Accounts in B2B Sales are the profiles recorded for your customers i.e., the companies your hotel is in contact with. The account detail contains crucial information about the client, such as their address, phone and fax, location and website link. The profile will also list other points of interest, such as the industry the customer is involved in, product interests, special contract rates, etc.
In this article:
- Available Views from the Account Detail
- Editing an Account Detail/The Account Edit Screen
- Adding/Editing Remarks for an Account
- Viewing/Editing the Options Tab for Accounts
Account Detail
Once you have selected the required account B2B Sales displays the account detail.
In the header row of the screen B2B Sales displays the name of the customer. Moving the mouse over the name you may find that the name has been activated as a hyperlink (as displayed in our example account above). In this case, the account has been linked to the website of the company. For more information about the account simply click the account name. B2B Sales then displays the website of the respective company.
In the top half of the screen you see the account name, account number, phone and fax numbers, website address (if applicable), company type and level (Master MAC or SUB account), priority status, and for travel agent accounts, the commission field.
Below, you see the available tab options or views (Details, Options, Sub Accounts, PMS Accounts, etc.). Each tab opens a view for the account. Simply select the required tab for access to the respective menu. For a short description of each tab option please refer to the table below.
The top rows displayed above the tab option bar are header rows. They are displayed irrespective of which tab option you have selected.
In the lower half of the screen the system displays more details about the account. You see the address details and PO box details (if applicable) plus the selected industry codes for the account. B2B Sales will display the addresses in the form used to print labels for campaigns. This way, you will immediately see whether the address will print properly.
In the Remarks box you find miscellaneous permanent comments pertaining to the account. They may include special associations of the account, revenue volumes or staff information not detailed in specific account fields.
Account Detail – Available Tab Options/Views
|
Tab Option |
Description |
|
Details |
Displays the account detail. From here you can edit and view account details, add, view, and edit Remarks regarding the account, view and edit the custom-specific Options tab, and view the Salesreps tab. |
|
Options |
Displays the Options menu. This screen contains custom-specific fields determined by headquarters. It is completely user-definable. Using this tab option, you can view this information. In order to edit it, go to the account edit screen and access Options from there. |
|
Sub Accounts/ |
Displays a list of sub accounts linked to the respective account including the contacts listed for each sub account. From here, you can also add and edit sub accounts. For agent accounts, this option is called Sub Agents. |
|
PMS Accounts/ |
Displays a list of PMS accounts (e.g. Front Office company or agent profiles) linked to this account including the name, city, phone and fax number, contact, and hotel ID. From here, you can view PMS accounts. For agent accounts, this option is called PMS Agents. |
|
Agents/ |
Displays a list of agents linked to this particular account including agent name, city, phone and fax number, as well as type and priority. From here, you can also add and edit agents. For agent accounts this option is called Accounts and displays a list of accounts linked to the particular agent. |
|
Contacts |
Displays a list of contacts for this account including name, city, phone numbers, department and position. From here, you can also add and edit contact details, set a primary contact, set the status of a contact to inactive, as well as record and view activities linked to a particular contact. |
|
Activities |
Displays the list of activities for this account (both open and done), including type, description, contact, expected and done dates, duration, user ID, creation date and time of the activity. From here, you can also view and modify activities. |
|
Potentials |
Displays a list of potential bookings including dates, type, expected number of rooms, F&B and other revenue. When adding or editing a potential you can also add and view leads assigned to the potential booking. |
|
Contracts |
Displays a list of contracts negotiated with the account including from/until dates, contracted rate, type, subject, and room nights. From here, you can also add and modify contracts and select the distribution list for each contract. |
|
Distribution (only available if activated) |
Displays the list of hotels to which the contract details, rate code and associated account profile are distributed. The system carries out the distribution automatically. The information includes the hotel name, hotel ID, rate code, and rate code description. |
|
Production |
Displays the monthly production of the account for this year and previous years. |
|
Reservations |
Displays the expected revenue of the account for present/future reservations. |
Available Tab Options from the Account Detail
When you select a particular account the system displays some of the account details along with a tab bar listing the additional options available for each account.
Part 1: 
Part 2: 
Each tab opens another menu with information pertaining to the account. Simply select the required tab option for access to the respective menu. The system keeps the header rows of the account detail in the top half of the screen and displays the respective information in the bottom half.
Once you have selected the required account B2B Sales displays the account detail.
To proceed from here, select the required option. You can:
- Edit existing or add new information to this account by clicking Edit.
- Distribute the profile of this account to selected hotels (if the option has been activated for the hotel group).
