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Thank you for your interest in the
SellingPoint System, the leading solution for
dynamic order entry in the on-demand
manufacturing world. SellingPoint bridges the
gap between the manufacturing process and those
selling the goods, such as sales teams and
dealers. This demonstration will lead you
through the entire SellingPoint System, which
will allow you to see how data flows through the
system.
The SellingPoint System is divided
into three main components:
- SellingPoint Product Manager
- SellingPoint Sales Edition
- SellingPoint Online
The Product Manager and Sales Edition are
software titles that are installed on a personal
computer. SellingPoint Online, however, is a set
of internet based services installed on a web
server.
These three products work together,
interchanging data instantly, improving the
speed and accuracy of the communication inside
your organization. How is this accomplished?
It all starts with the SellingPoint Product
Manager. This program acts as the hub of the
SellingPoint System. The responsibility of the
Product Manager is twofold:
- Create and manage product catalogs
- Process orders into manufacturing jobs
This means that the Product Manager is
generally only needed by personnel at the
manufacturing company, such as engineers.
The other two products, SellingPoint Sales
Edition and SellingPoint Online, act as order
entry interfaces and thus generally are only
needed by dealers, sales people, and those
taking orders at the company.
Getting set up with the SellingPoint System
is fast. In as little as 15 minutes you can have
SellingPoint installed, a product catalog
created, and be online ready for orders. How
does it all work?
To begin, install and start the SellingPoint
Product Manager. Create a new product catalog
file by going to the File menu and
choosing New… Empty Catalog. At this
point new categories and products can be added
to the catalog as desired. To get started, click
on the link labeled Add new category. Now
products can be created under this new category.
To do this, ensure that the category is selected
and click on Add new product. Rename the
product as desired and add any other information
that you want associated with the product, such
as model number, description, prices, images,
and Macromedia Flash movies.
To add product options, use the mouse to
right click anywhere in the Options box.
Click on Add New Option. Next,
choose the type of control to display the option
to the end user. Available choices are: text
box, combo or drop down box, and check box. Use
check boxes for options that will be simple yes
or no, on or off type of selections. Use a combo
box to display a drop down list of values from
which the user will select. Use a text box for
general user input.
Note that prices can be associated with combo
box and check box rendered controls. These price
points are added to the base price and are used
to fine tune the total price of a product based
on the user’s selections. This means a check box
can have 2 price points associated with it. One
that is applied if the box is selected and one
if it is not. A combo box has a price associated
with each item in the list. These price points
can be a positive or negative amount.
After adding all options desired for a
product, repeat the process of adding products
until your catalog is complete.
If using SellingPoint with Microvellum’s line
of software, the process of creating a catalog
is automated. Simply go to the Tools menu
and choose Import a Microvellum Library.
This scans the location of your product library
and displays all categories and their products.
You will notice check boxes next to all items.
These indicate the products and categories that
will be imported into your SellingPoint product
catalog. If you want to limit the products in
the catalog, simply uncheck the items to be left
out. To quickly deselect all items, right click
on an item and choose Unselect All Categories.
Click on Create Catalog, at which
point we are prompted to specify the location of
4 files: the global, material, common parts
library, and wizard files. These may or may not
all be used in your Microvellum Library. Specify
the location of these files to ensure that
formulas and custom user interfaces are
successfully calculated in the SellingPoint
catalog. Click on Create Catalog and
specify the location and file name under which
the new SellingPoint catalog will be created.
The process of importing the catalog is
automated from here on out and may take several
minutes to complete, depending on the complexity
and size of the library. When finished, the
catalog will contain all data for products in
the Microvellum Library. This includes the
parametric manufacturing and estimating data.
Either way a SellingPoint catalog is created,
whether through an automated import from a
Microvellum Library or created by manually, the
catalog can now be distributed in two ways: via
the internet or via file. To distribute using a
file, simply send the created SellingPoint
product catalog file to anyone using the
SellingPoint Sales Edition. They can open the
file and create orders based on that catalog.
The easiest way to distribute a product
catalog, however, is via the internet. This way
SellingPoint can automatically synchronize
catalogs and update users on the fly with the
latest catalog. This is where the SellingPoint
Online web services come into play. SellingPoint
Online accounts can easily be created from the
Product Manager by going to the Tools
menu and choosing Create a New SellingPoint
Online Account. SellingPoint Online accounts
are a hosted web service provided by Vesigo
Studios and cost a monthly fee. Alternately,
SellingPoint Online can be licensed for
installation on you company’s web server if it
meets the system requirements. In that case a
company is licensed to have an unlimited number
of accounts.
Each SellingPoint Online account includes an
e-commerce web store and access to web services
that allow for distributing catalogs to persons
using SellingPoint Sales Edition. To create a
free 30 day trial account, from the SellingPoint
Product Manager, go to the Tools menu and
choose Create a New SellingPoint Online
Account. Fill in the required information,
including the user name and password to be used
for the account. There are benefits to having
multiple accounts, especially when working in a
dealer network. Each account can be then used to
distribute custom catalogs, manage orders, and
organize customers for each dealer or division
in the company.
