Direct your Comments and Questions to Dave Mink Dave@TRAXsales.com 

Bulletin Board 

Important issues in bold for easier scanning view the yellow highlights. 

The purpose of this bulletin is to keep you informed of the newest features and important tools that are now at your immediate disposal with this program.  

Our commitment is to help you dramatically improve your business and provide a level of service that will earn your referrals.  Our success depends on your desire to tell others about us.

Empower your team to learn from the system by giving each manager their own personal (secure) password and access to the complete eTRAXsales system.  This will provide numerous advantages for you because they will insure 100% accuracy of the system and permit you to have lively, provocative and spontaneous discussions that will create excitement and dramatic improvement.  We also suggest that you encourage them to focus on the reports you feel need the most attention first.  As always, the IGE report is the most important because it focuses on your most important natural resource...the unsold customer who has already visited and not purchased yet.

January 31, 2005 12.5

Breakaway Engineering New Counter Design

The IGE report is calculating properly when a salesperson enters an opportunity and only enters the customers last name 

ETRAX

4. Provided a link to open the Cntrl A report from the Upboard.

6. Included the year 2005 in the criteria portion of the Goals reports.

January 15, 2005 12.4

Fixed problems with auto printing of weekly/monthly goals for Bruegge database.

Changed the code so that the system would automatically generate a new showroom_id if it finds that the trax.db has a blank showroom_id.

ETRAX

Modified the Upboard Print Options page to allow us to select the Performance Summary fields that we wish to hide in the Auto Print Performance Summary report.

Modified the photos/security page to display the last 10 photos instead of the last 5 photos for customers who do not have the photo technology.

December 23, 2004 12.2

November 15, 2004 12.1 

MODIFIED THE CODE SUCH THAT IF IT IS A CLIENT MACHINE THEN THE SQL SERVER CONNECTION WILL NOT BE MADE.

Changed the default folder for database backups to “C:\” if trax.backup file cannot be found in “c:\windows\desktop”.   It is very important that a separate backup still be done automatically by you every night.  Please call TRAX if you are not positive this is being done.

MADE CHANGES SO THAT EVERY TIME THE EMPLOYEE OR GOALS INFORMATION IS UPDATED IN MAINTENANCE, IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE THE WEB

Put a previous and next button on the photo/security screen.

Editing and deleting sales ability in Daily Activity on eTrax.  

Traffic Count, Editing and Deletion capability for Entire Day with proper password access.

INCORPORATED A BUTTON IN STAFFING ANALYSIS FOR “EDIT SALES TIME REQUIRED”.

15. Fixed discrepancy between totals in the Cntrl A report and Performance Summary. split sales which are counted within our system as 0.5 OPPORTUNITIES WERE BEING IGNORED.

16. Photos should be automatically deleted from the system after 30 days ( instead of being removed after 7 days ).

INCORPORATED A NEW “CUSTOMERS” WEB PAGE UNDER ADMINISTRATION.

October 3, 2004 12.0

September 30, 2004 11.9p

• New web page for “Door Snaps” in Traffic Trax Menu. displays thumbnails which the user can click on to view the larger image.

THE HOME PHONE NUMBER IS NO LONGER A REQUIRED FIELD WHILE ENTERING THE CUSTOMER INFORMATION IN ETRAX UPBOARD.

When you type in a phone number it keeps the numbers condensed together and are harder to read. 

It should separate them with brackets and hyphens as does PB.

12. The zip codes that are only four numbers should start with a 0.  Example: 07341
Trax uses only 7341 when auto locating city info.  Is this something we need to fix?

A NEW FIELD CALLED "UPDATE VERSION" HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE SHOWROOMS PAGE.

16. Make auto print so it does not print a To do for every sold customer, only those unsold and those who a SP wants to follow-up with when sold.

20. PB... IGE report prints on two pages and should print as landscape.

21. Made the Postal Code textbox longer (wider).

September 13, 2004 11.9n

1. Personal Trade working now on eTrax Upboard.

2. put totals for all columns for Sales Goals Comparison report.

