Flashbay:Office Staff Manual
Office Staff Manual
Sales Staff Manual
Technical Manual
The technical manual provides a useful guide to common IT problems. Sales people may refer to chapters marked (Advanced) but these are mainly intended for more technical staff.
If you have any suggestions for additions to the technical manual, or if you need clarification on any of the contents, please email Steve, Technical Director, in the first instance.
Your Workstation (hardware)
This chapter will serve as an introduction to your workstation. As we have many different roles within Flashbay it will be possible that there will be slight variations between the details provided here and your own personal desktop setup, this is not a cause for concern as the basic principles will be the same.
The standard sales person workstation includes a PC, 2 screens and a wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
Your computer
The vast majority of our computer systems are provided by Dell™. The Operating system in most cases Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (also known as Win XP Pro SP2). Some users may have Microsoft Windows Vista Business and this system will become more common in years to come as our computers are upgraded and replaced.
Performance
All staff computers are configured for high perfomance and are monitored to ensure that they are suitably fast to support the range of applications that you need to use to perform your daily tasks.
If you have any issues with the performance of your computer please contact a member of the IT team.
Power management and efficiency
As a Carbon Neutral company it is important that Flashbay manages the amount of electricity we use to power our IT hardware, you can help by doing the following things:
1) Configure your screens to go to 'sleep' after 10 minutes
- Right click on desktop and choose 'Properties' - In the 'Display Properties' box that pops up choose the 'Screen Saver' tab - At the bottom of the tab click on the 'Power...' button - In the 'Power Options Properties' set the following values: -- Turn off monitor = After 10 mins -- Turn off hard disks = Never -- System standby = Never -- System hibernates = Never
2) Shut down your computer when you finish work in the evening
- Click 'Start' menu and choose 'Turn Off Computer' or ' Shut down' - Click the 'Turn Off' icon or select 'Shut down' from the menu (If there is an option that mentions installing updates then please choose this as it will help ensure that your computer software is kept current and free from errors)
Your screens
You are provided with high quality screens that enable you to display a large number of applications at the same time. Sales people are provided with 2 screens, while other users may only be provided with a single screen.
Working with 2 screens
When you are provided with 2 screens there are a number of things you can do to ensure that this enhances your productivity key points to consider include:
- Try dedicating the right hand screen to your most used application, either Netsuite or Outlook, and then using the left hand screen for all your other tasks. This allows you to easily view and access your most used application and will save you wasting time switching through windows to get to the information that you need.
- Ensure that your screens are positioned correctly so that you can view them without straining your eyes and neck. Adjust the orientation and height of the screens to minimize reflections and ensure that you can comfortably view the image.
- Ensure that your start menu and task bar appear on the left hand screen as this should be your primary screen.
- Ensure that when you move your mouse off the right hand edge of the left hand screen it appears on the left hand edge of the right hand screen.
- Also consider using the time saving tips shown in the section below on working with 1 screen.
Contact a member of the technical team if you need assistance implementing any of these points.
Working with 1 screen
When you work with 1 screen it is important that you are able to quickly move between the applications that you are using to find the information that you need. Consider these tips:
- Only keep open applications that you are actively using. This reduces the amount of clutter on your screen and will also make your computer faster.
- To quickly switch between applications hold down the Alt key and press Tab. This can be used to cycle through all your open applications. Repeatedly pressing tab moves the selector to the next application. Releasing the Alt key brings the selected application to the front. (Advanced: Alt + Tab + Shift cycles the list in reverse)
- To quickly hide all applications and show your desktop press the Windows key + the letter D at the same time.
Your keyboard and mouse
You should have a keyboard that matches your primary communications language, if you do not then please raise this with a member of the technical team and one will be ordered for you. You should also have a mouse mat to ensure that your on-screen cursor moves in a predictable and accurate manner, if you do not then please raise this with a member of office support staff and one will be ordered for you.
If your keyboard and mouse are connected to your computer by a wire you should never experience a problem, if you do this can usually be fixed by unplugging the USB connector and plugging it back in.
If you have a Bluetooth wireless keyboard and / or mouse then there can sometimes be issues that you should know how to address:
1) Keyboard / mouse batteries are low
If the icon on the keyboard / mouse flashes red or you get a warning message on your screen you will need to change the batteries. Take care to insert the batteries in the correct orientation.
2) Keyboard / mouse does not respond
Plug in one of our backup wired keyboards / mice and ask a member of the technical team to reconnect your wireless keyboard / mouse when they become available.
