Application Store - CRM

1. Installation

1.1. Application




Import the file "ix-crm.zip" that was downloaded from the Application Store; this contains the application and process. Make sure the option "Import with permissions" is activated.

1.2. License

Then enter your license key for the application.

1.3. Permissions




The application permissions can be assigned during the import. We recommended creating the user groups After the import has finished, add the appropriate portal users as members of the corresponding groups in the Users module.

2. "Administration" menu

Open the application in the browser and click on the "Administration" menu item. This page contains links that open pages where the corresponding settings can be modified.

2.1. General

Duplicate comparison




Specify the maximum number of doublet records that should be identified. Afterwards, the data fields that should be compared can be selected. For each data field, you can specify how many characters should be taken into consideration for the comparison in "Number of characters". The value "-1" will compare all characters.



The identified duplicates are shown here. The data can be merged together here. To do this, define which one is the master dataset - the dataset that should be kept - (see the legend in the dialog). Activate the checkbox to the left of the dataset that should be added to the master dataset. During the merge, the data in the master dataset is not changed. Data, which the duplicate contains but not the master, is added to the master.

Email series - Summary

Click here for more information.

2.2. Your employees in the customer management




Here, employees can be imported from the User Manager as persons responsible for customer management. If you click on "Search", all users that are stored in the user management will be listed. Select one of these users. Their data will be automatically added to the additional fields. Click "OK" to save the new customer manager. Click one of the links in this area to open a page where the entries in the respective drop-down list can be edited or added to.

3. "Home" menu

3.1. "Home" tab




The most important customer data will be shown in the portlets on this page. You have the ability here to perform a complete search of all customer data. A new customer can be entered by clicking on the "Enter new customer" quicklink. You will also have an overview of overdue, current, and future activities. This page is an application portal can be customized. Additional information on this topic can be found here.

3.2. "Customers" tab




Here, all existing customers will be shown in a table with Customer Number, Company, Street, Postal Code, and City. Click on the "New Customer" link to define a customer.

3.2.1. Basic data




Add the basic customer data here and click on "OK".



At the head of the page you will see multiple tabs where additional customer data can be entered. If you have multiple customers, you can switch between customers using the buttons at the top.

Customer data from external sources can be easily inserted into customer management with the Data transfer tool. An additional option is the integration of external data into the CRM.

3.2.2. Contact person




Here is a list of all of the customer's contact persons. To do this, click on "New Contact Person". Click on the name of a contact person to open a page where the data can be edited.

Contact person




The contact person's data can be edited here.

Contact information




The contact data can be edited here.

Assignment




Here you can designate the contact person as the "Main contact person" or "Decision maker". You have the ability to apply an "Email block" or a "Postal block" if the contact person does not want to receive emails or post, respectively.

Miscellaneous




Additional data, such as Date of birth, Department, Function, and Hobbies can be entered here.

Contacts




On this tab all activities that are documented later in the CRM during phone calls or personal contact with this contact person, will be shown in a table. The columns of the table can be changed via the "Adjust table" link.



The fields in the "Already selected" column will be used as a column in the table. On the "Export" tab, you can choose fields in the same way that should be included in the data export.

Export to Outlook




You will see an overview of all entered contact person data here. By clicking on "Export to Outlook", a VCF file will be created, which you can import into "Outlook" as a new contact.

3.2.3. Profile




Here, all business-relevant characteristics, such as the sales class, the source of the address, the number of employees, the type, and the sector can be entered. The customer can be designated as a reference customer, competitor, or sales partner. With "New keyword", keywords can be entered, which you can then search for in the customer search.



An existing keyword can be selected or a new keyword can be selected and added by clicking on "Add data".



If a customer is designated as a sales partner, they can be selected as an lead provider.

3.2.4. Distribution list




A distribution list can be assigned here. Click on "Assign distribution list".



With the customer search, you can identify all customers that have been assigned to the distribution list. Distribution lists will be entered from the "Administration" menu.

3.2.5. Sales




A sales-oriented completion prognosis can be entered here. Click on "New entry".



Enter the completion probability here as a percentage, the sales phase, the intended completion date, and a keyword, which can be used later in a search.



After saving in the previous step, you can now enter products on the "Products" tab.



On the "Comment" tab, the sales entry can be commented on. The planned turnover will be calculated into the general planned turnover.

3.2.6. Finances




Here you will enter the payment method, payment history, sales figures, and the credit for the customer. The customer can also be designated with a delivery block or as having credit insurance here. With the "Show/Hide open product payments" link, open deliveries can be shown.

3.2.7. Activities




Here you will have an overview of overdue, current, and future activities. The columns of the corresponding tables can be changed via the "Adjust table" link. You can enter new activities as a task, customer appointment, support request, visit report, telephone note, or lead assignment. To do this, click on the corresponding link. In the "Show" area at the bottom left of the page, the table on the right can be filtered by incomplete activaties or the logbook that shows completed activities.

