Efficiency is Pivotal

Efficiency can set apart a mediocre workflow from an excellent one. Many clients turn to NetSuite to streamline their processes, simplify their lives, and produce successful businesses. SuiteRep exists to take our clients to the next level toward these same goals. One way we were able to do that was through creating a sort of template transaction.

We had a client approach us with an insightful idea to improve their sales team’s efficiency. When creating an Opportunity, they found that they often entered the same items repeatedly for frequent projects. Instead of repeating themselves, what if they could create certain “template” Opportunities and clone those items from within any new Opportunity record that they might create?

Our Solution

We decided that a custom SuiteScript would be a perfect fit for this project because the Memorize Transaction function wouldn’t quite cut it. But first, we had to decide how the user would specify which Opportunity would import. We added a custom field to the item sublist, listing all Opportunities within the system. This would allow the user to quickly enter the transaction ID of the desired template Opportunity. Initially, we designed our script to initiate after saving the record, but we eventually settled on a custom button near the custom field. Clicking this button would initiate the import automation.

Unfortunately, importing items was not as simple as it might sound. Other scripts on the Opportunity record initiated simultaneously as each item joined the sublist. We were able to have our script cooperate with these other scripts, but loading time was an inevitable cost of this cooperation. For records with several dozen item lines, importing could potentially take a few minutes to complete. Of course, this was significantly more efficient than manual entry, but we simply didn’t want to leave the user uninformed about how long the import might take to complete. The benefit of SuiteScripting is that almost any tool is at our disposal. We created a confirmation popup that informs the user of the estimated time for the import, as well as the number of items to be imported. Once the import completes, a native green confirmation message shows briefly at the top of the screen, informing the user that the import was successful.

Conclusion

We often see similar creative ideas from our clients, who envision opportunities for increased efficiency. Do you have an idea that might take your team’s workflow to the next level? Reach out to us any time for a free consultation!