Your Workstation (software)
Web browser - Mozilla Firefox 3
Our company web browser is Mozilla Firefox and you should use this to access all Flashbay specific pages including, but not limited to, the Flashbay website, this manual, the sample order page and the price list tool.
Firefox allows you to open multiple tabs in a single browser window by pressing CTRL + T and this can greatly reduce the amount of windows open on your PC at any one time.
Occasionally you may find that a customer website will not open correctly in Firefox, in this case you should use Internet Explorer which you will find installed on your PC.
Email - Microsoft Outlook
Our company email client is Microsoft Outlook 2007. It is installed on your workstation and you should use this for all email and calendar management.
Email signatures are centrally managed and distributed to your computer automatically when you log on in the morning. If no signature shows when you start to compose a message, or the details given in the signature are incorrect, then you should contact a member of the technical team.
Proper and efficient mailbox management is a extremely important as it is crucial that you can quickly locate and sort through past customer communication. For this reason you should maintain a system of alphabetical folders inside which you can create folders for individual customers. You can then uses these individual customer folders to store all relevant communication (both sent and received) with contacts at that organisation.
Instant messenger - Skype
Our company instant messenger (IM) is Skype. This software can be used for both voice and text chats and we use it almost exclusively for the latter. If you are using a headset you may occasionally use the voice functionality to contact Phil in China.
You should never use skype to contact customers, either by voice or text chat. Additionally, please do not add personal contacts to the contact list of your work related Skype account.
Sales Trainee Check List
Flashbay Trainee Check List
Day 1
Welcome
Meet Colleagues, Tour of Office
Meet Directors (UK only)
Introduction to Office policies: lunch, breaks, keys
Administrative formalities
Employment Contract, Confidentiality Agreement
Address, Contact Details, Bank Account details collected
Introduction to Phone
Practise making, receiving, transferring demo calls.
Show how to use buttons for company extensions directory
Introduction to Zimbra
Login, Email compose, Spell check, Creating folders, Email signature, Sharing folders, Filters, Tags, Out of office message
Setup A-Z Email Folder Organisation and follow-up organisation
Introduction to Website
Product familiarisation (alongside real sample pack and accessories)
Learn FAQs
Tour of Online Customer Centre (tester@flashbay.com, password: tester)
Introduction to Employee Centre on website
Introduction to Sales Manual
Allow 2 hour for initial read (continual refresh required over 1st week)
Stage by stage analysis of the Sales Cycle
Introduction to CRM Software - NetSuite
Understand Relationship between record types: Customer/Lead, Contact, Sales Order, Invoice, Virtual Proof
How to see own customer/lead list
List views, list editing, sorting by column header, sort using filters
Creating customer, contact, sales order
Procedure to send samples, sample allowance
Understand how adding contact records enables user to login to Customer Centre
Virtual Proofs, Branding Methods and Image Formats
What is virtual Proof and how to request
Guide to Image formats. What is Resolution? How to check resolution? What is Vector file?
Deep understanding of branding methods: screen printing, engraving, photo printing, embossing
Day 2
Case Study: Replying to an example web lead with quote and virtual proof
Price list generator
Understanding of Lead times
Use of Auto text (pros and cons)
Duplicate Checking
Pricing strategies - price levels, reseller vs. final customer
Introduction to Back End processes
What happens at the Factory, Shipment schedules, the Shipment and Order Status e-mail.
Payment Terms , Credit Application, Payment Chasing
Introduction to Flashbay Sales Concepts
MDAR - enforced from week 2
MPR - enforced from 2nd Month
15 minute web lead policy
Every call followed by Email policy
Understand Follow-up stages and frequency
(Preparation: Trainer must arrange assignment of 9 month old web leads with James. Qty: 50 to 500 )
Day 3 to 5
Real Work: Order generation from 9 month old web leads
Review lead history in NetSuite (e.g. price, virtual proof, sample, status)
Devise Organisational procedure for campaign
Gain experience of calling customers (web leads to be called individually)
Gain experience of email wiring (all calls to be accompanied by email)
Real Work: Prospecting and Cold Calling
Trainee to indentify 50 potential new prospects (via web search) to generate leads and orders
Trainee should review sales manual article: How to be a better sales person.
Day 5
Meeting with trainee and trainer, feedback and suggestions exchanged
Week 2
Start as a real sales person
Depending on the progress made during week one and on the outcome of the 'End of Week One meeting', the trainees' lead list may be supplemented by 'New Web Leads' from the Flashaby website
The special two-week trial period ends and there will be another End of Week Two meeting with the trainee. During this meeting general feedback will be given and suitability for the position will be evaluated.
Wiki Guidline
Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.
