A company can be a customer or end user, distributor, manufacturer, etc.

1.   Left click “Companies.”

2.   Left click “New.”

3. Fill in address and phone numbers.

4.   Fill in the company web address (leave off the “www.”)

5.   Left click drop-down to select “Region.”

Company: Region

Each company breaks their territories down in different ways, often consistent with their sales people’s responsibilities.  (i.e. Midwest, Southwest, Westcoast, etc.).  Above are some sample regions.  This will allow you to look at your numbers in many different ways if you use this field when you create a new (or edit existing) company.   A region groups several accounts together (regardless of sales team) for reporting sales growth and opportunity funnel information.

6. Left click drop-down and select “Company Type.”

Company: Type

The default company types are:

·   Manufacturer (or principal)
·   Manufacturer-former
·   Customer
·   Distributor
 ·   Vendor 
 · Manufacturer’s rep.

You administrator can define additional company types, in (sub-tables) that further describe your customers.   Some examples include OEM, CEM, Architect, Engineering Firm, Operator, Panel Shop, and Facility.  Any new company type can be flagged to behave like a customer where you can assign a sales team, create opportunities, and load sales numbers for that company.  It also means, commission splits can be assigned to that account.  

7. Left click drop-down and select “Sales Team.”

Sales Team

Sales Teams are used to define which persons within your company are responsible for selling and servicing this account  (if they are not a line).  Sales teams also determines who can actually see sales numbers, opportunities, activity journals, contacts, etc.  So if a inside rep also works with this account, they will need to be on that sales team.  Remember, individuals can be assigned to multiple sales teams.

In this example, any individual user assigned to the ‘Chris Farley’ sales team will be able to view and edit this company record, contacts at this company, opportunities and activity for this company.   He or she can also view sales and commission numbers for this company if their user menu options are set to allow it by your administrator.

8.  Left click drop-down and select “Private Team.”

Private Team (OPTIONAL)

This setting prevents a company from being viewed by any individual user  NOT on the “Private Team.”  This includes contacts, opportunities and anything else associated with this company.  A common use of this feature would be when the owner wants to keep certain contacts private (i.e. the company’s accountant, lawyer, or a contact at a former manufacturer).

9. Left click magnifier and select “Parent Company”, if applicable.

Parent Company

Parent company can be used to associate a branch, ship to, etc. with the main company (sold to) or headquarters location.  It’s a way to roll up top-line sales to a parent company.  It also creates a link for all contacts within that company.

10. Left click drop-down and select “Call Pattern.”

Company: Call Pattern

Call pattern is a method to group accounts that you’d make sales calls on in a half-day or one day block.   An example might be the NY Financial District, Brooklyn,  or Mid-town.  As a salesperson you would probably go to one or two of these areas in a given day and would see as many customers in that “Call Pattern” as possible.  Some sales people research this today searching companies by zip code.   “Call Pattern” allows you to stop at accounts that may be on the way to a group of companies in your final “Call Pattern” area by adding them to that call pattern even if they are not in that final zip code area of your main calls

10.  Left click drop-down and select “Category .”

Company: Category

This can be used to help segment what specific industry the account is in or type of business they conduct. It could be industrial, government, military, commercial, private enterprise. This can be used however it is most helpful to your organization.

11.  Left click drop-down and select “Class .”

Company: Class

How big is this prospect or customer? Some samples of how to use this are already in your instance. It could be Roman numerals I, II, III. Others use a sort of grading reference A, B, C, D. Some list the revenue category or market value of the account. Again, this field can be customized as you see fit. When selecting from this drop-down list, you will only be allowed to choose one of the selections.

12.  Left click drop-down and select “Product Potential .”

Company: Product Potential

Think of your list of manufacturers (or better yet, the product families each of them offer). Adding those product groupings to the product potential sub-table then lets you identify which customers are a potential for buying X, Y, or Z. So when the manufacturer calls and says, “I’d like to do a ride along and demonstration our new fangled X” you can easily pull a target list to call and set appointments with. Pick customers or distributors with product potential X in the call pattern of _____. Within a minute your list is ready to go. No more hunting, pecking, guessing or leaving a key account behind.  When selecting from this drop-down list, you will be allowed to choose multiple selections.

13.  Enter any comments.  Optional

14.   Left click “Save.”