The CRM Customer record contains details about the customers saved on the system. Accessing the customer record enables you to maintain the data on existing customer records, but the same form is displayed when a new customer record is being created. The customer information is grouped together in the different areas of the form and is divided across five tabs. They are as follows:
The Customer menu and tool bars remain the same regardless of the tab you are in. If you want to learn about the menu or tool bar follow the links below.
Note: The customer record number is displayed at the bottom right-hand side of the form. To attach a customer record to a company record, in edit mode, select the company icon and search for the company name. Select the company or create and you are returned to the customer record. When you save the record the links are created.
The summary tab enables you to access customer communication details, customer contacts, vehicles that are linked, any customer activity from the showroom and the case file. The contact details can be displayed in either Summary or Alternative view by selecting Contact details > Summary or Contact details > Alternative from the toolbar. Alternatively, select S or A for the Contact list view field on the Miscellaneous Tab on the User Access Control form.
You can also filter on department, group code, location, executive and customer contact management calls if the module is used. The fields on this tab are as follows:
Communication:
Tip: Details in the Communication group are read only. The information can be amended within the Customer tab. Displayed against each method of communication are different buttons. When selected the Contact Form is displayed. Here you can contact the customer directly depending on your system set-up.
Home phone: Customer's home phone number. Click the phone button
if your system has telephony integration, for example Call centre module.
Work phone: Customer's work phone number. Click the phone button
Work extension: Customer's work extension number.
Mobile phone: Customer's mobile phone number. Click the SMS button
to send an SMS message.
Fax: Customer's fax number. Click the fax button
to send a fax message.
E-mail: Customer's e-mail address. Click the email button
to send an e-mail message.
Note:
Alternative buttons for phone numbers and e-mail address are displayed on the customer summary tab if the numbers or e-mail address are TPS protected. Work extensions are not included.
Address: Customer's address and postcode.
Note: To choose between the Summary view and the Alternative view of the contact details, select Contact details > Summary or Contact details > Alternative from the toolbar. Alternatively, select S or A for the Contact list view field on the Miscellaneous Tab on the User Access Control form.
Contact - summary view:
Tip: The contact summary form is displayed in different colours. Select the CRM legend for further help. If you click any of the contact lines the contact is displayed. If you right-click any of the contact lines the contact chain is displayed.
If a filter has been applied to the contact history, the name of the filter is displayed in red above the contact history grid.Date: Follow-up date.
Dept: Originating department.
Exec: Follow-up executive.
Type: Contact type.
Notes: Any contact notes entered.
Outstanding followup: Description on the follow-up code.
Attach: Click the printer button
or the CSI button
to display information held against the customer contact.
Note: The vehicle highlighted in blue is the vehicle that is loaded. Right-click the blue line to display the Vehicle Record.
Contact - alternative view:
Tip: The contact summary form is displayed in different colours. Select the CRM legend for further help. If you click any of the contact lines the contact is displayed. If you right-click any of the contact lines the contact chain is displayed.
If a filter has been applied to the contact history, the name of the filter is displayed in red above the contact history grid.Printer column: Click the notes icon to display any contact-associated document.
Contact: Contact date.
Dept: Originating department.
Exec: Follow-up executive.
Locat: Branch.
Group: Contact department.
Type: Contact type.
Notes: Any contact notes entered.
Followup details: Defines the followup details:
Group: Contact followup department.
Type: Contact followup type.
Date: Contact followup date.
Completed by: ID of last user to change contact record.
Vehicles
Registration: Vehicle registration number.
Description: A description of the vehicle.
Location: Location of the vehicle.
Status: Status of the vehicle, for example Current vehicle.
Link: Vehicle links, for example Sales, Aftersales, Driver.
Mileage: Vehicle mileage.
The customer activity grid provides information from the Showroom and/or the Point-of-Sale modules. If you click a line the Showroom enquiry or the Point-of-Sale WIP is displayed.
Note: The Showroom enquires listed in the Customer activity are colour coded.
Type: W for Wip for Point-of-Sale and New or Used for showroom.
