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Tip #1409 – Using Customer Locations in dynaMACS

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Some agencies have the need to separate sales numbers within a customer for reasons such as:

  • Multiple buyers that are responsible for making buying decisions for different manufacturers
  • Giving credit to different reps for something shipping to a different location
  • For these purposes, dynaMACS gives you the ability to add multiple locations to a customer.  If locations are used, you can use the Filters feature to display these numbers in Sales IQ summarized, displaying them as combined under one customer, or you can display the sales numbers for the individual locations.

Filtering on Locations in Sales IQ

When displaying sales activity for a customer in Sales IQ you can view all sales activity by customer location (default) or you can summarize sales by using the Filter button.

In the following example we will look at the customer Adel’s Dist which has three locations.

  1. From the Sales IQ Home screen the Customer tab has been selected showing all customers and the sort is on the Customer column.
  2. You can see that there are three Adel’s customers displayed by individual locations.
  3. Select the Filter button.Sales IQ Home Screen 1
  4. Check the Summarize box to the right of the Customer field.
  5. Select the Apply button.Filters Screen 1
  6. The Sales IQ screen now displays all Adel’s locations summarized and totaled.Sales IQ Home Screen 2

To Create a Customer Location

The following example explains how to add a location to an existing customer.

  1. Select the Viewer icon.
  2. Select the Customer icon.dynaMACS Home Screen
  3. Highlight the Customer that you will be adding a location to.
  4. Select the Add Location button.Customer Viewer Screen 1
  5. In the Customer Maintenance screen you will notice that the customer information from the selected customer will be defaulted i.e. the address, phone #’s, etc.  Make any changes required for your new location and select the Save/Exit button.NoteCustomer Maintenance Screen
  6. The newly added location is displayed in the Customer Viewer list.
    Customer Viewer Screen 2

Case Study: Garnett Component Sales

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 “Working with dynaMACS, we are all on the same team. They truly want their software to help my business be more successful. And it does.”

Tommy Garnett, Owner
Garnett Component Sales

Client Challenge

Since founding Garnett Component Sales, Tommy Garnett committed to always strive for excellence in customer service, quality and integrity. He expects the same from his providers and vendors. When he investigated sales agency software, he had a list of requirements. In fact, he used three different software programs before finding one that met his standards.




Garnett_Component_StatisticsdynaMACS Solution

Garnett says dynaMACS is the top performer at providing critical information on sales and commissions. Garnett uses features that weren’t even available on either of the other two software programs.

But the most important component that dynaMACS brings to the table, Garnett says, is that, “dynaMACS didn’t just bring me on as a revenue source. Working with dynaMACS, we are on the same team. They truly want to help my business succeed. And it does.”

As part of that partnership, dynaMACS is there when Garnett has questions, and needs answers now. “There’s no filling out a help ticket, or waiting two days for someone to call back. dynaMACS calls within 15 minutes and helps me until my problem is solved.”

Some dynaMACS features that help Garnett stay on top of sales and commission information:

  • Reconciling commission checks with commission reports
  • Easily tracking sales history with one click of a button
  • Using graphs and charts – much more effective than spreadsheets – to visually show trends to factories
  • Tracking goals for next year based on prior-year sales data by each rep

As for usability, Garnett finds dynaMACS easy to use, straightforward and intuitive. “It’s easy to get information in a few clicks and the reporting is by far, the best.”

Tip #1407 – Evaluating True Agency Performance

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Often times an agency picks up new lines and also loses lines.  When looking at sales numbers in Sales IQ, these numbers can often be distorted when you display both new manufacturers and lost manufacturers along with your active manufacturers.  The following examples will help you to identify your true sales numbers by excluding these manufacturers.  Also, modifying the manufacturers name with a symbol provides a quick visual when displaying all manufacturers in a list.

Classifying a Manufacturer Status

When adding a manufacturer the status is set to “New” by default.  Once a “New” manufacturer has met the agency’s requirements for categorizing the manufacturer as “Active”, the status should be updated.   Many agencies make this change after 1 year.  The following example shows how to change a manufacturer’s status.

  1. From the Manufacturer Maintenance screen, select Active from the drop down list in the Status field.
  2. Select the Save button and then the Exit button.Manufacturer Maint Screen

Adding a Symbol to the Manufacturer Name for an Easy Visual of New or Lost Lines

For a quick visual of “New” or “Lost” lines in your Sales IQ display list, you can modify the manufacturer name with a symbol that is easily identifiable such as “<-“ for a lost manufacturer or “<+” for a new manufacturer.   Once you change the status from “New” to “Active”, then you can remove the symbol from the manufacturer.

Note_Tip1407

In the following example you can see the new manufacturer Simplex Manufacturing which has the “<+” in front of the name and you’ll see that there are sales in the column Jan-Oct14 but no sales in previous years.  You will also see the inactive manufacturer S P & P Inc. which has the “<-“ in front of the name and no sales in Oct 14 or this YTD Jan-Oct 14  but sales in previous years indicating a lost manufacturer.

Sales IQ Screen 1

Excluding New and Inactive (lost) Manufacturers from the Sales IQ Display

You can remove “New” and “Inactive” manufacturers from the Sales IQ display by using the Filters button in Sales IQ.  This method will remove these sales numbers from the display showing you only the agency sales for “Active” manufacturers eliminating the new and lost lines.