August 31, 2004  11.9m

July 11, 2004     11.9j

Insures Traffic Counter communicates more efficiently on line and provides hourly on-line updates seamlessly.

June 6, 2004     11.9i

1.  F-1 Help from UpBoard takes you to the Training and Management Page

2.  Traffic Counter will now count up to 999 per hour

May 17, 2004     11.9h

1.  Added customer cell phone number to Customer Info card on the Upboard.

2.  To Do list will now print on a single page.

3. Performance Letter to has a print option for every day along with once a week.  The default stays set at once a week (as it is now) but if you like please turn this off and select the daily checkbox in Maintenance.

4. Ctrl A needs Total for Opportunities (I did this for you Howard).  We removed the bar at the bottom of the Up Board and the big benefit was number of opportunities and number sold (at a glance).  Now Ctrl A does the same thing.

5. When you type the zip we populate the city and state automatically  THIS CITY, STATE, ZIP DATA WILL INCREASE THE SIZE OF EVERY TRAX.DB BY ABOUT 3 MB.

6.  Now able to change eTRAX for a specific day range,, so you don't need to update the entire database.  THIS FEATURE HAS BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE ADMINISTRATION ----> SHOWROOM INFORMATION SCREEN.

7.  Goals Monthly improved, the totals are now the last column, and future weeks are blank until complete.

8.  Previous month button goes to the previous month every time you push it. 

May 2, 2004     11.9f

3.  Added “Previous Month” button to all Upboard web reports.

4.  Incorporated “Admin” setting for Users in the Security page.  Now you can allow your managers to view their data and restrict them from edit and high security level modules.

April 26, 2004     11.9e

1.  Added When Your Hot Your Hot as an option to the UpBoard rotation method we call it Mac's Method in Properties because I believe Jim Macinvale invented it.  It automatically moves a salesperson to the top of the up list if a sale is made.  If a salesperson is already on top that made a sale it moves them into position #2.   To set this up go to Maintenance then <File> <Properties> then <UpBoard> then Select <Mac's Method> then Save.

2.  Dollar Volume Per Square Foot  displays the actual square footage of each showroom or combined with multiple showrooms in the formula on this report.

April 19, 2004     11.9c

1.  Birthday letters to auto print four days before the actual birthday.  This is saved in from the Customer Info Screen by the day and month only.  It is a drop down calendar that saves and prints each year for each customer perpetually.

Added the Customer telephone number(s) to the Customer list in Maintenance in PB and on the web.     

2.  Staffing Analysis Report divides the negative number at the bottom by the total number of hours that have a negative number.  In other words if there are three hours with a negative number and they total 12 then the total number of salespeople needed to properly cover the store is 4.

3.  Added product categories to the To Do List to both PB and the web.

4.  Advertising info is now on the on the Performance Summary on the web along with dollar volume per sq foot monthly and annual analysis.

5.  Dollar volume per sq foot in Traffic TRAX has been put in RPU Report.

6.  On ETRAX Added Dollars Sold by Advertiser to Advertising Effectiveness.

April 12, 2004     11.9b

1. Goal Setting has been made much easier.  We have added the ability to set the goal for the entire year.  You are able to set a goal for the entire showroom and then automatically divide it into the number of salespeople that are active by week on the four five method.  Using this method then synchronizes goals with the Performance Letter.  It will also not rewrite existing goals that you may have previously set.  

2. Change X Ref to Birth day on Customer Info card.  Synchronized this birth day with an auto letter that will print for any customer birthday.  Just select the birthday letter from properties and select the birthday letter.  If you have a question please do not hesitate to call 713-532-1106.

3. Added Traffic Counter totals to the Performance Letter and IGE reports.

4. Enhanced the Sales Goals Comparisons Report so that you can instantly compare how each salesperson is doing compared the goal for that period and the corresponding percentage.  