Description: Wip number and registration number for Point-of-Sale, the vehicle description for a pricebook quote from showroom or the stock number and registration number if the enquiry has been raised on a used stocked vehicle.
Date: Date the wip or showroom enquiry was last edited.
Case file:
Casefile: The case file displayed can provide different information from system to system depending on the Case Files access settings in CRM user access control.
The customer tab displays the customer details. The fields are as follows:
Title/Initials: Customer's title and initials.
First name: Customer's first name.
Surname: Customer's surname.
Salutation: The system automatically derives the salutation from the title and surname fields, but this can be amended.
Address: Customer's address, which can be amended unless your system has been set up for finance integration, in which case click edit. This displays the Current Residential Address form and you can amend the address.
Warning: Care should be taken in amending this field.
Post code: Customer's postcode (can be amended if incorrect).
Stop all mail: Select if the customer requires no mail. This setting overrides the direct mail status and the Department-specific letters settings. It is used to automatically suppress all mail to the customer. For example, customers with any ongoing complaints may need their mail temporarily stopped.
Sensitive customer: Select if customers do not require their address displayed when searching for records.
Note: Select the TPS box by the telephone numbers if the customer is protected by the TPS scheme. The system checks these settings when running a telephone campaign.
Home phone: Customer's home phone number.
Note: Always use the STD code and do not use dashes between numbers (for example 01635 523456).
Work phone: Customer's work phone number (always use the same format).
Work extension: Customer's work extension number if applicable.
Mobile phone: Customer's mobile phone number.
Fax: Customer fax number.
E-mail: Customer e-mail. The e-mail address must be entered in the full Internet format, for example abc@kerridge.com.
Note:
Preferred contact no: Using the drop-down button,
selects the customer's preferred way of being contacted:
1 Home 2 Work 3 Mobile 4 Unknown The circle by the preferred contact no field enables you to record details on the best time to call the customer. A clock is displayed when details have been entered.
Source of business: Source of Business Codes that describes how the customer has heard about your dealership.
There could be a second related field but this is only shown if the source of business code has been marked as a referral type. The second field enables linking and visibility of the customer who referred the current customer to the dealership.
Status: Determines the state of the current record. This may not be left blank and must be selected when a record is created.
Using the drop-down button
L Live - Direct Mail (Receive all mail shots)
N Live - No Direct Mail (Receive no mail shots)
D Live - Data Protected (TPS protected)
X - Marked for deletion (Mark this customer for deletion)
U - Unknown (The customer's preference is not known or has not been asked). This option is displayed on systems where additional MS products have been installed.
Note: Once a customer record has been marked for deletion you will no longer be able to access the record and will need to contact your system administrator to re-open it.
Transport type: type of transport that the customer requires and is used within the WIP Wizard option.
The additional details tab displays the further customer details. The fields on this tab are as follows:
Short name: Abbreviated version of the customer name (can be the first line of the address).
Company: Company name that the customer is linked to.
Job title: Free text field for the customer's job title.
Note: Click the drop-down button
Position: Three-character code and description describing the position of the customer. The codes are held in the position types files.
Type of business: Three-character code and description describing the type of business that the customer is involved with. The codes are held in the business types file.
Account: Customer sales ledger account. Click the ellipsis button
to search for an account. The accounts button is enabled when certain parameters have been set up enabling you to Create Sales ledger accounts from the CRM module.
Acc No-NACOS: NACOS external account reference.
Note: This field is displayed only if the Use Accounts Open Interface (ADI) parameter is set to Y.
Branch: Creating branch of the customer if all locations are visible.
Country: Country of the customer.
Language: Language of the customer.
Note: This field is displayed only if more than one language is set in System controls.
Decorations: Free text field for any customer decorations, for example MBE, OBE, DSO.
Gender: M for Male or F for Female.
Date of birth: Customer's date of birth.
Social I.D.: Customer's ID card number if known.
Motability: Motability reference number.
Note: Motability is a scheme operated for disabled drivers. When you select the notes button next to this field the Motability details form is displayed. It enables you to add the award start date and awarding authority details.
