The Contact Database is used to manage information about Customer Contacts. Each contact record includes three screens: Main Screen, More Data Screen, Custom Data Screen.
The Contact Database and the Customer Database work together. The Contact Database contains records that represent additional people or shipping addresses for a particular Customer Database record. Multiple Contacts may be associated with a single Customer.
The Default Contact (which usually has a blank Contact ID) should be used to store default shipping address information (when mailing address and shipping address are different) for the Customer which is then used on Sales Transactions.
A Contact can be anyone or anything with which a Customer associates:
- Additional shipping locations/addresses.
- Additional people (family members, authorized purchasers, etc.).
- Job sites (to track sales for Contactor/Supplier-related Customers).
- Drivers/Vehicles (for automotive-related businesses).
To view or edit a Customer's Contacts, select the Contacts Button in the lower left corner of the Customer's database record and press [Enter], or enter the Contact Hot Key combination [Alt]+[C].
To access Contacts for all Customers, select Contact, Edit from the Database Manager, Database menu. Locate and select the desired Contact from the Contacts Lookup List. Press [Enter] to access the Contact record.
Note: Some Contact Database fields also exist on Customer Database records. Information entered in the Contact record fields takes precedence over (is used instead of) the information on the Customer Record. Fields on the Contact record that contain the NULL character (the three horizontal bars), use the information from the Customer record.
New Contacts are normally added at the beginning of a new Sales Transaction, when it is discovered that they are not in the existing Contact Database for the Customer. Contact records can also be imported (most commonly, when setting up a new Keystroke system). The top section of each Contact information screen displays some of the same fields making it easy to verify which record is currently being viewed.
Note: An existing Customer record must exist in order to add a new Contact record because every Contact record must be connected to a Customer record.
There are 3 Contact Database Screens (use the Database screen buttons in the lower right or press [F9] to navigate through the screens):
Main Screen
More Data Screen
Custom Data Screen
See:
Database Manager Contents