| Mail Merge Wizard Revisited | CarpetMaster To Become Profit Master | New Product Announcement | |
| Updated Distributor List | Trouble in Paradise | New E-Mail Addresses | Tech Tips |
Since our last Newsletter we have received many calls regarding the compatibility of the Mail Merge Wizard for Microsoft
ã Word 97. As the name implies, this Wizard can only be used with Word 97. It was specifically written to interface with Word 97 and it will not work with any other word processors.However, the Wizard can be used with any version of ProfitMaster, whether DOS or Windows, 5.1 or 5.5.
For those of you that do not have Word 97 you can still use ProfitMaster and your word processor to perform a Mail Merge. There are basically two things needed to do a Mail Merge. A document (the message you want to send) and a data source (the people you want to send it to).
To create the data source run the Mail Merge option in ProfitMaster (Do this by clicking the File Menu then Open then Customer & Billing Records. From the File Menu choose Print, then Mail Merge).
Next, open your word processor and consult its Help file for instructions on how to create a mail merge document. Follow the instructions provided in your word processing program for creating the merge document.
At some point in the process it will ask you to merge your document with the source or data file.
This file was already created when you did the Mail Merge in ProfitMaster. It will be found in the same directory ProfitMaster is located in and is called Export.txt. In most cases it will be located in your C:\>Master directory.
With a little bit of tinkering you should be able to perform this simple but powerful process.
If you don't have the time, and if you want to take all the guess work out of this, go ahead and upgrade to Word 97 and use our Mail Merge Wizard.
You may have noticed that Pacific Waves comes personally addressed to you with a customized greeting. If you wonder how we add this effect, it is through a Mail Merge! As you can see it adds a nice Professional, Personalized touch to our Newsletter which you too can do with mailings to your own customers!
CarpetMaster To Become ProfitMaster
We have decided to change the name of CarpetMaster to ProfitMaster. You will notice this name change in the final release of CarpetMaster/ProfitMaster 5.5.
This is only a name change and will not affect the functionality of our program or previous versions of CarpetMaster.
We feel this new name is better suited for our program and will help us to launch into new markets.
In response to our customers who felt ProfitMaster was a great program but had more
features then they were ready to use, we are happy to announce a new addition to the
ProfitMaster Family -- ProfitMaster Lite!
The ProfitMaster Lite is an exciting new program designed for businesses that only need a program for tracking customers and contact management. It has all of the powerful Contact Management and Customer History features of ProfitMaster in an easy to use format.
You only need to enter your customer's names, address, work date and total of the job and ProfitMaster Lite will do the rest!
With ProfitMaster Lite you will be able to:
ProfitMaster Lite will be available in October only for Windows 95. Check our Web site or future Newsletters for more details.
Below is an updated list of our Distributors in the U.S and around the world. We apologize for anyone we left out of our last issue.
Feel free to contact the one in your area.
U.S.A
Able Supply
Contact person: Jack Roth
Tel: (847)679-0468
Fax: (847)679-7855
3815 Oakton
Skokie IL, 60076
Jon-Don
Contact person: Dave Howard, Angela Smith
Tel: (630)893-4747
Fax: (630)893-6868
400 Medina Rd
Roselle IL, 60172
Pro-Line Carpet Maintenance
Contact person: Steve Kaufman.
Tel: (415)574-4333
1116 S Amphlett
San Mateo CA, 94402.
A & I
Contact person: Dennis Iverson.
Tel: (619)560-4344
Fax: (619)568-7379
9194 Chesapeake Dr.
San Diego CA, 92123.
Australia & New Zealand
Jena Dyco
Contact person: Olga Krivitsky.
Tel: 011-63-213-278-4821
Factory #6 104 110 Keys Rd.
Moorabbin VCT, 3189
AUSTRALIA
Jae Services West Auckland
Contact person: Clive Hodgson.
Tel: 011-63-649-818-4089
Fax: 011-63-649-481-8408
P.O. Box 20236
Glen Eden AUC, 1007
NEW-ZEALAND.
Steam-Master
Contact person: Tony Hillson
Tel: 011-63-649-444-7988
P.O. Box 100-651
North Shore M.C. AUK
NEW-ZEALAND
United kingdom
Active chemicals
Contact person: Robert Saundres.
Tel: 011-44-176-320-8222
Fax: 011-44-176-320-8906
Butts Farm Follmere
Dev@Profit-Master.com for Product Development Suggestions.
for all other questions.How to Input A Job to A Past Date
In order to input a job to a previous date you must check to see if the Check Dates option in ProfitMaster is activated. To do this, from the Utilities menu choose Preferences and then Personal.
Midway down in the right hand column there is an option called Check Dates. Make sure it is not check marked and save the new settings.
Now when entering an order ProfitMaster will ignore the date and allow you to enter past jobs.
You may reactivate the Check Dates option when you are done. It is an important tool, which helps to prevent scheduling of a future job to a past date by mistake.
