Company and Prospect

Difference between Company and Prospect records.

Company and prospect records are treated identically within crmSeries with one exception. Company records are typically account records that are managed within a backend system and automatically updated in crmSeries. Prospects on the other hand are entered directly into crmSeries. During this how to document we may simply refer to both company and prospect records as account records.

Adding a New Prospect

crmSeries has the ability to receive data from a backend dealer accounting system. Typically, the backend system will include company records that are assigned an account number. Within crmSeries, these are company records. When records are entered directly into crmSeries the status is set to Prospect. Follow the steps below to enter a prospect into crmSeries.

1. From the Add menu, select Prospect.
2. Enter the Prospect Name (Company) and any additional information. Labels in red are required. NOTE: Required fields are set under system administration. Your required fields may be different than those shown in the image below. The field indicator “Required for complete record.” indicates fields that are not required however strongly suggest entering. The Required for complete records are sure under system administration. 
3. Entering an address into the Address field will automatically search for the address, city, state/province, and zip/postal code.
4. Select the Save button.
5. If you have any “Required for complete records.” that have not been entered, the prompt “Save as incomplete records?” will appear. Select Yes to save the prospect.
6. The new prospect will open with the Overview tab selected.

Searching for Accounts

There are couple methods to search for company and prospect records (Account Records).

1. From the top menu select Search. A search panel will open with the default search option of Companies.
2. Enter a search value in one or more of the search parameters. NOTE: It is not necessary to enter the complete value when searching for account records. As an example, if you are searching for Texas Road Builders, you could enter just Texas Road.
3. Select the Search button.
4. The company search result list is displayed. The search result includes the following controls.
   1. Quick Search Parameters
   2. Quick Action Buttons
      1. Save View – Save the current list as a View. The View will appear in the Quick Search dropdown list.
      2. Multi Edit – Used to update multiple records in the list.
      3. Import Prospects – Import prospects records from a Microsoft Excel file.
      4. Map It – Drop the records in the account list on a map.
      5. Reset Search – Clear the current search parameters.
   3. Refine Search Control – This will only be available if Search is selected in the Quick Search Parameter.
   4. Result Actions
      1. Export to Excel – Export the current account list to Microsoft Excel.
      2. Grid Setup – Customize the account search grid.
      3. Save Defaults
      4. Reset Default
5. Select the Account name link from the list to open the account record.
6. From the list, selecting the left menu option to quickly perform an action on the account record. NOTE: If you do not see some of the options in the list, you do not have the user right for the option. Contact you crmSeries administration for the necessary rights.
   
   1. Add Note – Add a note to the account record.
   2. Add Lead – Add a lead to the account record.
   3. Add Call – Add a call to the account record.
   4. Add Task – Add a task to the account record.
   5. Add Contact – Add a contact to the account record.
   6. Add Sales Quote – Add a sales quote to the account record.
   7. Select for Merge – Merge this account record and all associated records into one or more account records.

Merge Prospect and Company Records

Follow the steps to merge account records.

1. Search for an account record to be merged. For the steps to search for an account see the section “Searching for Accounts“.
2. In the company search list, select the Menu, Select for Merge for each account record rows you would like to merge.
3. Select the Merge Records button on the header menu bar. NOTE: The number of account records will be shown next to the Merge Records button.
4.  In the Merge Panel, select the record to retain and select the Merge button. NOTE: Select the Clear button to clear the merge.