- Add personal remarks about this account.
- Record, display and edit custom-specific information.
- Assign or unassign sales reps.
- Merge duplicate accounts into one.
Editing an Account Detail/The Account Edit Screen
From the account detail you can view and modify the information stored within the account detail, add permanent remarks which are displayed in the Remarks box and view or modify custom-specific fields on the Options tab.
Editing an account detail:
- From the account detail select the Edit icon in the icon toolbar.
B2B Sales displays the Account dialog box.
Note: Move from field to field by pressing the Tab key. Do not press Enter unless you are finished entering the details. Enter will save the information and close the dialog box.
- View and modify the listed fields as required. Highlighted fields are mandatory and must be filled in.
For a detailed description of the fields, see the Table below.
- When you have completed modifying the account detail select Ok to save the entry and return to the account display.
Alternatively, you can edit the Remarks box pertaining to the account by selecting the Remarks tab or edit custom-specific fields by selecting the Options tab.
If you want to abort your changes i.e., restore the details as they were before you accessed the Account dialog box, select Cancel.
Account Detail – Description of available fields
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Name |
Complete name of the account. The second line is available for long account names. Make sure that your entry corresponds to the standard agreed upon by headquarters (including upper and lower case). If you are not sure, use the name as displayed on the letterhead of the company. |
|
Country |
Country in which the account is located. Type in the country name or click the down arrow and select the required country from the pickbox. |
|
State |
State in which the account is located. Type in the state or click the down arrow and select the required state from the pickbox. The choices available in the pickbox also depend on the country you have entered (i.e., reduced to the states available in the selected country). If no states have been recorded for the respective country, this field will be grayed out, inactive. |
|
ZIP |
ZIP code of the account address (may differ for the PO box address). |
|
City |
City in which the account is located. For some countries the system may default the city name from the ZIP code you have entered and will fill this field automatically. |
|
Address 1 |
Address for the account. This field should contain the street and the number. |
|
Address 1/PO Box |
Street address for the contact. This field should contain the street and the number. If the address type is a PO Box address, enter the PO Box in the Address1/PO Box field. |
|
Address 2/3 |
Use the second and third additional address fields, where required, to record the building name and/or number, and/or floor or suite number for the contact. Only required for some addresses. |
|
PO Box Address |
PO box for the account. The recurring ZIP code and city fields should only be filled in if there is a PO box for the account. Otherwise, leave all three fields empty. If you record a PO box you have to fill in the respective ZIP code and City field. For some countries B2B Sales may default the city from the first 3 digits entered in the ZIP code field. |
|
Primary radio options |
The Primary radio options on the right side of the address field indicate which address is generally used for campaigns to the client. Per default, the system always marks the first address as the primary address for the account. If you want to use the PO box address for campaigns to the client select the Primary radio option next to it. |
|
Commission |
This field is only displayed for travel agent accounts. It is used to enter the commission the travel agent receives for bookings. Enter the commission as a percentage. |
|
Search Name |
Search name for the account. You can use this field to simplify locating accounts with long names or accounts with the same name but different addresses. Use abbreviations that are easy to remember or adhere to the standard determined by the hotel or headquarters, if available. Let’s assume, for example, that you have four Serenata accounts - the master account and headquarters Serenata IntraWare GmbH located in Munich, a development office, a sales office, and a branch in the UK. In this case, you could enter SerHQ for the headquarters, SerDev for the development office, SerSales for the sales office, and SerUK for the branch in the United Kingdom. |
|
Account No. |
The account number is the identifier for the account. Depending on the standard of the hotel chain the account number may be composed of numbers exclusively. |
|
Phone |
Main telephone number for the account (usually the switchboard). Make sure that you include the area code and, where applicable, the country code for the account. Depending on the recorded country the system may automatically default the corresponding country codes into this field. If required you can change this default. Do not enter phone numbers for specific contacts here. Instead, use the Contact tab for recording specific contact numbers. |
|
Fax |
Main fax number for the account. Make sure that you include the area code and (where applicable) the country code for the fax number. Depending on the recorded country the system may automatically default the corresponding country codes into this field. If required, you can change this default. |
|
Website |
If the customer has a website record the address here (for example: www.serenata.com). An entry here activates the account name in the account detail and enables access to the website by clicking on the account name. This can be very helpful since it will always provide you with the latest information on the account whenever required. |
|
Priority |
Importance of the account to the hotel chain. Type in the priority or select the down arrow and choose the required priority from the pickbox. This can be based on room night production or other factors, and depends on the standard determined by the hotel chain. Certain accounts may be extremely important for marketing issues even though their volume may be small. For example, key accounts may be marked with “Top” important accounts with “High” etc. |
|
Type |
The account type is used to indicate how “definite” an account or agent is, for instance, a prospect a real account or any other chain-specific account type. If the hotel group works with prospect account types the default here is probably Prospect. If you save the account with the Type Prospect the system will automatically assign. For instance: PC10321 You can immediately tell from the prefix in front of the number that you are dealing with a prospect. When it comes to turning the prospect into a real account you can change the account Type to the respective definite type, depending on your business rules. For example, as soon as there are bookings. The system will automatically assign a new account number when you save. For instance: CP600501 Again, you can immediately tell from the prefix in front of the number that you are now dealing with an account and not a Prospect.