SellingPoint Product Manager makes it easy to
manage multiple accounts and thus keep tight
control on your dealer network and sales team.
To add an account to the list of managed
accounts in the Product Manager, go to the
Tools menu, choose Options, and
select the Web tab. Click on the Add
button to add a new account to the list. Enter
the user name and password of the account as
well as a name for the account that will make it
easy to recognize when performing management
functions.
Once added to the list, select the account
and click on the Site Settings button.
This will offer an opportunity to customize the
ecommerce web store and functionality of the
other web services offered by the account. Under
the Customize tab will offer options for
making the web store look the same as your
existing web site. The Sales Edition tab
displays the options for allowing product
catalogs to be downloaded from the store and
orders uploaded. When turned on, these functions
can be password protected. The Payments
tab allows electronic payment processing to be
attached to the web store. Authorize.Net and
PayPal are supported. This enables the site to
process orders only after electronic payment has
been approved, such as with a credit card. The
Security tab makes it possible to
password protect the entire web store. This is
useful if only certain persons should have the
right to place orders via the online store. And
the Microvellum tab offers options for
rendering the online store if using data from a
Microvellum Library.
Distributing a catalog via SellingPoint
Online works by first uploading it to the
account. Do this from the SellingPoint Product
Manager by going to the File menu and
choosing Upload Catalog. Specify the
catalog to be uploaded. Select the online
account from the list. If this is the first time
uploading a catalog to the account, simply click
Upload Catalog. However, if the account
already contains a catalog, options will be
available to synchronize the new catalog with
the existing one. This makes updating catalogs a
breeze as SellingPoint will intelligently keep
catalogs and orders in sync across updates.
Depending on the size of the catalog being
uploaded and the speed of your internet
connection, the process of uploading can take
several minutes.
Once uploaded, click on the provided link to
visit the web store. At this point the online
store can be linked to a company’s existing web
site, instantly adding an online store. Multiple
accounts can be linked as multiple web stores
each being password protected. This creates a
great online experience as a dealer can simply
log on to the company’s web site, choose his web
store portal, sign in, and start ordering.
The experience for the visitor to the web
store will be very similar to those who have
used ecommerce online stores in the past. There
is a shopping cart style order entry interface,
where products are selected, customized, and
then added to a virtual shopping cart. Once all
the products desired are added to the shopping
cart, the contents are turned into an order.
When a visitor to the online store first hits
the site, they see the online store’s home page.
This home page can be customized to whatever the
company wants. Usually it is a good idea to
feature new products and pertinent news.
Additionally, the header and footer can be
customized exactly the way the company wants.
Anyone with experience in designing web pages
can make these customizations. Usually this is
the person who initially built the company’s web
site.
On the left hand side are options for the
visitor and categories of products to browse. By
clicking on a category, all products will appear
with a thumbnail view of the product. Clicking
on a product will display its details. At this
point, if the product catalog was imported from
a Microvellum Library, all manufacturing data is
recalculated. When the visitor makes a change to
product options and then clicks the
Recalculate Product button, the product is
virtually reengineered and validated to ensure
that it can be made as specified. If the product
price is tied to any of the options, this too is
recalculated to reflect the new price.
By clicking on the Add to Cart button,
the visitor will have added the product to their
virtual shopping cart. At this point the visitor
can continue adding more products to the
shopping cart or choose to check out.
Upon check out, the visitor is prompted to
sign in. In order to place an order, the user
signs into their account so that SellingPoint
can track account data for each customer. If
they do not already have an account, the visitor
can quickly create one. Later the customer can
return to the store and see details of the
orders they have placed in the past as well as
edit their contact information. Upon completing
the checkout process, the customer receives a
confirmation and receipt via email. The order is
stored under the account until it is retrieved
by the company for processing.
In addition to using the online store for
order entry, the SellingPoint Sales Edition can
be used as an offline solution. Once the Sales
Edition is installed on a PC, the user will need
to acquire a product catalog. This can be done
in two ways: via the internet or via a file. In
the case of a file, the company can email or put
on disk a catalog file which can then be opened
by the Sales Edition. A more effective way,
however, is to download a catalog from a
SellingPoint Online account. Do this in the
Sales Edition by going to the File menu
and choosing Download a Catalog. You will
be asked for the user name and password of the
account you want to acquire the catalog from.
This information should be provided by the
company, as they set the user name and password
used at this level. The user will be asked to
save the catalog to a file. Once downloaded, the
catalog can be opened and orders created.
There are real advantages to using a
SellingPoint Online account to distribute
catalogs to users of the Sales Edition.
Distribution is automated and secure.
Additionally, the Sales Edition will know when a
downloaded catalog has been updated online, in
which case the user is notified that an update
is available.
