The success of any computer software, in particular customer relationship management systems (CRM), will be greatly enhanced by considering how your business is best served by its customer data. The effect of putting in place a set of data entry standards will be consistency and that will result in: Saving time searching for customers, accuracy in reporting and reduce the likelihood of duplication. Below follows are recommendations for both Customer and Contractor references.
Its important to read the main section on sales first to familiarise yourself with the Contractor/Customer hierarchy within Service Manager. See Sales.
Customer References
Taking first 3 letters from the customer name should suffice in a good reference.
- A customer called 'BAC Manufacturing Ltd'. We'd recommend using the reference BAC001 for this.
- For a customer like' McDonalds Restaurants' We'd recommend using MCD001
- A customer like 'Glaxo Smith Kline' it makes more sense to use GSK001 rather than GLA001
The number is used in case you have a customers that has multiple addresses. For example you may have a customer 'Kier Group Plc' with head offices in both Scotland and Wales. You can use the reference KIE001 for one and KIE002 for the other.
Site References
Service Manager will automatically work out the references for your sites based on the Contractor or Customer.
For example, using the customer 'BAC Manufacturing Ltd':
- Customer reference is BAC001
- The site reference of BAC001/001 would be automatically assigned
Contractor References
When using a Contractor an additional number is appended to each of the Customers, Sites records.
For example, using the contractor 'Biggleswade Laundry Services Ltd':
- Contractor reference is entered as BLS001
- The customer reference of BLS001/001 is automatically assigned
- The site reference BLS001/001/001 would also be automatically assign
Using these methods when you see any reference you should be easily able to identify the Customer and if it belongs to a Contractor.
In the screen shot below, from the Customer screen, it should be clear that COMP001/002 and UKM001/001.
COMP001/002 = Second customer of contractor COMP001
UKM001/001 = First customer of contractor UKM001
