Method Community

Hello,

Where can I find a paper or video about the best process flow for Method? There are some in-depth videos about how to use each feature in Method, but I'm looking for something that shows how to use all the features together. For example, Biff the sales guy gets someone's card at a networking event. So he enters this person into Method, but technically it's not the person, but the person's company that becomes a new lead, because the person is actually a contact. However, it seems like unless this person is the Accounts Payable person at the company, we can't enter them as the primary contact for this lead, because if we log a bunch of notes and activities with them, it will then be assigned to the AP person when we finally bill them for a job and change the name of the primary contact so that the invoice has the right person's name on it. Then Biff and the person talk about a potential job, which gets entered as an opportunity. Then there are activities, which seemingly could apply to either an opportunity or a lead, and estimates, which also could be associated with either one. At some point, the lead becomes a Customer:Job in QuickBooks, but how do you get from a lead+opportunity+estimate+etc. to a Customer:Job and not just a Customer? Also, what happens with opportunities if we're doing a new job with an existing customer? If you could point me to a document or video that shows how all of this fits together, that would be really helpful.

Thanks,
Owen

Hi Owen,

barstone:

Where can I find a paper or video about the best process flow for Method?

There are no papers or videos that outline the entire process flow with Method right now.  There is documentation in the works but until released I can explain our stock process a little more.  Method allows you to track the entire process (from lead to customer to billing) in one system.

barstone:

At some point, the lead becomes a Customer:Job in QuickBooks, but how do you get from a lead+opportunity+estimate+etc. to a Customer:Job and not just a Customer?

Just a quick clarification above, a lead will always convert to a customer record unless you add the lead as a job of customer when entering their info.  On the new lead screen under the additional information checkbox you have the option to select which job of customer this lead is for.  If that's not checked when converting the record you'll end up with a new customer.

Leads
When you meet a new lead, you’ll add them to Method from the Leads > New Lead tab. We provide handy web forms and a batch import tool to add leads in a more automated way. With new leads added in Method you’ll want to classify them based on their lead status (open, qualified and unqualified) and lead rating (hot, warm and cold). When making contact either by phone, email or in person you’ll want to make an activity for each of those events. In addition to activities you’ll want to utilize opportunities to track the potential sale through your process.

Activities
Activities live with the lead record permanently and will transfer over to customer record if your lead makes a purchase. Activities can and should be set with a follow-up so you don’t lose touch with the potential customer. The beauty of Method CRM is the follow-up process is automated and will email or send SMS reminders to your staff depending on their settings.

Opportunities
When your lead shows interest in a product or service you’ll want to create an opportunity to track the potential sale. Opportunities allow you assign a dollar value, closing date, issue invoices or estimates and track activities for your potential sale.

Conversion to Customer (or Customer:Job)
If your lead is ready to buy then there are several ways they can be converted into a customer. From the edit lead screen we provide a Convert to Customer button, this will take the lead information and convert them to a customer in Method. This process also initiates a sync to QuickBooks with the customer record. This can be done without an opportunity associated with it if you wish.

A lead can also be turned into a customer when an opportunity is won.  Method CRM automatically converts the lead into a customer and initiates a sync with QuickBooks when you close an opportunity as won.

Lastly on invoices and estimates there’s a checkbox called Wait for sync approval. When this is checked (by default for all leads) the invoice or estimate will not sync with QuickBooks, it'll live only in Method.  As soon and you uncheck this box the lead will be converted to a customer and the invoice or estimate will sync over to QuickBooks.

barstone:

Also, what happens with opportunities if we're doing a new job with an existing customer?

Opportunities are very useful for existing customers if you require multiple estimates, invoices or activities before the actual sale.  Opportunities allow you to see your pitch stages at a glance (prospecting, negotiation, qualification, etc.) and the potential sale amount in the pipeline from the home dashboard.  All contact with your customer through an opportunity is tracked as an activity which allows you to set reminder follow-ups for your salespeople.  The goal while using opportunities is to never lose track of a potential sale and to gain intelligence at the closing stage on how a job was either won or lost.

While a little long winded  I hope this helps you understand our process a little more.  Please let me know if you have any questions on our process.

~C

Hi Chad,

Thanks so much for your detailed reply. I made a flowchart showing what I understood from your info. We do everything by Customer : Job even if a customer only has one job, so I have a step where we rename the Lead to a Lead : Job when they express interest in working with us. Does this look correct? Or should I keep the Lead and add a new Lead : Job, and then sync them both to QuickBooks when we close a deal?

Thanks for your help.

Hi,

You wouldn't have to rename the lead.  What you should do is edit the Lead, and you'll see a section for Additional Info.  In this section there will be a dropdown box where you can link the lead to a job.

You could still rename the Lead if you wish, but it's important to link the Lead to a Job using the dropdown box.

- Adam

I may be missing something, but I'm pretty sure the Job of Customer box specifies the Customer, not the Job. Say for example I have a Lead called "Bob's Company" and Bob tells me he'd like to work with me. If I open "Bob's Company" and go to the Job of Customer box and type "Bob's Job", it gives me an error saying "Error on Save. The ParentFullName DropDown containing Bob's Job, is not a selectable value", presumably because there's no Lead called "Bob's Job" to assign this to. However... I just created a new Lead called "Bob's Job" and assigned it to "Bob's Company", and it appears that "Bob's Company" and "Bob's Job" have collapsed into a single Lead called "Bob's Company:Bob's Job". Is this normal? It's totally fine if it is, but I just want to know how it works.

Sorry for the mix up.  It is the other way around.

- Adam