Courtesy car group: Single-character field, numeric or alpha.
Loyalty card: Loyalty card type held by the customer. These are user-defined and are created by using the loyalty card option in Miscellaneous Options.
Loyalty card no: Twenty-character field for the loyalty card number.
Loyalty card expiry: Expiry date of the loyalty card held by the customer.
Note: The loyalty card information may not appear on the customer record. This information can be held at company, customer, or vehicle record level or not at all. Where this information is held is controlled by the system parameters set up. If you need more information about this take the CRM system parameters link in related topics.
Prime market customer: This can be used for reporting purposes (select the check box to enable it).
Grid:
Note: Against any customer record you can hold different locations, departments and sales executives, for example a customer may have bought a vehicle from one location but this vehicle is serviced at another. For more information on this grid select Customer cost centre details.
To add or edit a cost centre, right-click in the grid.
Note: If the option to Close all Departments is present on the shortcut menu, it closes all the departments. This is set in User Access Control.
Branch: Identifies the branch.
Department: Department, for example S for Sales.
Sales Executive: Name of Sales executive.
Customer Type: Customer type, for example Customer, Prospect, Repeat customer.
Contact method: Contact method that the customer requires, for example all letters to go to the home address.
The associated vehicle tab displays the vehicles linked to the customer record or the company in a grid. The headings are as follows:
Reg'n: Current registration for the vehicle as saved against the CRM vehicle record.
Description: A description of the vehicle.
Status: Current accounts status of the vehicle record.
Link: Current vehicle links.
There are three other fields on the associated vehicles tab, as follows:
Show vehicles at status: This enables you to choose the accounts status of the CRM vehicle record which has links to the company record or its linked customer records to display in the grid. Any vehicles which are linked as previous vehicles are displayed highlighted in red.
The other two fields on the form display the name of the currently selected customer record and the name of the company record if linked.
Option Buttons:
Company: Displays the vehicle or vehicles linked to the company (that is those CRM vehicle records which have been linked to a customer and flagged as company vehicles).
Customer: Displays the vehicle linked to the customer record.
You can change the view by selecting the option button associated with the option required.
Note: When the customer option button is selected in the Company record Associated Vehicles tab the vehicles displayed in the grid are those at the selected status linked to the customer record. They are not necessarily also linked to the company record.
Available documents:
Description: Brief explanation of the purpose or function of the document.
Date: Date of the document.
Document type: File type of the document. For example, the file extension .pdf, and the file type Adobe Acrobat Document.
Document name: File name of the document.
Buttons:
View: Enables you to view the attached documents that are associated with a CRM record, such as finance company quotes.
Add: Enables you to attach documents that are associated with a CRM record.
Details: Enables you to retrieve details of documents that are associated with a CRM record, such as finance company quotes.
Edit: Enables you to maintain details of documents that are associated with a CRM record.
Below is a list of items found on the Menu bar with a link to the description available.
Note: The options available under the heading Company Menu may vary depending on you user access controls in System Maintenance.
| File | Reports | Tools | Customer Options | Contact details | Help |
Driver-details |
|||||
Print menu: The print menu enables you to print the customer details on to a form. All the customer details will be printed except the associated vehicles.
Recent Records: Displays a list of records you have accessed while in My Desktop, which clears when you exit My Desktop. The amount that the system holds is set within system parameters to a maximum of ten.
Recent enquiries: Displays a list of enquiries you have accessed from the showroom module in My Desktop, which clears when you exit My Desktop. The amount that the system holds is a maximum of five.
Reports list: Enables you to run reports from the CRM file menu option. You can specify up to five reports that can be printed from this option. The selection is set up within user access control.
Other...: Enables you to select any saved and compiled report generator report, save it in CRM report generator, and run it from the CRM form.
Demonstrator booking: Opens the demonstrator booking diary
Authorize Demonstrator: Available only if you have sufficient CRM priority to authorize a demonstrator booking. The priority needed to do this is dictated by the entry in the authorize demo field on the demo bookings tab of system parameters.