New activity




Enter the type of the task, the contact person, a keyword, and any comments that will describe the task. A file of your choice can also be attached. Enter the department and the employee who is responsible for completing the task. You can set a priority as well. For the due date, enter the date that the task should be completed on. Once the task has been completed, activate the "Completed" checkbox. In "Completed on", you will enter the date on which the task was completed. With the button "Save + Mail", an email with the task data can be sent to the employee responsible for it. The activity will be saved at the same time.



An incomplete task will, depending on its due date, be shown in one of the tables on the "Activities" tab. Click on "Edit activity" to edit the activity further.

Process




Here you have the ability to enter multiple comments for the progress of the activity. Click on "New" to add a new comment.

Log




You will be informed of the author, the creation date, and the time at which the activity was last changed here.

3.2.8. Products




In the table, all product references will be listed. The "Show/Hide special offers" link allows an overview of running sales. Click "New product reference" here to create a new reference.



From the drop-down list at the top, you can select a product that you have entered in the "Administration" menu. The fields in the upper area will be automatically filled in. click on the "Calculate" button to refresh the total price. Select the receipt type. The order status can additionally be designated as "Open" or "Completed".

3.2.9. Leads

In the CRM, you have the ability to define customer datasets as sales partners. This setting can be activated on the "Profile" tab.



If you have selected a customer defined as a sales partner, the assigned customer activities will then be shown on the "Leads" tab. To assign customers to a sales partner, create a Lead assignment activity.



Click on "Lead assignment" and then select the applicable sales partner. This drop-down list contains all customers who have been defined as a sales partner.



On the "Basic-data" tab, you can see which sales partner has been assigned to customer. The sales partner is entered there as an external contact.

3.2.10. Portal




The most important data for the selected customer will be shown in portlets. This page can also be customized like the homepage.

3.3. "Research" tab




With the research function, you can execute complex queries about customers, Click on "Options" to select fields that should be used selectable for the research.



The results of the research are shown in a table.



First, select a data field. In the middle drop-down list, select the operator. Enter the value to be found in the "Value" edit field. Conditions can be linked together with an "and" or "or" connection. With the checkboxes "Main contact person", "Email block", and "Postal block", the results can be restricted further. Click on "Search" to perform the research. Click on "Save research" to save the current research and provide it with a name. It can be performed again later by clicking on "Load research".



Personal researches are only available to the user that saved the research. If a research is saved on the "Global" tab, it is available to all CRM users.

3.4. "Customer search" tab




Click here for more information.

3.5. "Search by contact person" tab




You can search for a specific contact person here. All fields in the "Contact person" data group are available.

3.6. "Search distribution list" tab




Distribution lists are created in the "Administration" menu. Customers can be assigned to these distribution lists on the "Distribution list" tab. With this search function, you can view all contact persons that have been assigned to a specific distribution list.

4. "Customer search" menu

You can reach the customer search from the "Customer search" menu item, or via the "Home" menu. In the customer search, you can search for a specific customer. Select a field, such as the customer number, from the drop-down list and enter the customer number in the edit field to the right. After clicking on "Search", the search result will be shown in the table below. With the checkboxes "Main contact person", "Without email block", and "Without postal block", you can restrict the results further. The "Adjust table" link allows you to define which fields will be shown in the results table. By clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the table, the customer will be opened for editing.

5. "Activities" menu




Here you can select employees from the CRM. All activities that the employee is responsible for will be listed in the table. Clicking on "Show customer" to switch to the "Portal" tab. Click on "Show activity" to open the activity for editing.

6. "Reports" menu




Here you will find a collection of reports that can be generated about your customer portfolio. Click on one of the links to start the analysis.

7. Data export




Under many tables in the CRM, you will find the "Export" link. Clicking on this link will open an additional window where you can define whether you want to export the data in the table as a text or as an Excel file. Enter the desired separator character (semicolon, comma, or tab). With the setting "Add field titles as first line", the column titles for the table will be included in the export. Click "OK" and save the export file in a directory of your choice.

8. Mailings

Below each table that shows the results of a search or research, you will find the "Email" link. With this link, an additional window will be opened where you can compose an email and send it to all datasets in the search result.



You can send the email in "Text" or "HTML Format". Enter the author and a subject. The text of the email can be entered in the "Text" field. With the function "Insert auto-fields", a data field from the "Contact person" data group will be inserted into the text of the email. As a placeholder, the field name and a number combination in brackets will be inserted into the text field of the email. This value will be replaced with the corresponding value of the field when the email is sent. You can include a file as the "Attachment to the email", which will be sent as well. With the "Generate activity" setting, a logbook entry will be created and saved for each customer reached via email. With the "Test email" button, an email can be sent to a recipient of your choice, in order to preview the contents before sending the serial email.

This function is only available if the Email service tool has been set up.

9. Automatic activity





Below each table that shows the results of a search or research, you will find the "Activity" link. Clicking on this link will open an additional window where activity data can be edited. You can enter a "Keyword" and the text of the activity in the "Comment" field. Select the department and the employee responsible for it as well. With the "Completed" setting, you can define an activity as completed. If it is defined as completed, enter the time at which the task was completed in the "Completed on" field. If you click "OK", an activity with your remarks will be created and saved under every customer found in the results table of the search or research.