How to Quickly Enter a Past Date in the Calendar Schedule
If you are entering past jobs into ProfitMaster you may find it a little tricky to find a past date in the Calendar portion of the Work Order. To quickly force the Calendar to a past date follow these steps:
This will bring the Calendar screen back up, but now it will show the date range you just specified. Choose the date and time you want and continue filling out the work order.
How to Charge a Tech for a Redo
In the Orders, Estimates and Invoices screen add a new record.
Fill out the Work Order with the appropriate information but if you input items in the service description area be sure to overwrite any prices to $0, otherwise there will be a balance overdue for a job that has already been paid.
When you get to the 2nd page of the Work Order use the first Tech line for the technician who is going to perform the redo. Indicate his pay in the appropriate field.
On the next Tech line input the technician that originally performed the job. In the payment field indicate the amount of money you would like to deduct from his pay by entering a minus dollar amount.
When you are prompted to save the job save it as a Redo.
How do the Notes in Customer Order and Customer Billing Records Differ?
The Orders, Estimates & Invoices notes, which can be activated by pressing the F4 key on your keyboard or the Vertical Toolbar on your screen, is dedicated to one specific record or Invoice. For example Mrs. Jones may have two different Invoices with different notes attached to each one of them.
In Customer and Billing records one file will always have the same notes attached to it. A good way to use this feature is to use it to gather personal information about the customer such as birthday’s etc.
You can later use this information to send cards to your customers on their special day with a nice birthday offer.
How to Avoid "Mark as Invoiced" Messages When Booking Same day jobs?
In order to avoid getting the "Mark as Invoiced" message when entering new orders, or to allow only certain people in your office to close jobs, you can limit your ProfitMaster's user privileges.
To do this, click on File-Open-Security.
To take away the privilege to create Invoices, go to the User record you wish to modify and then choose Edit the Current Record from the Edit Menu. In the section titled Invoices, uncheck the box by Create Invoices.
By doing this the user will not be able to convert a Work Order into an Invoice.
Conversely, you should have at least one user or User Logon name (i.e "Closer") with the ability to create invoices so that you can close jobs and apply payments.
In the Service Description Box, How do I Create an Additional Service Line Within Two Existing Lines?
Place your cursor in the service line that you wish to add a line above.
Press [CTRL] & [ENTER] at the same time. This will push the line you started in down and enter a new service line above it.
In the Service Description Box, How do I Delete a Service Line?
To delete a service description line, place your cursor in the service line that you wish to delete and press [CTRL] & [BACKSPACE] at the same time. This will pull the lower line up to avoid a blank line.
Why Doesn’t my "Print Reports" Option Work?
If ProfitMaster does not allow you to use the "Print Reports" option, exit the program.
Start the program again and at the User Sign on screen use "Supervisor" or any other name that you have previously specified to have report printing privileges. The program should now allow you to print reports.
How do I print Reports in ProfitMaster v 5.5?
If you were used to the Classic menu and can’t find the reports menu in ProfitMaster v 5.5, it is under the File menu, Print option. To print reports click Print (File menu) or in Windows, click the Printer icon.
This will bring up a list of Report options for the current file.
How do I get Back a Deleted Invoice?
Select Include Deletions (View menu). Search for the Invoice you want, then select Undelete the Current Record (Edit menu) to restore the record.
What happens if I "Pack Files" in the Utilities Menu?
The Pack Files option permanently deletes any "Deleted" record from the Carpet Master program.
You will not be able to recover any deleted records once they have been packed so think twice before using this option.
Why does the Help List come up When I’m Entering a Service Item I Know is in my Sales & Service Items Database?
Carpet Master’s "memory" feature automatically fills in Sales & Service Items on your work order based on the first few letters you enter. This saves time and keystrokes.
The "memory" feature works by comparing the letters you type into the service section of the work order with known items in the Sales & Service Items Database.
However, if the first few letters match more then one Sales or Service Item, Carpet Master brings up the Auto-Help list so that you can select the proper item.
For Example: if someone enters "Stair Cleaning" as "STAI" on the work order and the Sales & Services Database contains both "Stair Cleaning" and "Stain Removal" the Auto-Help list will appear displaying both items so that the proper one can be selected.
Why do I Have two Invoice #’s for the Same Work Order?
Whenever you choose to edit an Invoice, Carpet Master automatically "Voids" the current Invoice and creates a new one to be edited.
The new Invoice retains the same job number as the old one but creates a copy of the "voided" Invoice for editing with a new Invoice number.
During the last week of July our long distance carrier (who will remain unnamed), experienced technical problems that affected our 800 number. Many of you who tried to get a hold of us were told that the number had been disconnected.
We apologize for the inconvenience and want to assure you that we are still around, and doing well. We do not anticipate further difficulties but, in case you need us, here is our local number 818-876-8650. Our 800 number is still the same, 800-323-7902.