Blog Posts - MRSware CRM + Sales + Commissions

Navigating MRSweb: How To Get Around

12/7/2016

There are 3 main navigation elements in MRSweb:

1. The Home page icon, shown in the green circle above.

Click here to return to the main application page from anywhere in the app.

2. The drop-down Navigation menu, shown in the red circle above.

Click this down-arrow icon to get the shortcuts menu, allowing for quick navigation to any of the main functional areas of the app.

3. The web browser's Back button.

Go directly to the previous page by clicking the Back button. If in a mode where the web browser's button bar is not showing, sometimes scrolling down or right-clicking in the background of the page will preset the "Back" option (depends on browser and OS).

Bulk Update Companies' Categories from the Customers Listing

9/22/2016

Users can set up companies' categories from the Customers table. (Steps 1 - 5)

You can take this one step further and set up contacts' categories from the results of the companies' category. (Steps 6 - 10)

One of the more common usages for this two step process is for setting up contacts to sync with mobile devices using MRSware Sync*.

Here's how:

1. Click on Customers in the Shortcuts panel or on the Shortcuts toolbar
2. Right-click on a name in the Sales Rep Column and select Filter -> By Selection

Video - How to Send Out Bulk E mails

7/22/2016

"The CAN-SPAM Act establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations." These are rules that all commercial emailers have to follow, which includes you if you are sending out bulk emails.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-a...

Student Number

6/13/2016

The Student Number is a field available on the Student record (Add/Edit Student dialog). The field is free-form in that any characters (letters, numbers, combinations of those) can be used, following any format that is desired and useful to your company.

The Student Number appears in a couple of places in MRSware for easy reference:

The Add/Edit Student dialog is where the Student Number is entered and updated.
The Student tab on an individual Class shows the Number and Name of the Students.

Q & A:
2. In Student Class Record there is a field for student number. Where does that number come from?

This field isn't used for anything in MRSware itself, it is just a field that is there for your internal use. For example, you could enter something like "Non-Member" or "Member" to be able to quickly see in the Edit Class dialog which of the Students were which... In other words, feel free to use the Student Number field for anything that you like to immediately see next to the Students' Names in a Class and Student Listing.

3. Does mrsware generate a unique customer number for each contact record? Is it currently hidden? Could it be visible? Could it then be applied to their"student number" for any class and follow them through their life with MRERF?

MRSware does not auto-generate a Student Number. You would enter the desired designator (doesn't have to be just a number) when creating the Student's entry in the system.

We will use the student number as a study group number.

Member vs. Non-Member Tuition

6/13/2016

We have 2 Tuition fields available in MRSware. The first is on the Class, and the second is on the Course Term. These 2 fields can be used in various ways, and, as always, should be discussed to make sure they are used consistently.
In MRERF's usage, we have 2 different Tuition amounts that apply to students. The first is a "Member" Tuition, the second is a "Non-Member" Tuition. A Student Category has been created to designate a particular student as Member or Non-Member by checking the appropriate box.
The decided on usage in order to get the proper Student Tuition amount for the Class Master List report, is to use the Class Tuition as the Member tuition amount; and the Course Term Tuition for the Non-Member tuition amount.
I.e. when "Member" is the checked student category, the report will show that the student is liable for the Class' listed Tuition amount; when the "Non-Member category is checked, the report will show the Course Term's listed Tuition amount.
In the absence of a checked category, which will be the case for all existing entries prior to this usage being decided on, the Student will be considered a "Member".

Badge Name

6/13/2016

The Badge Name field in the Class Master List report is currently pulling from the Salutation field of the Contact. Salutation was specifically designed for this use, where the proper, full name of the contact is in the regular name field and their preferred name is in the Salutation.
For example, "Robert Smith" might like to generally be called "Bob Smith". In this usage, the Certificate Name (First Name in MRSware) would be "Robert", the formal usage; while the Badge Name would be "Bob", for the informal usage.

We are going to use "Salutation" for badge name! :)

Great. Personally, I think it is convenient to do it there, next to the regular first and last name area, so that all changes to someone's name or badge is on one screen.

Reply Automatically with a Template

5/16/2016

Do you get a very common question via email, have an online lead form, or other process that you respond to with an email Template? You can automate that process using a "Reply with Template" Email Rule. When an email is received matching criteria (such as a specific Subject), the Email Rule Replies to the email sending a Template that is stored in MRSware.

Be Prepared, Be Professional, Be Productive

2/16/2016

In July of 2008 I wrote a blog - "Jack Berman's Call Organizer" - about the way I used to prepare for sales calls when I was a manufacturers representative. In the blog I talk about how and why I did this and how successful it was for me.

What I forgot to mention is the time it took to do the preparation. Jack told us (1991, CPMR 101 students) it should take about 15 minutes per call. It often took me much longer to prepare for a call. Here are the steps I took initially:

* went over each manufacturer's reports for sales numbers TY vs LY
* went over each manufacturer's reports (if available) to see what SKU's they were buying
* tried to remember what we talked about the last time we met or talked
* wrote down what I wanted to accomplish during the meeting

Over time the steps changed slightly:

Order Entry Discount Fields

1/20/2016

The Discount Field in Order Entry has two options:

1. Discount by %
2. Discount by $

News mail item filtering

12/10/2015