Lock CRM: Enables you to lock your computer if you are going to leave it for any length of time and you want to hide the information you are currently displaying without having to close the option and return to the menu. You can also set the system so that if your computer is left for a set amount of time it locks automatically. The parameter that controls this is in the details tab of user access control.
Navigation: A shortcut method of moving between the options available from CRM shortcuts.
Audit: An audit of the changes made to the currently loaded record.
The options available are:
My CRM (which can also be reached using the F7 key)
Company (which can also be reached by clicking F8)
Customer (which can also be reached by clicking F9)
Vehicle (which can also be reached by clicking F10)
Note: If you do not have a company customer or vehicle record loaded and you use one of the navigation options, a blank record is displayed.
Transaction log: Enables you to display the transactions made by the customer record loaded. This can be done for all types of transactions over a selected time period.
Vehicle Maintenance Revenue: Displays the aftersales revenue analysis for any vehicles that are attached to the selected customer.
Spend analysis: Displays the spend analysis form, which enables you to see both graphically and by line detail how much the customer whose record is currently loaded has spent over a given time period.
Customer vehicle: Displays the vehicle purchase and service history for the customer.
Family tree: Displays the names of any relatives attached to the customer from the extra details. The spouse's name is displayed in brackets and the names of any children are displayed under the customer's name.
New: Enables you to create a new contact or create a new complaint.
Alternative: Displays the summary tab in an alternative view.
Change filter: Enables you to filter on the summary tab contacts by department, group code, location and executive. The option to filter on customer contact management calls only is also available if this module is switched on. The filter remains until you exit My Desktop.
Reset filter: Resets the filter back to the defaults, allowing the summary tab to show all contacts.
Record Information: Displays the following information about the company record on the General Properties form:
Customer record number and name
Record type
Creation date for the record
Creating user id
Date when the record was edited
Time when the record was edited
Who the record is edited by
Case file: Displays the customer record case file. The information displayed in the case file can vary from system to system depending on the case file access settings in CRM user access control.
| Button | Option | Description |
 |
Exit |
Enables you to exit My Desktop and return to the main CRM options menu. |
 |
Open |
Displays the search option. This enables you to search for a customer by number, word search, short name, initials, post code, or phone number. |
 |
Close |
Enables you to close the current customer record. If you are working on a newly created customer record which has not yet been saved, you are prompted to save the form first. If any amendments have been made to the customer record and you close the form, the changes will not be saved. |
 |
Edit |
Enables you to amend the details of the customer you have selected. |
 |
Save |
Enables you to save the customer details after changes have been made in edit mode. |
 |
Wizard |
Uses a wizard to enable you to create a contact. |
 |
Spend analysis | Displays the spend analysis form, which enables you to see a customer's spend with the dealership. If there is no spend history a message is displayed advising you of this. |
 |
Sales-analysis |
Displays the sales analysis for the selected customer as a graph for the departments or the products. |
 |
Letters |
Enables you to create, amend, delete and print letters, copying the customer details onto the letter. |
|
Satisfaction |
Displays the questions and results of the customer satisfaction index (CSI) response for the selected customer. |
 |
Complaints |
Enables you to record complaints against the customer in the form of a contact. |
 |
No notes/notes exist |
Enables you to enter notes against a customer and to scan notes or documents. |
 |
Extra details |
Enables further information to be held against the customer, for example interests, hobbies, trade-in details and so on. |
 |
AOI Account creation mail |
Displays the AOI Account creation mail form, provided that the Use Accounts Open Interface (AOI) parameter on the System Flags tab on the NL System Parameters form is set to Y. |
 |
AOI Debtor transactions |
Displays list of AOI Account Debtor Transactions, provided that the Use Accounts Open Interface (AOI) parameter on the System Flags tab on the NL System Parameters form is set to Y. |
 |
Contacts |
Enables you to create contacts against the customer. |
 |
Contact chain |
Displays all contacts in the chain. |
Tip: You can also use the following Shortcut keys:
CRM miscellaneous options menu