Customers

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Clicking Main Menu Customers on the Menu Bar will display a list of all your active customers. Archived customers will not be displayed. You can sort the list by any column by clicking the column heading. Click the same column heading again to sort in the opposite direction.



To find a customer just click a field in any column you want to search (i.e. Name) and start typing. Quick Estimator™ 2005 will move to the nearest match. Keep typing until you find the one you want. If there is more than one match (i.e. you have two customers named "John Smith") just hold down the Shift key and hit Enter. Quick Estimator™ 2005 will move to the next match.

F If you have the Full version you can also find customers by customer barcode. If you have a barcode scanner you can scan a customer barcode on an estimate for example into the Find By Customer Barcode field and Quick Estimator™ 2005 will open that customer if found. If you don't have a barcode scanner, you can type the barcode number in instead and hit the Enter key. You will find the barcode number printed beside the barcode. See the example below. Customer barcodes are also printed on all customer list reports.



Click the Add New Customer button to add a new customer.

Double-click a row to open a customer in the Customers screen where you can view or edit the complete details for the customer.

The Customers screen shown below is where you add, edit and delete customers. The top part of the screen stores the customer information and the list at the bottom shows any projects belonging to that customer. Each customer can have more than one project. You can double-click a project to open the Projects screen and view that project



Use the Browse drop-down list to browse through your customers. You can also search for a customer by typing a customer name in the Browse drop-down list. As you type the list will filter out the closest matches. Keep typing until you find the one you want. Hit the Enter key to move to that customer.

F If you have the Full version you can also find customers by customer barcode. If you have a barcode scanner you can scan a customer barcode on an estimate for example into the Find By Customer Barcode field and Quick Estimator™ 2005 will jump to that customer. If you don't have a barcode scanner, you can type the barcode number in instead and hit the Enter key. You will find the barcode number printed beside the barcode. See the example below. Customer barcodes are also printed on all customer list reports.



The Options button when clicked will display the drop-down menu shown below.


Select Add New Customer to add a new customer. Fill in as much information as you can.
Select View / Add Notes to add notes and log phone call for a customer. This will open the Customer Notes / Call Log screen where you can enter an unlimited number of notes and calls. The number shown after this option indicates how many notes exist for this customer.

Select Print to print one or more customers. See the Printing Customers topic the learn more about printing customers.

Select Add New Project For Customer to add a new project for a customer. This will open the Projects screen with the customer information already entered. See the Projects topic to learn more about projects.

Select View Map to view a map of the customers address or select Get Directions to get turn by turn directions to the customers address from your address using Mapquest. This requires an internet connection and that you have chosen a country on the User Information screen. While viewing the directions, there is an option to reverse the directions so that it will show directions from the customer to your address. You can print out the map or directions for yourself or for giving to your crew. You must have at least entered a street address, a city and a state for both the customer and for your address. This feature may not work well in some rural areas.

F If you have chosen to use the QuickBooks® link on the Setup / Defaults then the Add To QuickBooks® option will be visible. Select this option to add the current customer to your QuickBooks® data file. QuickBooks® must be running with your data file open. See the About QuickBooks® Link topic to learn more.

F Select Archive Customer to archive the current customer. This will not delete the customer just removed them from view so they won't show up on any lists. To restore a customer from the archive, click Archives on the top Tool Bar and click Customer Archive. Locate the customer you want to restore and check the Restore check box. When you archive a customer, all projects and estimates belonging to that customer are also archived. See the Customer Archive topic.

Select Delete Customer to delete the current customer. Remember when you delete a customer, all projects belonging to that customer are also deleted along with all estimates for each project.

Adding A New Customer

The first thing you must do when creating a new customer, is enter the customer name in the Name field. This field cannot be blank. When you have entered the name, hit the Tab or Enter key on your keyboard. The rest of the fields will become available.

If you are not using the Replication feature, the Customer # will be automatically entered for you. You can edit the number as required. If you are using the replication feature, then you will have to enter the Customer # yourself.

Fill in the rest of the customer information including address and contact information.

You can enter a customer type from the Customer Type drop-down list. Also you can enter the lead source for this customer from the Lead Source drop-down list (i.e. where did the lead come from). To add to or edit these lists, click the button to the right of the drop-down list.

You can flag a customer for a follow up phone call by checking the Flag For Follow Up check box. If you enter the number of days to follow up in and you have checked Customer To-Do List on the To-Do List tab of the Setup / Defaults section, Quick Estimator™ 2005 will create a To-Do List item for you to remind you to follow up. You can also print a report showing flagged customers.

Enter the profit and overhead for each category that you want to apply to the customer. If you have setup defaults on the Setup / Defaults screen these will be entered automatically. Only change them if you need to. This gives you the flexibility to apply less profit or overhead for some customers and more for others.

Enter the percentage of profit you want to apply to each category. This is your profit. The rate may be the same for all categories or each one could be different. When entering the rate, enter it as follows: To enter 15% just type 0.15. You can adjust these rates at any time. Enter the percentage of overhead you need to recover on each category if any. The rate may be the same for all categories or each one could be different. In order to be accurate, you will need to know what percentage of your revenue goes towards overhead.

There are four custom fields you can use to store additional information about a customer. To edit the names of the custom fields, click Setup / Tools on the Main Bar, then click Set / Defaults and then click Custom Fields.

Also see the Adding A New Customer & Project quick step-by-step guide.

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