Manager + New Customer Setup Problem

[hokiejill]

We are having a problem with customers being accidently set up and we think we have found out why and we believe a software modification needs to be made to prevent. See explanation below and screenshots attached.

If you’re entering a counter sale and enter customer information, it automatically adds customer to customer list. It doesn’t even prompt you to verify that you want to add a customer. When using a repair order, you must select the “New Customer” button in order to add a customer. It is way too easy to accidentally add a customer through Counter Sale.

[timbre4]

A Counter Sale (basically a simplified Invoice with a flag on some reports) starts by clicking an icon with the presumption that it will be a quick cash sale and to not introduce the overhead of the F6/New steps to such a transaction.
For any Counter Sales that are not CASH and a customer name is to be added, users MUST be trained to use the NAME button as this opens the customer list to verify and select the customer by name. In the event that the customer name is not found, a New button opens the Customer screen for fresh input for a new record to be saved.

[ricmorin]

From that window you should click on the Name button and retrieve the customer that way. It works this way for Estimate and Repair Order when started from F8 or F9 respectively. If you ever enter information into those windows on any of those formats, expect a new record to be made. None of the formats ask you if you want to make a new customer, which I think the software should do.

[hokiejill]

We can definitely train our people with this practice and have already started doing so but that doesn't prevent the mistake from happening again. I think the system should prompt that a new customer will be added and it currently does not. Is this something that can be submitted for consideration of software modification?

[timbre4]

Let's explore the logic for a moment.

I'm creating a Counter Sale that by default will read CASH. I decide to click on the Customer tab to add the customer's name. If I do not include clicking the Name button as part of my workflow, I am not validating my entry. So I fill out the customer screen fields and return to pay & post activity.

I need to have the customer's name on this counter sale. I'm not going to let it go without a name.

If I saw a dialog that asked me "do you want to save this customer record?" What would I answer? I would say yes because I need that name on the invoice and I did not properly check to see that it did already exist. So without validation, and the need to have a name on the invoice, under what circumstances would I knowingly select no?

[ricmorin]

We can definitely train our people with this practice and have already started doing so but that doesn't prevent the mistake from happening again. I think the system should prompt that a new customer will be added and it currently does not. Is this something that can be submitted for consideration of software modification?

Orders, be they Repair Orders, Estimates, Counter Sales aren't linked to the name database live with the name fields. To check a name against the database, you need to press Name first. It's an extra step that I've gotten used to, but I see your point. It would be neat to skip that step.

[hokiejill]

I believe that the question should be "do you want to add a new customer?" instead of "do you want to save this customer record?".
It's too easy in the Manager Plus software for system users to accidently type information in the first name and last name fields which possibly results in duplicate customer records.
We have two locations using Manager Plus and both locations have had this happen, one more than the other because of turnover.
We can train users but users forget and turnover happens. I believe that good system design prevents users from accidently making mistakes (in this case as a message prompt) as I have described.

[hokiejill]

Tim, Have you had a chance to review my last reply?

[timbre4]

I have. Did you review the logic I shared previously? Asking if I really want to save a new record doesn't address the duplicates situation because it lacks the validation that clicking Name provides. There are only two possible outcomes to the suggestion:

1. YES to Save the customer record - might be okay or it might still be a misspelled duplication (how would you know for sure without a means of validation?)
2. NO to Save the customer record - employee either goes with CASH or asks you what to do next

You're really asking us to extend validation to whatever is typed in Customer fields and this would require some type of auto-complete against the existing customer list. That's different altogether and a much larger job. Without some form of validation there is no way for the user to know if creating duplicate records.

[hokiejill]

Tim, Is there a way we get schedule a time to talk to you on the phone and show you through TeamViewer, WebEx, etc?

[ricmorin]

Tim, Is there a way we get schedule a time to talk to you on the phone and show you through TeamViewer, WebEx, etc?

Tim is in California this weekend for the Manager Seminar. He may be on limited accessibility to this forum for a few days.

[hokiejill]

Tim, Can we schedule a call to discuss this issue?

[timbre4]

Check your PMs