Using the Contacts option you can display the contacts associated with your sales accounts and handle all contact-related functions. Contact persons are your links to an account or agent. Contacts are the people and decision-makers you deal with in your booking and contract negotiations, on the phone and for your visits.

In this article:

• Overview
• Accessing the List of Contacts
• Searching for the Required Contact
• Selecting a Contact
• Editing the Contact Details
• Maintaining Addresses of a Contact
• Viewing/Modifying the Address Details of a Contact
• Changing the Primary Address
• Adding/Editing Activities for a Contact

Overview

In B2B Sales there are two ways to access your contact records:

1. Via the Contacts menu. It lists the contacts for all your accounts.
2. Via the Account menu > Contacts tab option of a selected account. This list includes the contact(s) recorded for the presently selected account.

From the list of contacts in the Contacts menu you can:

• Locate the contact whose record you want to view or edit.
• Display and edit contact details including all available tab options.
• Add, view, and modify activities for contacts. Activities include letters, faxes, emails, contracts, etc.
• View campaigns that were sent to the contact.
• Change status of contacts to inactive to avoid contacting contact persons no longer in charge.

Additionally, the Contacts tab available from the Accounts menu provides the following functions:

• Maintain an overview of the contacts working for the presently selected account. See Accessing the Contacts Tab from the Accounts Menu
• Flag one of the contacts as primary contact for the presently selected account. See Setting a Primary Contact.
• Add a new contact person to a selected account. See Adding a New Contact. 

Note: In B2B Sales, contacts are always linked to a particular account. If you want to record a new contact, you need to access the account detail (from the Accounts/Agents menu) and select the Contacts tab from there.

You can carry out the options available for contacts

• By selecting the respective icons in the icon toolbar
• By selecting the function via the Action main menu or
• By accessing the context menu with a right mouse-click and proceeding from there.

Accessing the List of Contacts

You can access the list of contacts by using the main menu or by selecting the Contacts icon from the toolbar.

1. From the Goto main menu, select Contacts.
   
   Or select the Contacts icon from the icon toolbar.
   
   B2B Sales will display the list of contacts.

2. To proceed from here select the required option. You can:

• Filter the list of contacts.
• Search for (locate) a specific contact.
• Edit the entry of a contact.
• Change the status of an active contact to inactive and vice versa.

After selecting the Contacts option you see a list of contacts. Per default, the system displays all active contacts.

In all screens, the columns to the right side of the vertical bolded line can be configured individually to the requirements of the hotel chain. In this document, we describe the standard settings. Depending on your configuration the contents and the order of the columns may differ from what you see here.

The list of contacts includes contact persons recorded for the accounts of the selected sales representative. The entries are sorted alphabetically by last name.

You can use the scrollbars to scroll up and down in the list of contacts and to scroll to the right in order to display additional columns on the right side of the screen.

The columns in the list of contacts display

• The name of the contact,
• The primary sales representative in charge of the contact,
• City, address/PO box, phone, email, and fax number of the contact,
• The contact number, and the priority of the contact.

Below the list of contacts B2B Sales displays the contact details of the presently selected entry. Some contacts are marked in bold, others are highlighted in yellow.

Kind of Account	Formatting
Primary contact	Contact is marked in bold
Top-priority contact	Contact is highlighted in yellow

Searching for the Required Contact

B2B Sales offers various ways of locating a contact.
You can locate a contact by the following means:

• Quick Search:
  
  

  In the Quick Search field, type the first letter or letters of the entry you want to find.

  For example, if the name of the contact starts with “’Smith”, enter “Smith” into the Quick Search field. Or enter the entire name, for instance “Smith, John”.
  
• Additional search criteria via the Advanced Search Option. For details, see Advanced search options for contacts.
  
• Selection Filter, filter by contact status.
  
  
  • Active Contacts – All entries with the status Active.
  • All Changed Contacts – Contacts whose details were recently modified.
  • All Contacts – All contacts recorded for the accounts of the sales rep i.e., active plus inactive contacts. Inactive contacts are displayed in italics.
  • All New Contacts – All newly created contacts..
  • Inactive Contacts – All contacts whose status has been set to
  • Primary Contacts – the main person to deal with when working with this customer; display all contacts that have been set to Primary.
  • In addition, you can move from one entry to the next in the list with the up ­ and down cursor keys on the keyboard, or
  • Scroll through the alphabetical list of names by using the vertical scrollbar.