|
|
Industry Code |
Type(s) of industry in which the account is involved. Scroll through the list of available entries and select the respective description by clicking the checkbox left of the industry code. You have multiple choices. When you have finished your selection(s) the system will sort and display all checked industry codes on top of the list. For example, Serenata could be software, consulting, and e-commerce. B2B Sales supports separate industry codes for accounts and agents. |
|
Info Fields: Last/ Created/Primary Sales Rep |
These read-only fields are for information only and cannot be edited. They display the user ID of the person who last edited the account and the last edit date, the creation date of the account, the respective user ID, and the primary sales rep for the account. |
Note: In this table we have only listed mandatory fields that are required for B2B Sales. During the configuration of B2B Sales the hotel chain can define additional mandatory fields which are then also highlighted.
Adding/Editing Remarks for an Account
From the Accounts detail you can record, view and/or modify comments about the account by selecting the Remarks tab.
The Remarks tab is used to record miscellaneous permanent comments pertaining to the account. They may include special associations of the account, revenue volumes, or staff information not detailed in specific account fields.
Note: Do not record any special tasks or activities planned for this account in the Remarks box. For these cases, you would create an activity. Use the Remarks box for general notes, such as “Head office is based in the UK,” or “Annual production about “2 Mio EUR.”
Editing the Remarks tab:
- From the Account dialog box select the Remarks tab.
- Type in the required comment or comments, for example “Office move planned within the next six months,” or “Rate CORP1 for all linked subs.”
Tip: If you want to insert a line break, simply press Enter.
- Do not forget to date-stamp your comment, since otherwise the information will become useless very quickly.
For adding the date, the time, your sales rep code, name or user login access the popup menu by clicking the right mouse-button and selecting the required stamp. You have the following options:
 |
17.10.21 17. Okt. 21 Dienstag, 17. Oktober 2021 10:29 10:29 10:29:52 AM 17.10.21 10:29:52 AM JS John Sales JSales JSales (990_HQ) – 17.10.2021/10:29 |
B2B Sales bases the date and time format on the Regional Options settings in the Control Panel.
Note: We recommend that you add your user ID plus the date with each remark to keep the information accurate and usable. For example, the user ID may be critical for tracing information with shared accounts that are uploaded to headquarters and distributed. Please also remember to update the date and user stamp when you modify comments in the Remarks box.
- When you have edited the comments about this account or added a new one, select Details or Options to continue editing the account detail or select Ok to save the changes and return to the account display.
If you want to abort your changes i.e., restore the details as they were before you accessed the Account dialog box, select Cancel.
Viewing/Editing the Options Tab for Accounts
From the Account edit screen, you can record and edit custom-specific fields by selecting the Options tab.
The Options tabs throughout B2B Sales are used to record and display information specifically required by the hotel or the hotel chain. They are configured during the installation of the program.
Note: All Options screens are set up individually according to the requirements of the hotel group during the configuration of the Sales system. Your screen will probably look completely different from our sample. If you are unsure about the information recorded here, please check with your manager.
Editing the Options tab:
- From the Account dialog box, select the Options tab.
B2B Sales displays the Options tab, which is also available for viewing as an individual tab on the account detail tab bar.
The Options tab contains custom-specific fields with information the hotel chain wants to record for each account. As this screen is user-definable, your display may differ completely from this example screenshot from our demo data.
If the fields do not fit on one page you will be able to scroll up and down by selecting the up and down arrows on the vertical scrollbar on the right side of the screen.
In our example, there are multiple pickboxes for recording special interests the account holds for the hotel chain and for the sales rep. - Enter or view the required information.
- When you have edited the custom-specific fields for this account, select Details or Remarks to continue editing the account detail or select Ok to save the changes and return to the account display.
If you want to abort your changes i.e., restore the details as they were before you accessed the Account dialog box, select Cancel.
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.