Entering Customer Information

Configuration module > Customers/Vehicles menu > Edit Customers

You can access, review, and edit customer records by

• Searching in Configuration
• Clicking the customer name link in the upper left corner of the Parts/Labor Tab on an open estimate and repair order

You are prompted to search for a customer and vehicle whenever you

• Create a new estimate, repair order, or parts-only ticket
• Search local history
• Create an appointment

Double-click on the customer to open the Edit Customer window where you can edit customer information.

Video Overview of Customer Options

Watch the following video to see customer entry options.

Customer Tab

This tab contains the personal information about a customer: name, address, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Name and Address

If the customer is an individual,

• Enter their name in the First Name and Last Name fields
• Leave the Business name blank. R.O. Writer automatically fills in the Business field with the last name and first name of the customer.

If the customer is a business,

• Leave the First Name and Last Name fields blank
• Enter the Business name

When you enter the zip code for the first time, the area code associated with that zip code is automatically entered into the phone number fields for you. After the customer record is saved, entering a new zip code that is associated with a different area code does not overwrite the area code for existing phone numbers.

NOTE: If your International Options are set to use Canadian values, the Zip field is named "Postal Code" and accepts alphanumeric characters. In addition, the State field is named "Province."

Phone Numbers

• You can enter up to six phone numbers for each customer.
• You can mark only one phone number as Primary.
  • Only the primary phone number appears in the customer section of the Parts/Labor Tab of a repair order or estimate.
• The label for each phone number field on both the Edit Customer and Parts/Labor tab - "Home", "Work", "Cell", etc. - is customizable in Configuration (Configuration > Customer > Edit Phone/Email Fields).

Email Addresses

• You can enter up to three email addresses.
• You can check Send for multiple email addresses.
• The email labels on the Edit Customer window are customizable in Configuration (Configuration menu > Customer > Edit Phone/Email Fields).
• On the Parts/Labor Tab of a ticket:
  • The email address in the first field of the Edit Customer window is the only email address that displays.
  • The email label is always Email.

Check the Send box to include this email address when sending bulk emails. Leave it unchecked to make sure this email is ignored when sending bulk emails.

When the Save and Send Email button is enabled, click it to send an email. This button is enabled only when:

• R.O. Writer is integrated with your email system in Configuration (File menu > Email Setup).
• At least one valid email address has the Send box checked.

Email Validation

Validating customer emails ensures that only valid email addresses are saved. As a result, more of your emails reach actual email addresses, which is especially helpful when sending bulk emails for customer follow-up.

R.O. Writer validates any email address entered on the Edit Customer window when you click OK or Cancel on the Edit Customer window. The format of the email must be: text@text.text

A valid email has five parts:

For information about what makes an email address valid, see http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5322.

When the email address is not valid, the following prompt appears.

Click OK, enter a valid email address, and click OK on the Edit Customer window to save it.

Other Info Tab

On the Other Info tab, enter financial and marketing information for this customer. This information does not print on the final invoice to the customer.

Other Information

The following table describes the Other Information section.

Item	Description
Price Level	Select the price level for this customer. The first price level is the default.
Purchase Order Required	Select to require a purchase order before work can be performed for this customer.
No Supply Fee	Select to disable all supply charges for this customer.

Discounts

Enter a percentage discount on parts, labor, and sublet for this customer.

Taxes

The following table describes the Taxes section.

Item	Description
Tax Exempt	Check this box to mark the customer as tax-exempt. You may be prompted to enter the ID.
Tax Type	A customer can be set up to automatically calculate taxes using a separate Tax Type. For details, click the following link: Multiple Tax Rates).
Prompt for Tax Type on Open New RO	If selected, you are prompted to select a Tax ID when opening a new for this customer. Do not select this option if you want to always use the selected Tax Type.
Tax ID	Enter the Tax ID to make the customer tax-exempt.

Charge Account

The Charge Account section establishes a customer account in Accounts Receivable. You can charge a customer's charge account for parts and labor.

The following table describes the Charge Account section.

Item	Description
Credit Limit	Enter a credit limit for the customer; "$0.00" means that there is no limit.
Open Account	Check the Open Account box to create a charge account for the customer. When a customer has an open charge account, An AR Account link appears in the customer section of open tickets. Click it to open the information entered in this section. A Charge to AR Account button appears on the Finalize Payment Window for this customer.
Finance Charges	Select to apply finance charges on past due amounts.
Billing section	Select the billing cycle of the account: Monthly, Weekly, and Semi-Monthly (every two weeks)

Marketing

The Marketing section determines how this customer is included in marketing efforts.

The following information is displayed:

• Last Visit date.
• # of Visits.
• Total Amount Spent.

Check Disable Marketing to exclude this customer from all marketing efforts such as customer marketing and follow-up letters. This also stops data from being sent to CARFAX for vehicles associated with that customer.

Check Fleet Customer to set the customer up as a fleet customer. This automatically excludes the customer from all marketing efforts. However, the fleet customer may receive a fleet follow-up list for items due on vehicles.

You can enter the customer's birthday. Shops often include promotions based on the customer's birthday.

Notes Tab

This Notes tab provides you with a space to enter text about the customer.

You can spell-check the text entered by clicking the Spell Check button.

Membership Tab

The Membership tab appears only if the Use Member ID option is selected in the Edit Phone/Email Fields Configuration setting.

When the Membership tab does appear, you can enter the membership information configured.

You can search for customers using their Member ID.

The membership information is also displayed on the repair order or estimate in the Customer section.

To Delete a Customer

When editing the customer in the Configuration module, a Delete button appears on this window. You can only delete customers with no vehicles, appointments, repair orders, or open charge accounts.

For instructions on deleting customers and vehicles, click the following link: Deleting Old Customers and Vehicles.