April 9, 2004    11.9a

1. Goals have been modified so it uses the 4-4-5 accounting method.  In other words you will always have the same number of days and weekends in any month and year for accurate comparisons.  Most retailers who use this method also do this with payroll and all other reporting formats to create consistency.  (Ask your accountant)  TRAX still provides the option to measure goals by calendar month but if you use the 4-4-5 you only need to set the dates once and determine  (in Maintenance) the day of the week you want to start.  TRAX does the rest forever.

2. We have also added a new function in Below Average Sale where you can filter out the small sales in several different amounts up to $300.

3. Easily switch salespeople back and forth while in Cust Info and Mailing from a LAN PC .  When a Salesperson is using Customer Info and Mailing select Administration then Sign On and you may enter any other salesperson password.  It automatically closes the previous salespersons customer information and is secure.

Mar 22, 2004    11.9

1.  Screen that we can send to any dealer when they enter the site that we can send personal messages.  Friendly Reminder :
2.  One more sorting field for the Traffic Analysis report, by Profit Center . 

3.  Most Productive Customers Report has been created and incorporated under Customer Editing Menu.

Mar 11, 2004    11.8

Feb 18, 2004

1.  When you do a return the system will now allow you to reduce warranties and accessory amounts correctly.  This updates through all reports and sales totals properly. 

2.  We have also provided even faster connection speed and enhanced security.  We strongly urge everyone to change their passwords from the original setting provided to you when installed and reset to a user name and password of your choosing.

3.  We have enhanced the customer list to permit you to sort by salesperson more effectively on line.  Please let us know if this works for you.  We are adding a complete customer management module very soon and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Feb 10, 2004

If you want to track Sketch's and House calls please go to maintenance at the showroom Upboard machine and select Administration then Showroom.  The type of showroom is actually a hidden drop down list.  Please select Fabric if you are a Home Furnishings dealer and Carpet if you are a flooring dealer.  Select Save.  The next time you open your UpBoard you will discover two new buttons above product category called Sketches [] and House Call [].  These new choices will provide closing ratios by salesperson and dollars generated with these features on both the Performance Letter and the Performance Summary.

Five new reports and one very cool feature.

Feb 7, 2004

We have recently improved security by providing you editing capability.  Please go to Administration and Security then we suggest you remove the original password and user name originally assigned to you and replace with a secure password of your choosing.

Feb 2, 2004

We have added Sketches and the ability to measure House Calls.  You will notice two new small boxes on the UpBoard located just above the product categories.  When a box is checked it will track the performance of each salesperson in these areas.  The Performance Summary Report and Performance Letter will both reflect the number of sketches drawn by salesperson and closing ratios in each area.  

We know that both of these areas are important to growth and improvement of your business.  Many successful dealers have been doing Sketches and House Calls for decades.  We are very pleased to provide the ability for everyone to now measure and prove once and for all how powerful these activities are for anyone who uses them.  Thank you Tom Green and Dave Peterson for your continued support and advice in the development in these areas and in the warranty tracking arenas.  You are a great dealer and are no doubt going places.  It is a pleasure to be associated with you.

Jan 24, 2004

For those dealers who are just getting started today...

We suggest a basic starter spiff contest for the first two weeks using the "IGE" Info Gathering Efficiency Report.

The IGE report tracks how many relationships each salesperson develops with the customers he or she did not sell when the customer came in the first time.  

The goal for each salesperson obviously is to sell every customer every time, but we know that is not possible.  We believe that the goal for each salesperson should be to earn the name, address and phone number of at least 50% of the people who don't buy, so they can follow-up before your competition does.  If you kick off a contest for the first two weeks of introducing Trax and pay the top performing sales associates you will see great success and determine immediately who isn't going to try and get customer info if a sale is not made.

For a complete accounting of all updates since 1996 please select Timeline of Updates and New Features

Dave Mink         

 CEO   

TRAX Office 713-466-7177 (Houston TX)

Dave's Cell 713-854-7706

 

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