Pricing Trouble

Can I just tell you that I have been dreaming of this magical feature for YEARS?! And, now that it is here, I am absolutely obsessed with it.

The Price Problem

If you have attended one of my pricing seminars, then you know I am a huge fan of spreadsheets. They are seriously one of the most amazing business tools out there and I use them for nearly everything. In fact, I have even created a tutorial for those who haven’t yet discovered the magic of spreadsheets. You can find it here.

For years I have built beautiful, huge spreadsheets to help me quickly and accurately price out my memorials. They feature formulas and v-lookups and tons of data to help me create a concise price book for everyone on the team to use. It is amazing!

But, as an unintended consequence, I had built a program that was difficult for anyone lacking advance Excel skills to use. Thus, I had created something no one in our office felt comfortable operating- except for me. Because I had done this to myself, I was in a situation where only I was able to quote items not in our standard price book. And that was horrible!

Failed Solutions

In attempt to take quotes off my plate, I tried several different programs.

The first solution I tried was a more simplified spreadsheet. For weeks I built formulas and locked cells to create a simple input form that calculated prices with ease.

But, as luck would have it, someone was always having a problem with it. We dealt with error messages, coding issues, and user input issues. And, just when we thought all the “bugs” had been ironed out, new ones arose. Ultimately, this idea was a fail.

Then there was the second solution- a WordPress plugin that initially looked promising. My idea was to put it on our website (password protected portion) to allow for easy price calculations. However, this plugin was absolutely ridiculous in it’s setup.

Each pricing function required a million detailed inputs, causing setup to take forever. Out of frustration and pure boredom, I decided I was done with it. This idea was also a fail.

For a while it appeared that I would just have to make due with my situation.

But then…something magical happened.

Fire Burn & Formula Bubble

Have you ever had one of those moments when you knew you had finally found the solution you were looking for? One of those moments when everything just comes together and all seems right with the world again?

That is exactly how I would describe the moment I learned the Pricing Wizard was available. It was a relief!

What it Does

So what in the world does this magical Pricing Wizard do? Great question!

Simply stated, it generates quotes for items entered into a stone suborder which are not held in inventory.

Now. Each business operates differently. Some carry a great deal of inventory while others do not. If you do not carry a lot of inventory, this is going to rock your world.

If you do carry a lot of inventory, this is going to rock your world in a different way. It will allow your sales team to quickly and easily quote out non-inventory items without having to send off or wait for a quote.

Example

Let’s say a client walks in the door and wants something you do not carry in stock. They want a 1-6×0-6×1-10 P2 Georgia Gray Serp with basic sandblasted engraving.

Some may leave the client unattended while they run back and calculate the price. Others may fumble through calculations with the client present. But, those of us running Pricing Wizard simply invite the client to begin working up a quote.

To do this, simply start a quote for the client in StoneSpot and then go down to the Stone Suborder. Here you will enter the data you would like to quote as you see in the example below.

In the top, right hand corner, the Auto-quote will appear.

To double check the system for accuracy, you can click “explanation” in the red text beneath the quote. This will generate an explanation of how the quote was generated and include the granite cost, freight and markup. It will ALSO include custom pricing additions.

Custom pricing additions are anything you would add to the raw cost of the material. In the example I created, I only included the design on the front and an administration fee.

For the sake of example, I set the design fee to calculate based on square foot of the front of the stone. I then set the administrative fee as a flat fee (i.e. not calculated).

Custom pricing additions can be absolutely anything and they may be automatically added or selected by the sales person. Now quoting things such as shell rocking, shape carving, laser etching, etc, etc, is quick and easy!

Entering Data into the System

My initial experience with Pricing Wizard was a bit overwhelming. There were all of these boxes and options floating around and I started to wonder if I was going to start playing Tetris!

You can see all of the boxes below.

BUT…y’all…don’t let the boxes freak you out. They ended up being super easy to deal with and use. The trick was simply learning how to use them.

Once I figured out the boxes and learned how to properly enter my data, setup was a breeze. It took me approximately four hours to set it all up- and that was without a step-by-step tutorial. It won’t take you near as long if you follow these steps.

Gather Before You Start

Before you do anything, you need to activate the Pricing Wizard in your StoneSpot account. Simply put, you can’t use it if you don’t have access to it.

Now that that is out of the way, you need to collect the following items:

• List/price book/etc of the items you most commonly sell
• Granite colors and who you purchase each from
• Per square foot price you pay for each color (excluding freight, tariffs, etc)
• Freight invoices
• Your pricing formulas
• Pricing for custom additions such as core holes, shape carving, star bursting, shell rocking and more

Gathering all of this up front will be incredibly helpful.

Steps to Successful Setup

When I setup my Pricing Wizard I just kind of went at it blindly and learned as I went. While I love a good challenge and learned a lot, I don’t recommend going about it the way I did! Instead, follow these steps for a more simplified set up.

Stone Attributes

The first thing I should have done was check my stone attributes. If you are planning to use Pricing Wizard, you will want to ensure the “bones” of the program are entirely set up.

In your stone attributes you need to ensure the following:

• Stone Colors have all been
• Stone weight per cubic inch is accurately entered
• All pieces/types and polishes have been entered
• Edge finishes have been entered

If any of these items are not entered, especially the weight per cubic inch, you will experience trouble with the Pricing Wizard.

Shipping Cost Profiles

The next thing I should have done was check my shipping cost profiles. This is where you enter the various shipping methods and associated costs to get product to your door.

For example, one of my suppliers uses FedEx Freight. I set up a profile named FedEx Freight and then had to set it up like a container. (Unfortunately, that is just the way you have to do it).

I knew the maximum weight was 40,000 lbs, so I entered that as the max weight. Then I pulled out my most recent FedEx Freight invoices and calculated the average rate per pound and averaged it over 40,000 lbs. It took time, and isn’t perfect, but it works.

I did that for each shipping method my suppliers and I use.

Custom Pricing Profiles

The third thing I should have done was address my custom pricing profiles (ie the Pricing Wizard). Of course, I started backwards and did this first. Don’t be like me- do it third!

Custom Pricing Additions

After I set up my custom pricing profiles I went in and set up my custom pricing additions. This is best done last, as doing so will let you end on a fairly easy step.

In My Next Post…

In my next post we are going to dive deeper into the StoneSpot Pricing Wizard. It will include detailed information on how to set up each line item of the Wizard and the custom pricing additions. It is information you are not going to want to miss!

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