B2B Sales displays all contacts matching your selection filter.

Tip: Select Refresh to display hidden rows again.

• If you enter various search criteria B2B Sales displays all contacts matching the respective criteria combination.
• Double-clicking a row opens the entry you want so that you can view and edit all the information it contains. Alternatively, you can select the EDIT icon.

Advanced Search Options for Contacts – Description of Fields

Field	Description
Base Query	You can filter the list of contacts by contact status. Per default, B2B Sales will display all active contacts. Select the down arrow and select the required contact status. You have the following options. Active Contacts All Contacts Inactive Contacts All New Contacts All Changed Contacts
Sales Rep	Name of the sales rep whose contacts you want to display. Select the down arrow and select the required sales rep from the pickbox.
First Name	First name of the contact person.
Last Name	Last name of the contact person.
Address 1/Street	Name of the street where the contact is located.
Zip/City	Zip code and/or city where the contact is located.
Country/State	Country/State in which the contact is located.
Em zaail	Email address of the contact. This is very helpful, for instance, to locate all contacts sharing an email domain.
Example of a search: Last Name, Like	Enter “sch” in the Last Name field and select Like. B2B Sales will display all contacts containing the string “sch” anywhere in their last name.
Example of a search: Last Name, = City, =	a) Enter “Mayer” in the Last Name field and select =. b) Enter “Hamburg” in the City field and select =. B2B Sales will only locate contacts matching the exact spelling in your request, i.e. contacts in “Hamburg”, called “Mayer”.

Selecting and Editing a Contact

In order to view or modify the details of a specific contact person you first have to select the contact in the list of contacts.

1. Do one of the following:

• Select the Contacts
• Select the Accounts icon, select the required account, and then select the Contacts

2. From the list of contacts select the contact and select the Select icon
   or simply double-select the contact.
   B2B Sales displays the contact detail for the selected contact.
   
   The Contact detail displays the main address and contact information, including phone numbers, email address, postal address as well as any opt-outs.
   You can modify all data pertaining to this contact person (i.e., name, form and language of address, phone numbers, email, birthday, priority, job, influence, etc.)
   In the box in the bottom-left of the screen, you can view the primary address recorded for the contact person. If you want to change this address or view additional addresses recorded for the contact, select the Addresses tab.
   3. Fill in or modify the required information.
   4. Select the Addresses tab to modify additional addresses for the contact.
   5. Select the Options tab to modify additional custom-specific information pertaining to the contact.
   6. Select the Remarks tab to modify special comments pertaining to the contact.
   7. Select Ok to save the changes or Cancel to restore the previous settings.

From the contact detail, you have the following options:

• Edit the contact details including special tab options for recording and editing various Addresses, custom-specific fields (Options) or Remarks for the contact person – Select the Edit icon.
  
• View custom-specific information recorded for the contact – select Options icon.
• Add and modify activities for the contact – select the Activities icon.
• View campaigns that were sent to the contact – select the Campaigns icon.

