Price Increase Utility

Q: When can I run my prepay letters?

The Price Increase Utility is located under the Tools Menu - Utilities Menu.  This utility is used to raise the Prices of your Services.  

Click on the hot spots located on the image for more detailed information.

Step 1)   If you are running multiple Companies, select the Vompany that you wish to perform the Price Increase on.

Step 2)   Select the type of Customers that you wish to perform the price increase on:  Residential, Commercial or Both.

Step 3)   Decide if you want to Exclude Group Billing Customers.

Step 4)   Decide if you want to raise Prices for those Customers who meet a certain Size or Standard Price range.

Step 5)   Decide if you want to perform the Price increase on Only Completed Services or Only Incomplete Services or Both and choose the Season for those Services.

Step 6)   Select the Status of the Services that you wish to use for the Price increase.

Step 7)   Decide if you want to raise Prices for Customers that fall in a specific Sold Date Range.

Step 8)   Decide if you want to Exclude Prices Changed Since this date.

Step 9)   Select the Services that you want to perform the Price increase on.

Step 10) Decide if you want to Increase the Price using a By Dollar Amount or a By Percentage Amount.  Also decide are you only raising Current Prices or are you also going to increase Renewal Prices.

Step 11) Click on the Get Programs/Jobs button then view the changes.

Step12)  If Step 11 went as expected, click on the Calculate Price Increase button and then view the changes.

Step 13) If Step 12 went as expected, click on the Perform Price Increase button to perform the increase.

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Select Services Grid

The Services that you wish to perform a Price increase on can be selected from this grid. To perform the price increase on a single or several Services, click on the None button located on the lower right hand corner of the Select Service Grid. This will remove all of the checkmarks to the left of each Service Code. Now click on the Include field next to the Service that you wish to perform a Price increase on. The Service will be highlighted in black and a check will appear in the Include field. You may want to perform a Price increase on more than one Service at a time, just repeat the above process for all the services that you wish to perform the price increase on.

To select all of the Services, click on the All button located on the lower right hand corner of the Select Service Grid and a check will appear in each box as well as the highlighting the services in black.

To select a Group of Services, for example all of your Lawn Care Services, click on the Type field. A list box will appear and select Program Type for Lawn Care. This will select all of the Lawn Care Programs in the list.  To clear all of your selections click on the None button located on the lower right hand corner of the select service grid.

Service Status

Select the Status of the Services that you wish to perform the Price increase on.  To select a Status, click the field next to the desired status with the mouse, a check mark will appear.  To remove the selected status click on it again with the mouse.  You may select more than one status to use for the Price increase.

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Select Ranges - Size or Standard Price

Price increase can be performed on Customers that meet selected ranges such as Size or Standard Price.

Example 1.

Example 1.  I am using Size for my filter. I am going to raise Prices for everyone who has a Lawn Size between 10,000 and 20,000 sq. ft..  I do not want the Standard Price Range to be a factor, so my From field is blank and my To field is a very very large number (this will ensure that the Standard Price Range is Ignored).

Example 2.

Example 2.   I am using the Standard Price for my filter.  I want to raise the Price for everyone who has a Standard Price between $25.00 and $35.00.  I do not want the Size Range to be a factor, so my From field is blank and my To field is a very large number (this will ensure the Size Range is ignored).

Example 3.

Example 3.  I am going to use both the Size Range and the Standard Price Range fields.  I want to increase the Prices for all of my Customers who have a Size between 10,000 and 20,000 sq. ft. and a Standard Price between $30.00 and $40.00.

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Exclude Prices Changed Since

The Exclude Prices changed since this date prevents you from changing the Price for a Customer who had their Price increased manually at an earlier time.  This field looks at the Last Price Inc. field on the Service screen.   For example, if you want to raise the Price for everyone except those people that were changed since January 12, 2001, you would enter 01/01/2001 in this field.  If you wanted to raise the Price for everyone regardless of the last time their Price was increased, enter a future date such as Tomorrow.

To enter the date, you can either key it in or select it from the calendar by clicking on the field with the mouse.

Use Sold Date

You may use the Sold Date as a filter for your Price increase.  In this example, I am going to raise the Prices for all of the Customers who have a Sold Date of last year.

To enter the Date Range, click on the Use Sold Date Field to select. If you decide not to use the Sold Date, click on the field again to deactivate.  You can then select a descriptive date designation from the list box for a date range, you can also key in the dates in the From and To field or you can click on each field and select a date from the calendar.

Increase Price

The Prices can be raised by a Dollar adjustment or a Percentage adjustment.

Example1.

In Example 1, the Prices for the Services that I have selected are going to be increased by $5.00.  So, for example, a Core Aeration that cost $150.00 will now cost $155.00 after the price increase is performed.  A full 6 Application Program will actually be in creased $30.00 because each Round or Cycle will be raised $5.00 dollars.  So be careful if you only wanted to increase the total program $5.00 dollars, the actual By Dollar Price would be less than a dollar.  

