What are managed Data & Labor Catalogs?
​And how can this help you?
It is a set of services we have created so that you the integrator will never have to enter product or labor data into D-Tools again.
​
We created this service because as former owners and operators of integration companies we found ourselves spending way too much time entering and managing data.
This took our attention away from managing sales, customer relationships and day-to-day operations. If you are like us and most of our clients, you would prefer to be focused on growth, sales, and operations rather than data-entry or data-management.
So you can easily populate your catalog with our comprehensive pricing & labor costs to produce highly accurate proposals in only a fraction of the time!
Here's how it works...
benefits to using our data service
Our Managed Catalog service is hyper-focused on delivering value in these 3 core areas:
​
-
Increasing sales velocity and proposal quality
-
Increasing profit margins per project and for the whole business
-
Increasing operational efficiency and effectiveness
​
Proposal creation in a fraction of the time because you have the products in your catalog, but you also have:
​
-
Associated installation labor
-
Associated accessories
-
Correct installation phase assignments
-
Consistent categorization
-
Product images and specifications
-
Consistent formatting for product descriptions, product names, images, and specifications yield highly polished and professional proposals
​
Increasing profit margins per project and for the whole business
​
-
Accurate descriptions, phases, specifications of all products in the Product Catalog help you to select the right products for the job
-
Accurate pricing and cost data enables you to use the most profitable items in your proposals
-
Associated labor with each item in the catalog ensures you account for installation costs and effort
-
Products that have accessories attached to them ensures you don't forget the little things that when overlooked can reduce margins
​
Increasing operational efficiency and effectiveness
​
-
Defined category structure that are easy to work with and understand
-
Category structure takes into consideration needs of sales, engineering, and accounting
-
Category structure is applicable during the proposal, engineering, and purchasing process
-
Streamlined processes from proposal generation
how our data service works
Here is what BlueDog does to provide you a managed product and labor catalog:
​​
We host your D-Tools server on Amazon's AWS cloud, one of the most reliable cloud services in the world
​
​
We administer your BlueDog hosted D-Tools server by keeping the software and the operating system updated
​
​
We load phase, category, product and labor data into your instance of D-Tools to create a comprehensive catalog
-
We only load product data for manufacturers that you work with keeping your catalog clutter-free
​
We take basic data about products from manufacturers and enrich it to create a comprehensive product catalog
​
​
We manage over 30 different data fields that make your data both "Proposal Ready" and "Engineering Ready"
​
​
We accessorize products and enter labor values for each items so you don't leave money on the table
​
​
When we add or update products in our master catalog, you get the updates automatically
-
We push updates to your catalog multiple times per day
​
​
When you need to add a manufacturer or a new product, use our support site to make the request
-
We can turn-around a data request in 48 hours or less
​
​
Those are the basics. And we can answer any specific questions you have regarding your business when you contact us.
why invest in a service like this
We created this service because we make it our job to make YOUR job easier so you can increase profit margins and spend time doing what you do best.
Our subscription service provides continual updates to your catalog multiple times daily
As refreshed data is loaded, you have access to it immediately.
​
It takes time, research, money, and discipline
The amount of work it actually takes to maintain high-quality data required to drive the software systems used by integrators to create proposals, sales orders, system designs, purchase orders, and work orders is monumental.
​
​
High-quality data available reduces the time and cost of essential business activities
(i.e. generating proposals, purchase orders, etc.)
​
Reduces the headaches of costly mistakes
(i.e. forgetting to spec equipment which cuts profitability)
​
​
Your time is worth more
Most integrators would rather not be spending their time or resources dealing with all the data that's needed to drive their proposal, design, and accounting software.
​
​
The non-stop hunt for current & accurate specs
Manufacturers provide either incomplete information about their products or the information is spread-out between excel spreadsheets, their website, PDF files, etc. And pricing alone constantly changes.
​
Our Solution.
For a low fixed monthly cost, Our Product Catalog Data populates your software’s database with all the current specs you need to assemble quality proposals quickly.
​
​
Need to add a new product or product line? No problem, just make the request and we will have it in your database within 48 hours.