Table: Contact details – description of fields

Field Name	Description
Name	Last name of the contact person. Make sure that you enter the correct spelling of the name.
First Name	First name of the contact person. If there is a middle name or initial, you can also add it here.
Language	Language used for corresponding with the contact. Select the down arrow and select the required language from the pickbox.
Salutation	Salutation used for the contact person. Select the down arrow and select the required salutation from the pickbox. The display will be based on the language you have selected. The system will display both the short and the long salutation for each pickbox entry (i.e., Mr./Dear Mr., Mrs./Dear Mrs.) After you have made your selection and selected the Tab key to proceed to the next field, the system will automatically fill in the subsequent two fields, Short Salutation and Long Salutation according to your selection.
Short Salutation	Short salutation used for the contact (used in the address, for example, Mr., Herr, Signore, or Monsieur). The system defaults this information from your selection in the Salutation field. If you want to use a different short salutation, you can overtype the entry.
Long Salutation	Long salutation used for the contact (used when addressing the contact in the letter, for example Dear Mr., Sehr geehrter Herr, etc.) The system defaults this information from your selection in the Salutation field. If you want to use a different, for example, a more personal long salutation, you can overtype the entry. Please try to be consistent though. It may sound very awkward if you send a formal campaign with a personal form of address to your contact.
Special Title	Title used for the contact. This field is used for academic titles (used in countries such as Austria and Germany and printed on the address label; not used for the long salutation), such as Dipl. Ing., Magister, etc. Fill in the title, if required.
Address Type	This field displays the address type recorded for the primary address i.e., the address that is displayed in the address box below this field. Additional addresses can be added and viewed from the Address tab. You have the following options: Business address Other address 1 Other address 2 PO box address Private address
Invalid Address checkbox	Select the Invalid checkbox (next to the Address Type field), if the respective address is not supposed to be used for mailing correspondence or is not valid. The integrated address check automatically marks the address as INVALID i.e., selects the checkbox, if the address field is empty or if the address check has found this address to be invalid.
Address box (Read only)	This box displays the primary address recorded for the contact person. It is displayed in the form in which the system will print the address on a campaign label. The primary address is used for all displays and for all correspondence with the contact. If you want to change the primary address or add other addresses for the contact select the Addresses tab. Which fields are included in the address label depends on the address type used (for example, the system will include the account name for the business address and just print the contact name for the private address). In addition, you can include the Department name and/or the Job title of the contact person by selecting the respective checkboxes next to the corresponding fields (at the bottom right in the Contact detail) and by filling the respective description fields underneath.
Main Phone	Main telephone number for the contact. B2B Sales automatically defaults the phone number recorded in the account detail (usually the switchboard.) Make sure that you include the area code and (where applicable) the country code for the contact.
Fax	Main fax number for the account. B2B Sales will automatically default the fax number from the account detail. However, you can overtype the entry. Make sure that you include the area code and (where applicable) the country code for the fax number.
Direct Phone	Second phone number of the contact. Usually, you will use the Main Phone field to record the switchboard number of the account and the Direct Phone field to record the complete number, including the extension (!) of the contact. If the contact has provided other phone numbers, as he/she does not work from the office, you can use the fields to record these numbers.
Mobile	Mobile phone number of the contact. Fill in where applicable.
Email	Email address of the contact. B2B Sales Campaign uses this field for sending campaigns. Please take extra care to avoid typos here.
Invalid Email checkbox	The Invalid Email checkbox (next to the Email field) can be set to Invalid manually. The integrated address check, however, also automatically marks the email as INVALID i.e., selects the checkbox, if the email field is empty or if the email address (syntax or domain) is not correct.
Priority	Importance of the contact. Type in the priority or select the down arrow and select the required priority from the pickbox. This can be based on various factors. The Managing Director of a company may receive a high priority, even though he/she will not be the person booking room nights. Mark crucial contacts with “Top,” important contacts with “High,” etc.
Influence	Influence the contact holds at the company (i.e., none is the default, decision-maker, consultant, etc.) Select the down arrow and select the level of influence from the pickbox.
Birthday	Birthday of contact person. Should always be filled in if known.
Opt-out fields	The opt-out checkboxes are used to exclude one or more contacting options for the customer. They translate to
Do not Email	Do not send emails.
Do not Mail	Do not mail (i.e. send regular mail to my address).
Do not Call	Do not call.
Department	Department in which the contact person is working. Select the down arrow and select the department from the pickbox, for example Accounting.
Free-entry field	If the company uses a different name for the department or if you want the department information to be added to the address, you can enter the exact term here.
Print checkbox	You can include the department name in the address label by selecting the Print checkbox and filling the exact text in the free-entry field next to it. The address box at the bottom left of the screen will be updated accordingly.
Job	Job the contact holds at the company. Select the down arrow and select the respective job from the pickbox.
Free-entry field	If the company uses a different job title for the job of the contact person, you can enter the exact term here.
Print checkbox	You can include the job title of the contact in the address label by selecting the Print checkbox and filling the exact text in the free-entry field next to it. The address box at the bottom left will be updated accordingly.
SalesRep	Displays the name of the primary sales rep.
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 contact and the last edit date, the creation date of the contact, the respective user ID, and the primary sales representative for the contact.

Maintaining Addresses of a Contact

From the Contact detail there is an extra Addresses tab for editing and changing the various addresses of a contact and for setting a primary address used for campaigns.