The price increase can also be applied to Current Prices as well as Renewal Prices by clicking on them with the mouse.  To Increase prices By Dollar, click on it with the mouse.  The Minimum and Maximum fields do not apply to a By Dollar Increase.

Example 2.

In Example 2, I am going to do my price increase By Percentage, so I will click on that field with my mouse.  Enter the percentage that will be used for the increase in the field next to the By Dollar increase, then enter the Minimum and Maximum dollar amounts that you want the Prices increased by.  

Remember the increase will be applied to each Round or Cycle in a Program and not the Total Cost of the Program, see example 1.  You can also select whether you want to increase the Current Prices or the Renewal Prices or both by clicking on each one with the mouse.

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Price Increase Include Exclude

Company or Branch

Select the Company or Branch that you wish to use for the Price increase by clicking on the list box.  If you are only running a single company, this field does not apply.  

Customer Type

The price Increase utility can be run for Residential and Commercial Customers separately by clicking on your choice with the mouse or it can be run for Both.  

You may also exclude Group Billing Customers if you wish - just click on the option with the mouse.

Include

The Include field refers to Services.  You may run the Price Increase Utility for only Completed Services by clicking on this selection with the mouse. Or you may run the Price Increase Utility for Uncompleted Services by clicking on this selection with the mouse or you may run the Price Increase Utility for both Completed and Uncompleted services by selecting this option with the mouse.

Season

Select the Season you wish to use for the Price increase.  

Get Services Step1

Once all of your criteria has been set click on the Get Programs/Jobs button.  Once the Query is finished the Show List Grid will appear.  It will contain a list of all of the Customers who were selected for a Price increase based on your criteria.  

This grid shares the same properties as other grids in the Program.  You can remove Customers from the list by clicking on them individually.  A selected Customer is highlighted in black and the a check mark appears at the far left of each one.  The columns can be sorted by double clicking on the headings, so you can rearrange the order of the grid by those headings.  

To clear the Grid, click on the None button.  To select everything in the Grid, click on the All button. At this stage, the grid displays the Customer Count and Total Dollars for the Standard Price and the Total Price.  

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The next step would be to click on the Calculate Price Increase button.  

If you like what you see, click on the Perform Price Increase.  

If you want to adjust your criteria, click on the Show List button and then click on the Get Programs/Jobs button again.  If you are done, click on the Done Button.

Calculate Price Increase Step 2

This phase is activated after the Get Programs/Jobs phase has been completed.  This grid shares the same properties as other grids in LA3. You can remove Customers from the list by clicking on them individually.  A selected Customer is highlighted in black and the a check mark appears at the far left of each one.  The columns can be sorted by double clicking on the headings, so you can rearrange the order of the grid by those headings. To clear the Grid click on the None button, To select everything in the Grid, click on the All button.  

At this stage, the grid now displays the Total Customer Count, and Totals for the Old Standard Price and Total Price as well as Totals for the New Standard and New Total Price and the amount of the increase for both. If you like what you see, click on the Perform Price Increase button.  

If you want to adjust your By Dollar or By Percentage amount, you may do so, and then click on the Calculate Price Increase button again.  

If you want to adjust your criteria, click on the Show List button.  If you are done, click on the Done Button.

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Price Increase Perform Price Increase

Once everything has been double checked, click on the Perform Price Increase button.  A wait window will appear telling you which Customer LA3 is working on.  Depending on the number of Customers that are being increased and the speed of your machine, this process may take a few minutes.  

Once the increase has finished, a Done window will appear, click on OK.  If you are now finished, click on Done to exit the utility.  

If you want to raise more Prices, click on the Show List button to return to the Criteria View.

Mass Service Assignment Utility

What and Where

The Mass Service Assignment utility allows the user to assign one Service or Program to every single Customer based on the selection criteria and the Customer’s current and previous history of the chosen Service or Program.

This utility is found on the following menu: Tools - Utilities - Mass Service Assignment.

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Options

This utility has several options from which it will identify and assign the chosen Service / Program to the appropriate Customers.  The first option is the Service / Program to be assigned.  You may only choose one Service / Program at a time.  Next, you must specify the following details for the assigned service: 1)Source   2)Salesperson   3)Schedule Date (may be left blank)   4)Season   5)Price (may be left blank)  6)Status.  Once the details have been completed, you must choose your actual selection criteria by which it will select the Customers that will be assigned the chosen Service / Program.

There are only 3 options:   1)Customer Type (Residential, Commercial, or Both)  2)Customer Status (one or more of any available Customer Status)   3)Cutoff Date (this date will limit Service / Program assignment to only Customers who DO NOT have the Service after the cutoff date).  Once the selection criteria has been chosen, the utility will be ready to run.

Why?

This utility was designed to allow the user to assign a Service or Program to all Customers en masse.  For the most part, you wouldn’t want to add a service to everybody’s account, but there are some cases where you would.  One example of which is a beginning or end of season Service Call to evaluate the Lawn’s current Condition or condition at the end of the season.  Another example would be if you decided to offer a complimentary Insect Spraying to all of your Always Active Customers for being continuous Customers.  Whatever your reason, use this utility with care and make sure to do a full backup of your data before proceeding with this utility.

