Customers - How to navigate the primary Customers page

How to navigate the contacts list, sort & filter customers, view notifications, and manage your contact list.

How to Navigate the Contacts Page

In this guide, we'll walk you through navigating the contacts page in Space Auto's automotive CRM. You'll learn how to navigate the contacts list, sort and filter customers, view notifications, and manage your contact list effectively, all while understanding how each function enhances your sales efforts.

Accessing the Contacts List

Upon clicking the "Leads" screen, you will be greeted with your customer list. Think of this like your text messages on your iPhone.

- New unread activity will have green indicators. As they start to age, they will gradually turn orange, and eventually red for long-term customers that have been ignored. Gray contacts indicate no new activity for the customer.

This color-coding system helps you prioritize your follow-ups, ensuring that no lead goes cold due to inattention. 

Communication Tools

The customer list includes three icons for easy communication, located to the right of the screen:

• Call: Initiate a phone call directly from the CRM, making it easy to have real-time conversations with your leads.
• Text: Send a text message, which is ideal for quick updates or responses, providing a personal touch without taking too much time.
• Email: Send an email, perfect for detailed information and professional communication.

If one of the icons is grayed out, it means the customer has opted out of that particular mode of communication or we have not received that information in the lead. This transparency ensures you respect customer preferences and comply with communication regulations.

Additional Metrics

You may see three additional fields if there has been a match to our intelligent customer data:

• Financial Rating (Star Icon): Scored from 1-5, this comprehensive assessment evaluates a customer's economic health, factoring in credit, spending habits, income, risk, and more. Knowing a customer's financial stability helps tailor your sales approach, offering appropriate financing options and building trust.
• Purchase Intent Rating (Fire Icons): Scored from 1-5, this gauge measures a customer's intent to purchase a vehicle by analyzing their behaviors and engagement against automotive buying trends. This allows you to focus on leads with the highest likelihood of conversion, optimizing your time and efforts.
• Deal Count (Car Icon): This shows the number of deals you have worked or are working with this particular customer. Understanding the history of deals helps you track progress and maintain a comprehensive view of customer interactions, facilitating better follow-ups and relationship building.

Filtering Customers

To filter customers, press the filter icon at the top right. This allows you to filter by when the contact was created. Note that this is based on the original creation date of the contact, not the last lead. Use the custom calendar or presets:

• Last 7 Days
• Last 30 Days
• Last 90 Days
• Last 365 Days
• All Time

Using the custom calendar allows you to select specific dates, providing greater control. This functionality enables you to target recent leads or revisit older contacts, ensuring no potential opportunity is missed.

Other Filtering and Sorting Options

You can further filter and sort the contacts by the following options to customize your follow-up schedule:

Assignment

1. All: Shows all customers, regardless of the assigned sales rep. Ideal for managers overseeing multiple team members.
2. Assigned to Me: Displays customers assigned to you only, helping you focus on your personal leads and manage your workflow efficiently.
3. Assigned to Specific: Select multiple team members to toggle on or off, checking only customers assigned to them. This is useful for collaborative efforts and team-based sales strategies.
4. Unassigned Customers: Shows customers without a current owner, allowing you to assign or reassign them. Ensures every lead is attended to, preventing potential sales from slipping through the cracks.

Activity

1. All Activity: Shows all customers in any filtering/sorting view, providing a comprehensive overview of your customer base.
2. Unread Only: Useful for customer service to identify customers needing responses, resolving and shortening the list as customers are attended to. This helps maintain high responsiveness and customer satisfaction.

Sort

1. Recently Updated: Sorts customers by the most recent activity on their account, keeping the most engaged leads at the top of your list.
2. Alphabetical: Sorts customers alphabetically, making it easy to locate specific contacts quickly.
3. Unseen Activity: Sorts by unseen activity, ensuring unread and unseen activity is at the top of your feed. Prioritize new interactions and respond promptly.
4. Lead Age: Sorts by how long the customer has been in the CRM, from oldest to newest. Helps in focusing on older leads that may need a follow-up or a different approach.

Deals

Filter customers based on deal stages, helping you craft follow-up goals for maximum flexibility:

1. Fresh: Deals in Fresh Status and are unattended. Quickly address new leads and kickstart the sales process.
2. Desking: Deals in desking status and being worked on. Monitor active negotiations and ensure they progress smoothly.
3. Finance: Deals currently in finance status. Stay updated on the financial approval process and assist as needed.
4. Closed: Deals that are sold and closed. Track successful sales and manage post-sale customer relationships.
5. Archived: Lost deals that are archived. Review past interactions to understand lost opportunities and refine your approach.
6. No Deals: Customers who have never had any deals or currently don't. Identify new potential leads and re-engage them.

Additional Functions (Requires Specific Admin Rights)

By pressing the three dots on the right side of the contact, you can:

1. Reassign Customer Owner: Quickly reassign the customer owner by pressing "Reassign User." You can also assign or unassign as necessary. This flexibility ensures the right salesperson is handling each lead.
2. Delete Customer: Deletes all data, deals, and information associated with the customer. Maintain a clean and relevant database.
3. View Customer Insights: Navigate to the comprehensive customer insights tab. Gain deep insights into customer behavior and preferences to tailor your sales strategies.

Viewing Customer Details

Clicking on the customer will navigate you to the main screen for that customer, showing available tasks, appointments, deals, activity, insights, and more. This detailed view provides all necessary information at a glance, enhancing your ability to manage and nurture customer relationships effectively. This will be covered in a different module.

Adding New Customers

By clicking the "+" button on the main customers screen, you are able to select:

1. The assigned user (will default to current user)
2. Source
   1. Internet
   2. Phone
   3. Walk In
   4. Other (This will open up a text box for a custom source)
3. Contact First, Last, Phone and Email
4. Address - This address will validate immediately in real-time vs. USPS validation to help the user ensure that the address is valid.