Organising and Managing Contacts

The most basic classification of contacts is pre-defined by the program and can be made via the tick-boxes for customer, supplier, partner and private in the contact card. If a contact is both a customer and a supplier, you simply tick both the boxes. This allows you to edit the contact information that applies to the contact, both as a supplier and a customer.

With the help of Groups you can classify your contacts so that they become easier to filter later on. You can use any group you like to categorise your contacts even more thoroughly in order to be able to filter them when you want to send tailor-made information to a specific section of your customers. You can choose contacts from certain groups through the Filter function, which you can find in the toolbar at the top of the contact card and in the Report module.

Status, Line of business and Category separate the contacts for reports, searches and filter settings. They are all part of the properties register, which means you add new options by right-clicking into the drop-down list and then selecting to Change in properties register.

In the contact card you can link contacts to a head office by clicking on the Search button next to the Head office field. To be able to connect a contact to a head office, the contact that is the head office will need to be marked as such. Using the head office function can be of use if you are looking to deliver goods to one contact but invoice another.

Through User-defined fields you are able to classify your contacts according to your own criteria, by dividing contacts into groups you have self defined groups. To create a new group in the drop-down list, go to Settings - Company - Properties register and then select User-defined fields.

Contact register management

Many users find new ways of dividing their contacts after having worked with the contact register for a while already or when new needs arise. The wizard to change the values for a selection of contacts (see below) is the ideal tool for updating and maintaining the contact register, and it allows you to change values for a selection of contacts simultaneously. For example, you can add or remove group fields and user-defined fields, change common values (such as 'Our ref.' or 'Line of business') or change the settings for customers and suppliers such as payment terms, delivery terms, currency and language.

By using the contact selection wizard, you can define and save fixed filters for contacts. These can be used at a later time if you, for instance, want to create activities or documents related to the contacts or send e-mails. The selection wizard can help you save a lot of time.

Microsoft® Outlook® Integration

With the help of the Outlook integration you can keep your contact register up-to-date in Outlook as well as within the program. You can link the contact's e-mail addresses in Outlook to contacts and contact persons in the program and you can ensure that the contacts you create will be synchronised both 'ways'.

Inactive

You cannot delete a contact that is in use in another part of the program. If you do not want a contact to be available anymore, you can set that contact to the inactive status. To do so, select Yes in the Inactive drop-down list under the Other info tab.

No dispatches

Some contacts do not wish to receive bulk mail, such as information about special offers, by e-mail. Under the Other info tab you can tick the No dispatches box. Using the advanced selection when creating bulk mail, you have the possibility to exclude these contacts.