Price Discrepancy Report

Reports - Customer Lists -  Price Discrepancy Report This report will provide you with a List of Customers with Prices that are either higher or lower than what is suggested by the Price Chart in Parameters.  You can then use this report to do a Price increase for those Customers.  

HOWEVER, RUNNING THIS REPORT AND CHANGING PRICES DURING YOUR PRODUCTION SEASON WILL CHANGE PRICES FOR THOSE SERVICES SCHEDULED BUT NOT YET COMPLETED.

THIS PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE!  THERE IS NO DO-OVER!  ALWAYS MAKE A COMPLETE BACKUP OF YOUR DATA BEFORE RUNNING THIS REPORT!

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Example - Price Discrepancy Report Raise Price

How do I run the Price Discrepancy Report then raise under-priced Customers?

THIS PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE!  
MAKE A BACK-UP OF YOUR DATA BEFORE RUNNING THIS REPORT!

Step 1)  Select the Programs/Services to run this report for.  To select All, click on the All button

Step 2)  Select the Salesman to run this report for.  To select All, click on the All button

Step 3)  Select the Source to run this report for.  To select All, click on the All button

Step 4)  Select the Customer Type

Step 5)  Select the Customer Status(s)

Step 6)  Select the Season. You cannot run the report for a season in which there are no Services scheduled.

Step 7)  Select the way you want your list Sorted

Step 8)  Select either Under Priced or Over Priced. This is a toggle and only one can be selected at a time.

Under Priced- If you want a list of Customers who are priced less than the Price Table, select this option, then fill out either the Dollars field or the Percentage field. For Example, list everyone who is $2.00 less than the Price Chart or everyone who is 2.0% less than the Price Chart.

Over Priced- If you want a list of Customers who are priced more than the Price Table, select this option, then fill out either the Dollars field or the Percentage field. For Example, list everyone who is $2.00 more than the Price Chart or everyone who is 2.0% more than the Price Chart.

Step 9)  Enter the dollar amount or the percentage for the discrepancy

Step 10) In the Green Area, enter the amount to raise/lower the Price.  A negative number will lower the Price by that amount or percentage..

Step 11) Preview the report.   

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ALWAYS PREVIEW THE REPORT AGAIN AFTER MAKING ANY CRITERIA CHANGES.

Preview the report to see what the potential Price changes will be.  You can also print or export this report before making any changes to the Prices. If you are satisfied with the new Prices, click the Change Price button.  THIS PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE!  ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATA FIRST!

Report Results:  This report shows that for the first Customer, there is no Price increase recommended.  For the next Customer, a price increase from $29 to $32 will occur for all rounds when the Change Price button is pressed.  Rounds that the Customer does not take will not be listed here.  For the next Customer, the rounds are increase proportionately with the requested price increase of 10%.

The Report displays the following information:

ID, Company/Name, Street Address, City, Zip, Ter, Rt, Area, Program Round String, Current Total, Calculated Total, Difference, Salesman, Source, Current Price for each Round, Calculated Price for each Round.

Example - Price Discrepancy Report Lower Prices

How can I lower overpriced Customers to match the Price Chart?

THIS PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE!
 MAKE A BACK-UP OF YOUR DATA BEFORE RUNNING THIS REPORT!

Step 1)  Select the Programs/Services to run this report for.  To select All, click on the All button

Step 2)  Select the Salesman to run this report for.  To select All, click on the All button

Step 3)  Select the Source to run this report for.  To select All, click on the All button

Step 4)  Select the Customer Type

Step 5)  Select the Customer Status(s)

Step 6)  Select the Season.  You cannot run the report for a Season in which there are no Services scheduled.

Step 7)  Select the way you want your list Sorted

Step 8)  Select either Under Priced or Over Priced.  This is a toggle and only one can be selected at a time.

Under Priced- If you want a list of Customers who are priced less than the Price Table, select this option, then fill out either the Dollars field or the Percentage field. For Example, list everyone who is $2.00 less than the Price Chart or everyone who is 2.0% less than the Price Chart.

Over Priced- If you want a list of Customers who are priced more than the Price Table, select this option, then fill out either the Dollars field or the Percentage field. For Example, list everyone who is $2.00 more than the Price Chart or everyone who is 2.0% more than the Price Chart.

Step 9)  Enter the Dollar amount or the Percentage for the discrepancy

Step 10) In the Green Area, enter the amount to raise/lower the price.  A negative number will lower the price by that amount or percentage..

Step 11) Preview the report.   

ALWAYS PREVIEW THE REPORT AGAIN AFTER MAKING ANY CRITERIA CHANGES.

Report Results:    This report will show whose Customers who will have their prices decreased to match the price in the Price Chart based on the selection criteria.

This report can also be used to change the prices for Special Jobs.

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