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When you click on the Customer Details window - Contact Name tab, a list of all the contact names for this customer are displayed. You can drill deeper by highlighting a name and clicking on Edit. You'll be able to change the address, branch name, phone number and even add comments and a picture for each person.
The contact name information includes the address, city, postal code, phone number and other information. This information relates to this one individual instead of the customer. Each contact name is independent of each other. For customers with branch offices in different cities, this extra information is very helpful. However, if this individual works out of the main office, do not bother wasting time entering duplicate information that is already on the main customer record. The idea here is to only add information that is extra or useful. For example, if the person has a direct phone line, then enter that phone number.
Setting or Clearing the Primary contact modifies the contents of the First and Last Name fields in the Customer Information tab. The reverse is also true, if you enter the First and Last name values on the Customer Information tab a few things happen. If the contact doesn't already exist, the system creates a new contact with the names provided. The specified Contact is highlighted in yellow in both lists. If the Primary Contact is already set and you edit the First or Last name, the system updates the respective names in the contact record. The only exception is if you delete the Last name completely, the system clear the Primary Contact setting without modifying the contact record in any way.
This is really the only effect that the Primary Contact has on the system, with the exception of reports that contain Contact information. In these reports, the Primary Contact is the information reported in the event that there is no specific Contact information available. In order to make the currently selected Primary Contact easy to identify, they are highlighted in yellow on both the Contact tab and the contact list on the Customer Information tab. If there are no rows highlighted in yellow, there is no primary contact set.
Normally, you are not entering the birth dates or anniversaries. However, if you are in some sort of personal services type business, such as photography or hair care, this information might be helpful and you can select customers for reporting purposes based on birth dates or anniversaries.
You can enter a comment specifically for this person. It is only viewed on this window when the contact name is edited and it does not show up in other areas. It can be useful for remembering details such as past conversations, hobbies, and family. You can then review this information just before a meeting so that important details are not overlooked.
You can create your own set of free form comment headings to store additional information about this customer in a structured way. It acts the same as the free form comment on the main customer record, but this comment attaches only to the contact name.
You can attach lookup words to the contact name. This is similar to adding contact names to the customer as a whole, but allows you to print mailing lists to specific types of people within the business. For example, if you wanted to send out a direct mailing piece to all the employees who belong to the specific department, then you could generate a mailing list using the lookup word 'employees'. Another mail out might be directed to the managers of the same facilities. This option is very helpful if you are doing a lot of telemarketing, but most companies do not need this level of detail. If you need it, it's yours. If you don't, ignore it. Remember, you do not have to use all the features found in System Five if they do not apply to your company.
If you have a digital camera, you can click on the last tab and insert a picture of the person.