Finding and converting prospect records

Finding prospect records is similar to finding customer records. The only difference is you must enable the Include acquisitions in search option on the Search window. Once you find a prospect record, you have the option to convert it to an iMIS customer record.

Customer records in iMIS sort by last name and then first name if there is a last name. Otherwise, records sort by company. When you include prospect in your search and the system finds duplicate names, the iMIS record displays first in the list.

To find a prospect record

1.  From Customers, select Manage customers.

2.  Open the Search window:

□    Click Find; or

□    Press Ctrl+F

Note: You can press Ctrl+F to open the Search window (perform a Find) only when the Manage customers window is not in edit mode and you are not in a single-instance, user-defined tab.

3.  Select the search criteria from the drop-down list, for example, Name.

4.  Enter the search value in the Begins with field, for example, c.

5.  Enable the Include acquisitions in search option to include acquisitions from the Prospect table in the search.

Note: The Include acquisitions in search option is retained on a per-user basis.

6.  Click Go. The Results tab is updated.

To convert a prospect record to a Name record

Once you find a prospect record, you have the option to convert the record to a customer record. When a prospect record does not already have an iMIS ID assigned, the data in the prospect record is automatically imported into the Name table and all associated tables in the same manner as when a new customer record is entered. If the prospect record already has an iMIS ID assigned, the existing Name record associated with the prospect is used. If a prospect record is converted to a customer record during an iMIS operation (for example, when entering a gift or order) and the operation is cancelled, the new customer Name record is retained. Once a prospect record is converted to a customer Name record, the process cannot be reversed.

Note: You must have a Customers authorization level of 3 or higher to convert a prospect record to a customer Name record.

Note: When a prospect record is converted to a customer Name record, the ID number is automatically assigned regardless of the setting of the Auto Assign Member Numbers option on the Customer Setup - Basic Options window.

Duplicate checking for a prospect functions in the same manner as duplicate checking for customers. When you select a prospect record for conversion, a window displays if a duplicate record exists. You can perform the conversion or cancel it.

After you import a prospect record into iMIS, the prospect record is flagged with the associated iMIS ID and cannot be accessed by a Find operation unless an ID search on the prospect ID is performed.

1.  From Customers, select Manage customers.

2.  Open the Search window:

□    Click Find; or

□    Press Ctrl+F

3.  Select your search criteria.

4.  Enable the Include acquisitions in search option and click Go.

5.  Double-click a prospect record to convert. The record loads in the Manage customers window in Edit mode.

6.  Make any necessary changes to the record.

7.  Click Save.