Find the customer/vehicle

The correct customer/vehicle record must first be found or created.

From the Search page:

  1. To create a new customer, click "+Appointment for a New Customer". Refer to Add a new customer for further steps.

Note: Also use this option to quickly add an appointment without a VIN. Refer to Create a quick appointment.

  1. To search for an existing customer or VIN, enter criteria into the 'Search' field then use the search buttons to find a match using all or part of a name, phone number, VIN or license plate number (if available from the DMS).

In the example above, a customer name search is done:

  1. Enter a name in the Search field.
  2. Click the Name search filter.
  3. The search results list displays three matches in this example. Click on any result to display the vehicle(s) owned by the customer.

 

If there are no matches, or the customer on the drive does not match the one(s) displayed:

  1. (Name or phone searches only) Click "DMS" to review the list of customers matching the search criteria from your DMS. The DMS search is automatically initiated if there were no matches from the original search.

Note: The DMS name and phone number search is not available for SERTI.

  1. Click “ +Appointment for a New Customer” to add a new customer. Refer to the section Add a new customer.

In the example above, a VIN search is done.

  1. Enter the VIN in the 'Search' field.

Note: For a VIN search, you can enter the last 5, last 8, or all 17 characters of the VIN.

  1. Click the "VIN" search filter to search the DFX database.
  2. As with all VIN searches, the result is a single vehicle and customer match. Refer to Start the appointment to continue creating the appointment for this vehicle including changing the customer information.
  3. If this is not the correct customer for the vehicle, click "DMS Lookup" to force a search of the DMS.

Note: DMS VIN Search is not available for SERTI.

Note: Once a "DMS Lookup" is done, any new customer information from the DMS for the VIN is automatically copied to the customer/vehicle database. The customer from the DMS will now be the active customer for the VIN. Note that this occurs whether the appointment is actually created or not.

  1. If there are no matches, a message appears. You can:
    • Click “+Appointment for a New Customer” to add a new customer and vehicle. Refer to the section Add a new customer or
    • Change the search criteria.
  2. If the customer no longer owns the vehicle, the VIN can be deleted from the customer's profile using "Remove Vehicle". If there are future booked appointments, a confirmation appears warning that the appointments will be deleted when the vehicle is removed. Once the VIN is removed, it no longer appears with this customer when searches are performed.

Note: If there is a match on a full VIN, but a customer is not assigned to it, the message “Vehicle with No Customer” is displayed. Click “+” to setup the customer and vehicle record. Refer to Add a new customer to continue.

 

After performing the customer/vehicle search, you can start the process of creating the appointment.

  1. The example above shows a single vehicle with an existing appointment.
    • If there are existing booked appointments, any missed appointments, or shown appointments with today's date, each appear in an appointment summary box.
  2. To search for a different customer or vehicle, click in the search field and enter a new value.
  3. If the customer is not correct for this vehicle, and a DMS search has been done, click "Change Customer" to reassign the VIN. Refer to Change customer for the steps to follow.
  4. The bar at the top of the appointment summary indicates an existing appointment and its status:
    • red = Missed
    • gold = Booked
    • aqua = Shown
  5. Click in the vehicle record to create a brand new appointment for the vehicle. Refer to the section Setting up the appointment for the steps to follow.

In the following example, a customer search was done and multiple vehicles were found:

  1. Note that one vehicle already has an existing booked appointment.
  2. For any vehicle, click the vehicle image to start a new appointment. Refer to Setting up the appointment.
  3. To see more details about a vehicle or to change the vehicle’s owner, click “…” in the associated vehicle box. The window expands with more details.
    • If there are existing booked appointments, or any missed or shown appointments with today's date, each will appear in an appointment summary box as shown in the following section.

Note: Any dealers using SERTI, AutoSoft, Reynolds & Reynolds, CDK and MPK DMS can book multiple appointments for the same vehicle as long as they are on different days.

If a vehicle already has one or more appointments, they can be reviewed before any further action is taken.

  1. Click “Edit” in an appointment summary box to modify an existing appointment.
  2. Click to make a new appointment for the vehicle.
  3. Click “…” beside another of the customer’s vehicles to view its details.

Refer to Setting up the appointment for the next steps.

  1. If the customer is not correct for this vehicle, click “Change Customer” to reassign the VIN. Refer to Change customer for the steps to follow.

Note: If the customer is correct, but the vehicle does not display because it is new to the DMS:
• Click for an existing vehicle for this customer.
• When the Client & Vehicle page appears, replace the VIN.
• Click “Decode” and proceed with scheduling the appointment. This adds the vehicle/customer relationship to the DMS. The vehicle will not be created in the system unless the full VIN is entered.