Our client wanted to expand the standard marketing functionality of SalesLogix to include a custom entity for tracking customer testimonials. These testimonials are recorded in a new main and reference the Contact and Account that made the reference. Tracking these testimonials allows users the ability to search through the testimonial list and use them in their marketing or sales efforts. Users may also add new testimonials. The testimonials must be authorized by the source before the client uses them with other clients.

From a quoting and MAS solution sample. This area is used when adding a new product to a quote. A custom Select Products screen was developed. This screen allows for filtering products presented based on search criteria provided.

The Quote Products tab is the management interface to identify the products being quoted. The Product grid utilizes a standard SalesLogix data grid to display the product but also includes the following enhancements.

The quote discount tab was developed to allow the client to add discounts that are not specifically tied to a line item on the quote. Examples of this might include a 5% total discount given to the quote total, or a $20 off shipping credit. This tab displays those quote-level discounts that have been applied to this order.

The Quote Shipping Tab displays the information regarding where the order is to be delivered to. The Shipping Account, Contact, and Address need not be the same as the Billing Account.

The quote billing tab displays the information regarding the account which will be paying for the order, if it is placed. It also identifies which person at the billing account is the contact point for billing questions and the address where the bill is to be sent.

This tab allows for general comments to be added to the quote, both for internal and external communications. The internal comments are only visible within the SalesLogix interface. The External Comments are visible on the Quote output that is given to the customer.

When a customer requests a Quote from the system, the resulting document produced is an actionable document. If the customer wishes to purchase the order they simply sign the quote and provide payment options. When the Quote is received back, the order entry personnel verify the Quote is complete and then process the Quote to an Order.

The client had previously used their back office ERP solution to deliver quotes. This required users to use SalesLogix for most purposes, but also required the users to switch to MAS 90 to create quotes in. This required re-entering prospects into the accounting system so that a quote could be developed.

The client’s master product list exists in the MAS 500 back office system. In order to provide a complete quoting solution in SalesLogix, the product list from MAS 500 had to be integrated into SalesLogix. This would allow the entire product catalog to be available for Opportunities and Quotes.

While a large percent of the sales reps time is spent creating quotes as customers request them, the client did want to utilize the Opportunity area of SalesLogix for pipeline tracking in order to gain strategic insight into the upcoming product requirements.

Because of the dynamic nature of the client’s customer base, Contacts are constantly leaving Accounts. It was requested that the Account’s Contact tab be enhanced to allow filtering of the Contact list to only show active contacts.

A large portion of the client’s customer base is the education system. To that end it was important for the client to be able to track the relationships between schools and districts, and all of the personnel in each of these entities.

As described in the postal code import post, the client purchases a complete listing of the US postal codes. This list also contains the GMT offset for each postal code. During the import, the offset information is also loaded into the postal code table.

The client’s sales territories are based on geographic divisions. For the most part an entire state is part of a reps territory; however this is not always the case.

In order to assist in data integrity, and to facilitate a quicker address entry process, a custom zip code lookup was added to the Edit Address screen.

Another important attribute of an address is the Tax Schedule in which the address belongs. The Tax Schedule is a back office attribute that determines what tax rate should be charged during a sale.

A standard feature in MAS 500 is a flag to designate if an address is a residential address, as opposed to a commercial address. This attribute does not exist in a standard SalesLogix system.

Because SalesLogix acts as the master Account and Contact source, containing both prospects as well as customers that also exist in MAS 500, an integration was developed to update MAS 500 when SalesLogix customer information changes

When the sales reps are dealing with a customer it was important to be able to see quickly, and in one location the status of a customer. In order to instantly be able to tell the status of a customer, the SalesLogix Account and Contact screens were modified to give quick visibility if a customer is on credit hold.

SalesLogix acts as the master customer list for this implementation. MAS 500 stores only those companies that have purchased items in the past. SalesLogix not only stores these customer accounts but also stores potential prospects, resellers, vendors, partners, and other entities.

Beyond the standard functionality of maintaining and managing Accounts and Contacts in SalesLogix, the client needed several new features added to these areas.