Showroom Customer Enquiries are displayed when you select the Quotations option from the Showroom Main Menu.
This form initiates a customer enquiry and is the first stage of the Enquiry process.
Note: A progress gauge is displayed to the first user to enter Showroom or Vehicle Stockbooks after end of day processes have completed or after a reboot of the server indicating that Vehicle Stockbooks are being rebooted and the locator is being rebuilt. The locator is a global table containing the columns that Showroom requires to search and includes all VS companies. It can be viewed from any VS System Maintenance Menu. If anything held in the locator is changed on the vehicle record the changes will not show in Showroom until it has been rebuilt.
Most of the following icons allow the creation or editing of enquiries. This can lead to the production of a new vehicle quotation, order, confirmed order and, finally, an invoice to the customer:
New vehicle Create an enquiry for either a new vehicle in stock, or configure a new vehicle from Franchise Data, which can then be ordered for the customer. |
 Used vehicle Create an enquiry for a Used vehicle in stock or due to be in stock as a result of a part exchange. |
 Stock search or Stock / Order number Search for a new- or used vehicle in stock and create an enquiry on it. |
 Enquiry Builder Create an enquiry, choose the order in which you complete the enquiry rather than going through a structured process as in New- and Used vehicle. |
 Direct purchase Create a direct purchase vehicle. Only available when using CRM vehicle stocking. |
 Recall Enquiry Retrieve a previously created Enquiry, Quotation, Order, Confirmed Order, etc. to proceed with the sales process or display the details. |
 Administrator Access the Administrator. If there are any unread emails, an envelope icon |
 Quick start Create an enquiry for both new- and used vehicles, using an alternative method. |
Note: In the area immediately above these icons is a combined title and notification area. It always displays Welcome to Showroom but if there are any overdue contacts it will periodically switch between displaying the title and a message with the number of overdue contacts. Any broadcast messages will also be shown here, in which case all three messages will be displayed in rotation.
| Menu | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| File > Previous enquiries | Contains sub menus for Showroom companies which in turn contain lists of the five most recently saved enquiries, updated upon the previous exit from the Showroom module. This information is stored on local PC's so a different list will be displayed if logged on at another terminal. | |
| File > Exit |  |
Returns you to the Showroom Main Menu. |
| Edit > Customer details |  |
This option can be used to pre load or create the customers details by using the CRM Search, once a customer has been selected it can be retained to be used in a enquiry. If a customer is loaded the Clear Customer icon will be enabled. |
| Edit > Clear customer details |  |
This option is only enabled if a customer record has been loaded, click the icon to remove the customer information from the memory. |
| Edit > Change finance company |  |
As with Customer Details this option will store required Finance Companies / schemes for use later in an enquiry. |
| Edit > Backoffice mode |  |
Enables/disables Backoffice mode. |
| Edit > Including VAT |  |
Enables/disables the inclusion of Value Added Tax in prices for vehicles and options. On forms which list such prices, the window title bar displays the current setting, either 'Including VAT' or 'Excluding VAT'. |
| Tools > Handover diary | This option (If installed) allows the user to update the vehicle handover diary. See Vehicle Handover Diary form. | |
| Tools > Custom entry vehicle |  |
This option allows the user to produce a supposed cash or finance proposal based on a new or used vehicle for which the details are manually entered, including the selling price. See the Custom Entry Vehicle form. |
| Tools > Direct purchase a vehicle | Create a direct purchase vehicle. Only available when using CRM vehicle stocking. | |
| Tools > Top Runners |  |
Best selling vehicles can be created and stored, along with their complete specifications. Select this option to recall the list of top runners and speed up the enquiry process for fast selling vehicles (e.g. Special Editions). See the Top Runners section of these help files. |
| Edit > Lock workstation | Locks the current session. This can be used to prevent unauthorised access while a terminal is left unattended. The password required to unlock can be set in the User details form in the System Utilities module. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Alt+Z to lock. | |
| Help > Help | Displays this help page. Alternatively, press F1. |
Note: The above menu options will be dependant on each users Permissions and securities, Showroom system parameters and Salesperson settings.
will be displayed.