Frequently Asked Questions - Relationship Management

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Q.  What is the Contact Manager?

The Contact Manager is the application within SPS that enables you to manage the profiles of organizations and people with which your organization interacts.   All of the information relating to these organizations and individuals is in one place.   With just a few clicks you can access complete details such as specific characteristics, correspondence history, transaction history, etc.  

For more information, please view these additional resources.

Online Manual - Contact Manager    

Q.  How do I add a contact?

Adding a contact in the Contact Manager is easy.   Just follow these steps.

1.  at the main menu, click on Contact Manager
2.  choose the category in which you wish to place the new contact using the context menu in the upper, left-hand corner
3.  click on the New button
4.  enter the new contacts information and click Save

For more information, please view these sections of the online manual.

Contact Manager     Adding a contact

Q.  Can I customize the information I keep regarding contacts?

Yes.   Within the Contact Manager is a tab labeled Attributes.    Custom fields that you define are placed on this tab.   Custom fields are defined using the Contact Attributes™ customization tool.  

For more information, please view these sections of the online manual.

Contact Attributes™     Defining contact Attributes™     Attributes and Categories

Q.  Can I create different custom fields for different contacts?

Yes.   Each category of contacts can have its own set of custom fields.  

For more information, please view this section of the online manual.

Defining contact Attributes™

Q.  How do I add a note or comment to a contact's profile?

You can add a note to a contact's profile by selecting the contact in the Contact Manager and clicking the Notes button.   Notes may also be added from the Activities tab of the Contact Manager.   To add a note to a contact via the Activities tab, open the contact in the Contact Manager and click on the Activities tab.   Choose Notes - Comments from the list on the left and click the New button.  

For more information, please view this section of the online manual.

Contact Manager - Notes and Comments     Comment Categories

Q.  Can everyone see my comments?

Comments are viewable by anyone in a group that has ownership privileges for that category of comments.   Sensitive or confidential comments should be placed in a category of comments with restricted ownership.  

For more information, please view these sections of the online manual.

Comment Categories     Category Ownership

Q.  Can I organize my comments?

Yes. Comments can be organized by creating additional comment categories.

For more information, please view these sections of the online manual.

Comment Categories     Contact Manager - Notes and Comments

Q.  How can I see multiple comments at once?

Open the contact in the Contact Manager.   Click on the Activities tab.   Choose the category of comments from the list on the left.   Click on the Report button to obtain a report showing all comments in the chosen category.  

For more information, please view this section of the online manual.

Contact Manager - Notes and Comments

Q.  How do I search for contacts?

SPS provides powerful search capabilities.   You can use the quick search feature on the primary screen of the Contact Manager to perform a search by name.   This feature supports wildcard searches such that a search term of "*son*" would find "Smith, Sonny", "Peterson, John" and "Johnson, Frank".   You can choose to search in an upward direction from the currently highlighted contact by clicking on the up arrow.   You can choose to search in a downward direction from the currently highlighted contact by clicking on the down arrow.

For a more advanced search, click on the Find button located on the primary screen of the Contact Manager.   You will be prompted to search companies or inidividuals.   On the General tab you can specify standard contact information.    On the Attributes tab you can specify custom field information.    Only the fields that you modify are considered in your search.    Enter the desired search information and click the Ok button.    A list of matching contacts will replace the standard list of contacts in the Contact Manager primary screen.

To return to the standard list of contacts, click the Refresh button.

For more information, please view this section of the online manual.

Contact Manager - Advanced Search

Q.  Does SPS provide a mail merge utility?

Yes, SPS provides a powerful, yet easy to use, mail merge utility.    The mail merge functionality of SPS integrates the Contact Manager with SPS Documents.   You can create a document within SPS and place special tags that relate to contact information such as name, address, etc.    To create a merged document, you simply choose the contact in the Contact Manager and click the Merge button.   You will be presented with a list of documents.   Choose the desired document or merge template.   In the lower, left-hand corner of the dialog you can choose the destination of the merged documents.   Your choices include:

• opening the merged document in a new window from which it can be printed,
• opening the merged document as an email which can be readily sent, or
• opening the merged document as a new document for storage within SPS.

For more information, please view the following resources.

Online Manual - Contact Manager - Mail Merge     Online Manual - Documents

Online Manual - Documents - Mail Merge    

Q.  Can I send an email from within the Contact Manager?

Yes.   To send an email from the Contact Manager, simply choose the contact and click the Email button.   An email composition window will open and the contact's email address will be automatically placed in the To: field.

For more information, please view this section of the online manual.

Contact Manager - Quick Email

Q.  How can I get a quick report on a single contact?

To get a quick report on a contact, choose the contact in the Contact Manager and click the Detail button.