value price modification

[Keith]

Hal, I've been doing some thinking since that conversation on Printplanet about BHR's (Budget Hourly Rates) and estimating. As I mentioned, I do a lot of price checking and tweaking to MF to get the most dollar for my services. Now, before MF I had tried a program that had a neat little feature. It was similar to the price adjustment you can set for each customer but this was for each job. After the quote was all done you can select one of five price levels. I can't remember exactly what they were, but it was something like- Bargain Basement, Competitive Bid, Normal, High profit, and Monopoly. Seriously, I can't remember the exact wording but I hope that makes it clear on what I'm talking about. So, instead of messing with the coverage or makeready to get the value you want, how about a simple slider? (I know, nothing is ever that simple.)

So crazy it might work or so crazy I should go back to my closet?

[Hal Heindel]

Originally Posted by Keith

I know, nothing is ever that simple.

You're right about that, Keith. For those of you unfamiliar with PrintPlanet, here is a link to the pricing topic Keith mentioned.

To set the stage, MF does offer price adjustments at both the customer and estimate level. In addition, prices can be fine-tuned for each product by means of sliders. Customer adjustments are made by entering a percentage, up or down. Estimates can be modified by either a percentage (MF then adjusts the price), or to a specific amount (MF then calculates the percentage). Product adjustments range from Very Low to Very High in five-point increments.

The advantage of using a percentage is precision. You can enter any amount, including fractions. That means you can fine-tune to exactly the price you want.

The advantage of using sliders can be distilled to "don't make me think." If you haven't read the book, written by Steve Krug, here is the link. It's always within arm's length on my workstation.

In Future Shock, Alvin Toffler talks about information overload and the stress caused by having to make hundreds of usually inconsequential but always necessary decisions daily. One of the examples he uses is how we get orange juice. In earlier days, the choice was simple - there wasn't one. If you wanted orange juice, you had to buy oranges. No decision required. Now, we hardly ever buy oranges to make juice anymore. Instead, we have to decide whether we want fresh, frozen, or concentrate. High pulp, regular pulp, no pulp. And what exactly is regular? Vitamin C enriched or natural? ... and so on.

Sliders fall into the minimal shock value group: Fewer decisions at the price of less flexibility, but also giving the program a chance to apply some intelligence behind the scenes. For instance, when you dial in "Very High" for run time, MF can (and does) tailor the actual time spent on the press to the length of the run, and to the category of the product you're printing. If that was an entry field in hours and minutes, you would have to enter three values, one each for the three quantities. And you'd have to make sure they made sense in relation to one another. If the customer changed quantities, you'd then have to somehow reconstruct that relationship. Lest you forget to match the run time to the new quantity, in which case you could be giving the job away.

As a developer, I have to constantly balance one method against the other. In the case of discounts/surcharges and final pricing, I opted for percentages. Here, the advantages far outweigh those offered by arbitrary price levels. Which, as you can see here, I'm not a big fan of on sheer principle.

Glad you brought it up, Keith. I'm convinced that in Morning Flight, we have a way to do it better, but now you gave me a chance to explain why.

Thank you!

[Keith]

You know what I love about printing? All the new stuff I learn every day! One question. Where do I find that pricing window?

[Hal Heindel]

In the Estimator, Keith. Click the blue button. The nice thing about using a percentage in this case is that, whatever price you entered for an individual item, when you change the quote sheet quantity, MF will automatically adjust the estimate price based on the originally calculated percentage.

That all happens in the background. Even if you don't open the estimate for editing, it will instantly be updated whenever you change the quote sheet.

[Keith]

Sigh. I think my dumbness has reached new levels. I think I pushed about every button I could find and I can't find it. I found a blue button for paper costs. But I can't even find the "estimator"!

[Hal Heindel]

Whoa, Keith, don't beat yourself up - we all have those days. There are two ways you can get to the Estimator, both illustrated in the attachment and on page 109 of your MF manual.