ESC is a database...
Over the last six (6) years, in utilizing ESC, I've found it extremely helpful to control the ability of other employees to input new customers, dispatches or other ESC capabilities. The reasoning is very simple...ESC is our main database and is the 'heart' of our organization. It's when all employees have full capacity to do whatever they'd like in ESC when I realized it truly is 'crap in is also crap out'.
I've many examples of this but one that still puts me in disbelief is one of our former employees would change the customer name within ESC if the customer moved out of that residence. What did they change it to? 'Resident'. So I can't tell you how many customers I have under the name of 'Resident' in my ESC database...and subsequently my QB.
So, with that example, I changed that protocol several years ago to leave the customer as-is until the new resident moved into location and then called us because of the stickers placed on their systems. Now we merge the new customer with the old to retain the customer history and then reference within the notes that as of a certain date this customer moved into the house. It greatly helps not only our internal tracking but our customer when we can discuss what's been done in the past prior to their home ownership.
That's just a small example of why it's important to maintain the integrity of your database. If you haven't already I'd highly suggest qualifying each employee and what responsibilities you allow them within ESC.
Just thought I'd share my thoughts...thanks!
Comments
Precisely. It is a never ending battle to get different people to enter data the same way, in the same formats, etc. But without that, your data searches, whether it be customer, parts, dispatches, etc. are crippled.
Cheers for the data enforcers!!!!
I can't count the number of databases I've "cleaned" over the years because of inconsistent and partial data entry.
It doesn't speak well of me, I know, but I once left grease smears across a co-workers desk to make a point. When she called to complain I pointed out that that was what she was doing to "my" database every day. When it finally clicked I got the "gee, no wonder you get so grumpy about it" line.
Data enforcers....I like that.
I have this issue where employees enter random information into email fields. Very annoying when marketing emails get kicked back for invalid addresses.
Have you tried to limit who has the authority to do such a thing or do you have such power?
Problem is that I really encourage everyone to enter all email addresses they encounter in day to day operations when dealing with customers. putting restrictions in place would discourage this and affect our marketing.
Understood but which 'evil' is worse? Perhaps reviewing a daily report/screen view under 'Customer Center' that, each morning when your drinking your coffee/Diet Dr. Pepper and/or Red Bull, you can do a quick review any new customers that were added? I do this just to ensure that we're consistent on entry.
Drew, that is an awesome idea!
Rebecca, you could setup a custom list view by going to Customer Info | Customer Center.
From here, click Active Customers in the top-left.
Then, click Add a Custom View (you're only setting this up once, and you'll be able to view it every day after this setup)
You'll have a Select Fields and a Filters tab.
In the Select Fields, you can keep most of the defaults that are checked off. But look for Contact Email 1 and any other relevant fields you might want to keep an eye on. Drew mentioned "new customers that were added" so be sure to also check off Date Added.
When you're done, give the List View a name and click OK.
Now, in your List View, you'll notice each column is titled with a Header. Look for the Email column and click on the Header.
This will Sort the List in ascending or descending. This is great for seeing what customers Do and Do Not have an email. Plus you can go through here and skim the list and see if their configured properly.
You can also, as Drew suggested, click on the Header for Date Added and this would show you all the new entries.
Hope that makes sense! I'll post a screenshot up tomorrow when I'm in the office.
I like it! Thanks.
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