1. From the Contact detail select the Addresses tab.
   B2B Sales displays the addresses recorded for this contact.
   
   B2B Sales displays all addresses recorded for the contact person sorted alphabetically by address type. The current primary address (i.e., the address displayed in the contact detail and used for campaigns) is marked in bold. In the column on the right you can see the address type (business address, private, other, etc.) In the box at the bottom left the system displays the currently highlighted address in the format that it would print on an address label.

2. To proceed from here select the required option. You can:

• Add a new address by selecting the New button. Description of available fields.
  
  
• Modify an existing address by selecting the address and selecting Edit.
• Set a primary address by selecting the address and selecting the Set Primary.
• Delete an existing address by selecting the address and selecting the Delete.

3. Select Ok to save the information or Cancel to restore the previous settings.
   B2B Sales returns to the Addresses tab and displays the changes or the new address in the list of addresses.

4. Select the Options tab if you want to view or modify optional custom-specific information recorded for each contact.
5. Select the Remarks tab if you want to modify special comments pertaining to the contact person.
6. Select Ok when you are done.
   B2B Sales displays the entire contact detail again.

Table with contact address details - available fields

Field Name	Description
Address Type	You can record various addresses for each contact person and assign corresponding address types. B2B Sales offers the following options: Business address Other address 1 Other address 2 PO Box address Private address Select the down arrow and select the required address type from the pickbox.
Country	Country in which the contact is located. Type in the country name or select the down arrow and select the required country from the pickbox.
State	State in which the contact is located. Type in the state or select the down arrow and select the required state from the pickbox. The choices available in the pickbox 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 i.e., inactive.
ZIP Code	ZIP code of the contact address.
City	City in which the contact is located. For some countries B2B Sales may default the city name from the ZIP code you have entered and will fill this field automatically.
Address 1/PO Box	Street address for the contact. This field should contain the street and the number. Some large companies have their own ZIP code. In this case, the street is not required for written correspon­dence. However, you should always record it, if available, as you may need it for visits. In these cases record it in the Remarks box since otherwise the street and Zip code check will come up with a mismatch. If the address type is a PO Box address, then enter the PO Box in the Address1/PO Box field.
Address 2/3	Use the second and third additional address fields, where required, for instance to record the building name and/or number, and/or floor or suite number for the contact. Only required for some addresses.
Info Fields: Last/ Created	These read-only fields are for information only and cannot be edited. They display the user ID of the person who last edited the address and the last edit date, the creation date of the address and the respective user ID.

Changing the Primary Address

On the Addresses tab of the Contact dialog box, you can change the primary address of a contact. The primary address is used for all correspondence with the contact. B2B Sales displays the address in the form it will print on an address label for a campaign.

Note: You can only set a new primary address if you have recorded several addresses.

1. In the Contact detail, select the Addresses tab.
2. Select the Set Primary button.
   
   On the confirmation message select Yes to set the new primary address; select No to leave the existing primary address. In the list of addresses the primary address is marked in bold.

Adding/Editing Activities for a Contact

Activities are tasks or reminders for tasks that you need to carry out by a certain time. Whenever you first access B2B Sales the system displays your activity screen with all activities that are due today and open and activities from previous days that are still open.

Activities in B2B Sales always have to be linked to an account and a contact. Therefore, before adding an activity you first have to select the contact person toward whom the activity is targeted.

Adding/editing activities:

1. From the contact detail, select the Activities tab.
   B2B Sales displays the list of activities recorded for the respective contact person.
   

In the top-left corner of the screen B2B Sales displays the name of the contact person and in the right-hand corner the name of the account. In the top-right corner of the screen B2B Sales displays the name of the account.

Note: Selecting the account name brings you directly to the account detail screen with the available account tab options.

The columns in the list of activities displays the activity type, the status of the activity (open, in progress, done) and a short description of the task. If there are file attachments, B2B Sales indicates this by a clip sign in the Attachment column. In addition, you will see the sales rep code, the date by which the activity should be carried out, the done date if the activity has already been resolved, and the result of the activity.

2. To proceed from here select the required option. You can:

• Create a new activity – select the New icon (or select the option via the popup menu). The system displays the activity type selection.
  
• Modify existing activities for the selected contact person – highlight the activity and select the Edit icon (or select the right mouse-button and select the required option from the popup menu).
• Delete an activity – select the Delete icon (or select the option via the popup menu).