Masters

1Overview #

Every list you pick from on a lead or a deal lives here: the stages that are your sales process, the sources that tell you where business comes from, the lost reasons that tell you why you lose it, and six more.

These lists are small, but they decide what every report can say. A CRM where half the leads have no source, or where three people typed three spellings of the same industry, cannot answer the questions you bought it for.

Pick the master at the top; the cards on the left are its rows, and the form on the right is the one you are editing.

2Who it is for #

• Set up the stages of your sales process, in order, each with its probability.
• Agree the lead sources, lead types, industries, territories and contact categories everyone will use.
• Keep the lost reasons short enough that people choose honestly.
• Retire a row you no longer want offered, without disturbing the records that already use it.

3What it is not for #

• Products, ledgers or employees. Those are the ERP's own masters.
• Users, groups or rights. Those live in Admin and User Permissions.

4Step by step #

1. Pick the Master at the top of the toolbar. - The heading and the description below it change to that list.
2. Search or click a card on the left to load a row; double-click (or Enter) to modify it.
3. Press Add (F3) for a new row, give it a Name, and fill in whatever that master asks for. - Stages ask for order, probability and the Won / Lost switches; lead sources ask for a channel; activity types ask for a kind.
4. Save (F5). - The cached lists are dropped at once, so every screen sees the new row immediately.
5. To retire a row, switch Inactive on - or press Delete and let the screen decide. - A row nobody has used is removed; a row in use is made inactive instead.

5The fields #

• The ten masters - Pick one at the top; each holds a name, a description and an Inactive switch, plus the extras listed here.
• Stages - Where a deal can stand - the board's columns, in order, each with its probability. The board, the funnel, the pipeline and the forecast. Extras: Order, Probability %, Means Won ?, Means Lost ?
• Lost Reasons - Why deals are lost - asked whenever one moves to a Lost stage. The Lost reasons report.
• Lead Sources - Where enquiries come from, each with the channel it arrives by. Leads by source; with lead intake, the first-response target per source. Extra: Channel
• Lead Types - Your own classification of enquiries. Lead lists and reports.
• Industries - The line of business of a lead or contact. Renaming one renames it everywhere it is used. The board bands and filters by it.
• Territories - The sales territories leads and contacts fall in. Reports and sharing by territory.
• Contact Categories - Your own grouping of contacts. Bulk-message audiences.
• Activity Types - The kinds of follow-up - call, visit, demo. Kind decides what counts as an appointment on the calendar. Extra: Kind
• Product Classes - Classes of product a customer asks about. Groups the product lines on leads and deals.
• Applications - What products and services are used for. Groups the product lines.
• The fields of a row
• Name - What the pick-lists and the reports show. Renaming changes it everywhere at once. Up to 50 characters, unique within that master
• Channel - Lead sources only: how enquiries from this source arrive - Manual, Phone, WalkIn, Web, Email, Referral, Import, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp. "Leads by source and channel" groups by it; a lead takes its source's channel. Ten choices; Manual when none fits
• Kind - Activity types only: Call, Visit, Meeting, Demo, Mail or Task. The Follow-up dialog opens on the first Call type; Visit, Meeting and Demo become calendar appointments. Six choices
• Order - Stages only: the board shows its columns smallest first. Leave gaps (10, 20, 30) so a stage can be slotted in later. 0 or more
• Probability % - Stages only: the chance of winning given to a deal entering this stage. The weighted pipeline. Fixed at 100 for Won and 0 for Lost. 0 to 100
• Means Won ? - Stages only: this stage closes a deal as won. Entering it stamps the closing date and cancels what was planned. Keep exactly one
• Means Lost ? - Stages only: this stage closes a deal as lost. Entering it asks for the lost reason. Keep exactly one
• Description - What the row is for. Up to 512 characters
• Inactive ? - Retires the row. It leaves the pick-lists for new entries and stays on the records that already use it. Switch

6Rules and integrity #

• Names are unique within a master - Two lead sources cannot both be called "Website" - which is the point of having the list.
• A stage cannot be both Won and Lost - And a deal that enters either is closed. Keep exactly one of each.
• Delete means retire when the row is in use - The confirmation tells you how many records use it, and whether it will be removed or made inactive.
• Saving clears the cached lists - Every open screen picks up the change without a reload.
• Rights are the tables' own - This screen adds no second gate: the database's permission triggers decide who may add, change or delete, and their message is shown exactly as they wrote it.
• A row can be created without leaving your work - Most lists on the lead, contact and deal screens have Create new ... at their foot, which opens this master in a dialog and picks the new row for you.

7Shortcut keys #

• F3 - Add.
• F4 - Modify.
• F5 - Save.
• Esc - Cancel the edit; in view mode it closes the tab.
• Arrows / Enter - Move through the cards; Enter modifies the picked one.

8If something does not work #

9For an administrator #

• Do this first - Agree the stages, sources, types, industries, territories and lost reasons before people start entering leads. Renaming later is easy; un-mixing free text is not.
• Rights - The CRM master tables' own permission triggers decide. The default template grants View only, so an administrator must grant the master rights to whoever keeps these lists.