  1. Select the Filter button from the Sales IQ screen.Filters Screen 1
  2. From the Filters screen select Active from the Status drop down list under Manufacturer.
  3. Select the Apply button.Filters Screen 2
  4. After filtering you can see that only ”Active” manufacturers are displayed in the Sales IQ screen.Sales IQ Screen 2

Case Study: Sullivan & Associates

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“dynaMACS has made my job so much more efficient. ”

Reyna Vargas, Office Manager
Sullivan & Associates, Inc.

Sullivan_Associates_LogoClient Challenge

Cumbersome and time consuming. That was the problem with Sullivan & Associates Sales, Inc.’s former sales and commission software.

The team knew time was being wasted on outdated software that was difficult to use and required the agency to enter non-essential information. But they didn’t realize the extent of the lost time until they used dynaMACS.




Sullivan_Associates_StatisticsdynaMACS Solution

A referral led Sullivan & Associates to dynaMACS, and they liked what they saw from the start. The first time-saver was the ease of use and intuitive screens that made the implementation simple. “We really didn’t need any assistance. We were up and running in no time,” says office manager Reyna Vargas.

Shortly after the agency began using dynaMACS it became even more apparent how much more efficient dynaMACS is than their prior software. “The amount of time it takes to enter commission statements has dropped from two weeks to four days,” Vargas says. That’s 112 hours of data entry time reduced to 32 – one third of the time it previously took!

One reason for the time savings: the old software required the agency to enter extraneous data. “We had to enter a lot of data that we didn’t need, but it was mandatory.”

Not so with dynaMACS. Agencies can customize data entry fields to collect only relevant information. For example, Vargas can set up her system to enter customer name, date, part number, quantity, sales rep split, PO number and more. Or if she doesn’t need some of that information, the fields are not required. They will be automatically skipped as she enters data.

Vargas’ overall impression of dynaMACS? “It’s made my job so much more efficient.”

Tip #1406 – dynaMACS Software Start Options

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You can set your preferences in dynaMACS so that either the Sales IQ, Process, eSi or cRm screens open first upon launching dynaMACS.  You can also set preferences so that when your Sales IQ screen opens, the Source field defaults to Sales or Commission Received.  The following explains how to set these preferences.

Setting the dynaMACS Main Screen Focus

You can select what screen you would like to appear when first launching dynaMACS by selecting it in the Preferences screen.  In the following example we will change the start screen from the dynaMACS Home screen to the Sales IQ screen.

  1. From the main dynaMACS screen select File>Preferences.Main Screen
  2. From the User Preferences screen go to field 29 – Start screen.  Select the down arrow to the right under the Preference column.  This will display all of the start options available.  Select SalesIQ from the drop down list and select the Save button and then the Exit button.  The next time you log into dynaMACS you will be in the Sales IQ screen.User Pref Screen 1

Setting the Sales IQ Screen Source Default

You can choose to have the Sales IQ screen start with the Source field defaulted to Sales OR Commission Received by setting it in the Preferences screen.  In the following example we will change the preference to start Sales IQ with the source of Commission Recd.

  1. From the main dynaMACS screen select File>Preferences.Main Screen
  2. From the User Preferences screen go to field 28 – Start Sales IQ As:.  Select the down arrow to the right under the Preference column.  This will display all of the start options available.  Select Commission Recd from the drop down list and select the Save button and then the Exit button.  The next time you log into Sales IQ the source will be defaulted to Commission Recd.User Pref Screen 2

Tip #1405 – Maximize the dynaMACS State/Region Zip Code Feature

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dynaMACS has a powerful feature that automatically populates the State/Region field based on the Zip Code entered when adding or updating customer records (provided a valid 5 digit zip code is used).  The use of the State/Region code is beneficial when generating reports in either Sales IQ or a Sales Analysis report.  The following instructions show you how to activate this feature.

***IMPORTANT!  PLEASE create a restore point before activating this feature and running the utilities!***

Example of a State/Region Report printed from Sales Analysis Rpt Generator:

Report Sample

Step 1:  Turn on the Auto Build State/Region Feature in System Information Setup

  1. From the dynaMACS main screen select Other Functions>Administration>System Information Setup.dynaMACS Main Screen 1
  2. Select the System Options tab.
  3. Check the box Automatically build State/Region upon Zip Code Change?
  4. Select the Save button.Sys Info Setup Screen

Step 2:  Run System Utility 1007 (Creates Customer State/Region codes table)

  1. From the dynaMACS main screen select Other Functions>Utilities>System UtilitiesdynaMACS Main Screen 3
  2. Select Utility #1007
  3. Select the Run buttonSys Utilities Screen 1
  4. Select the Yes button on the Confirmation dialog box.Confirmation Dialog Box  Delete Confirmation Box

Step 3:  Run System Utility 1008 (Replaces Customer State/Region codes in customer records)

  1. From the dynaMACS main screen select Other Functions>Utilities>System UtilitiesdynaMACS Main Screen 2
  2. Select Utility #1008
  3. Select the Run button to complete the update.Sys Utilities Screen 2