Once a catalog has been loaded into the Sales
Edition, orders can be created with or without a
connection to the internet. This makes it ideal
for salesmen who often need order entry or
estimating in the field from a laptop. The Sales
Edition includes several features designed to
make order entry streamlined and convenient. For
instance, contact information can be read from
popular contact management programs such as Act!
and Microsoft Outlook.
The order entry process in the Sales Edition
is straightforward. Click on Create a new
order from the task list. Begin by entering
an order name, which will serve as a description
of the order. If appropriate, enter the name of
the sales person. Click on the Customer
Details button to enter contact information
such as billing and shipping address. Click on
the Attach File button to attach files to
the order. This is convenient if files such as
Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or AutoCAD
drawings are associated with the order and will
be beneficial for the company to have access to.
Clicking on General Options will
reveal several options such as job number,
delivery date, terms, and comments. A discount
can be entered which will subtract from the
subtotal of the order. This discount can be
entered as a number or followed by a percentage
sign (%) to indicate a percentage of reduction.
The discount does not reduce the shipping
amount.
If using a catalog imported from a
Microvellum Library, there may be a Microvellum
Wizard file included. If this is the case,
another section will appear that includes a
custom set of options designed by the company.
For details on what these options represent,
contact the company.
Once the order is setup, its time to add
products. Do this by clicking on a category from
the list, selecting a product from the display
to the right, and then clicking the Add to
Order button of the appropriate product.
Doing this displays a window with product
details. Enter the quantity desired and add any
comments needed for this specific product.
Adjust the product options as desired. Making
these changes will cause SellingPoint to
recalculate the product and it’s pricing in the
background, allowing a live view as to how
changes to product options affect the price.
Click OK to add the item to the order.
Repeat this process for each item desired in the
order. Once the order entry is complete, click
on the Save and Close button.
To view and submit orders, click on the
Manage orders link from the task list. This
will show orders that have yet to be sent off to
the company. To submit an order, select it from
the list, right click with the mouse, and choose
to submit by either internet or file. Doing so
by file will save the order to a single file
that can then be emailed or sent on disk to the
company. The easiest way is to submit via
internet. Doing this requires a SellingPoint
Online account. When an order is submitted in
this way, the user is prompted for the user name
and password required for uploading orders to a
particular account. These credentials are
provided by the company. Once uploaded, these
orders are stored in the online store with other
orders until they are downloaded and processed.
This brings us to the final stage of the
SellingPoint System: processing orders. This is
done through the SellingPoint Product Manager.
From the Common Tasks list, choose
Open an Order. This presents the choice of
opening an order from a file or downloading from
a SellingPoint Online account. Choose to open
orders from SellingPoint Sales Edition if
the orders were saved to a file. A link will
appear that allows for a file to be selected.
Clicking this link will prompt the user to
select an order file and then display its
contents. To download orders placed through an
online store or submitted to an online store
from SellingPoint Sales Edition, choose to open
orders from SellingPoint Online Store.
Select the online store account desired from the
drop down list. If new orders are ready for
processing, this will be indicated in the yellow
bar and a link will appear labeled Click here
to download. Click the link to pull down the
orders and save them in the SellingPoint Product
Manager.
To view the order, simply right click on the
order and choose View Order Details Report.
This will generate a printable report of the
order and its details. This report can also be
saved as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file or Excel
spreadsheet.
If using SellingPoint in conjunction with
Microvellum software, the order can be turned
into a job ready for manufacturing. Simply right
click on the order and choose Export to
Microvellum. This will create a job folder
with all the files required to load the job into
Microvellum software and send to manufacturing.
SellingPoint also offers some administrative
features that make managing a dealer network
easier. In the SellingPoint Product Manager, go
to the Tools menu and choose Manage
Customers. Choose the online account to view
and see a live view of the activity occurring in
that online store. This includes details of each
registered customer, items about to be ordered,
and orders waiting to be downloaded and
processed. A powerful feature here is the
ability to specify an adjustment. This is
specified as a percentage, positive or negative.
The percentage specified here will be applied
dynamically whenever that customer logs into the
web store. All prices will be readjusted on the
fly.
For those who would like to run reports on
the data stored in SellingPoint, exporting to
XML is supported. Orders, product catalogs, and
customer data is all exposed in XML so that it
can be loaded into your reporting solution of
choice, such as Crystal Reports. If you do not
already have a report generating package, one is
included in SellingPoint. To access the report
designer, go to the Tools menu and choose
Report Designer. To export data in XML,
go to the File menu, choose Export,
and select the desired type of data to export.
These reporting tools are available in both the
SellingPoint Product Manager and SellingPoint
Sales Edition.
This concludes our overview of the
SellingPoint System. We are confident that the
exclusive technologies available only in
SellingPoint will help your company communicate
efficiently, accurately, and quickly. If you
have additional questions, please feel to direct
these to your SellingPoint System sales
representative.
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