Clients are at the centre of Fieldfare. A client is the person or business you work for, and a site is an address where the work happens. Every job starts with a client and is booked at one of their sites.
A client's page keeps everything about them together: their sites, notes, jobs, photos, planting and safety records.
Clients and sites
One client can have several sites, such as a home and a holiday let, or a company with three offices. Jobs go to a site so your staff always turn up at the right address and see the right notes.
You can add a client's sites when you add the client, or later from the Sites tab on their page with Add site.
What you can record on a client
- Full name: the only thing you must fill in.
- Email and Phone: when editing a client you can add more phone numbers, each with a label and one marked Primary. Staff can't see these by default.
- Divisions: shows only if you split your business into divisions. A client usually picks these up from its jobs, so tag them here only if you need to.
- Notes: anything else worth knowing. They show on the client's page and on their jobs, under Before you go.
- Parking, Access & Green Waste: where to park, how to get in and where the green waste goes.
Client notes and site notes
Parking, Access & Green Waste notes show on every job, on the web and on your staff's phones. Each site uses the client's notes to start with (Use client notes). If one site is different, choose Use site notes and write notes for that site only.
Each site also has its own notes box for anything about that address, such as a gate code. On the site's page it's called Additional notes. These show on the site's jobs as Site notes.
The client's page
The Details tab holds their contact details and notes, plus their service reminders and contracts. The other tabs gather everything else.
- Sites: every address you work at for them.
- Images: photos for this client, from their jobs or added here.
- Seasonal bedding: what you've planted each season, with a date and description.
- Health & Safety: risk assessments for their sites. Key safety notes from the latest one show on their jobs.
- Upcoming jobs and Job history: what's booked and what's been done.
- Billing: their invoices, with what's been billed and paid, for people who can see money.
Inactive clients
If you stop working for someone, mark them Inactive rather than deleting them. They're hidden when you add new work and from the client map, and their future recurring visits are taken off the schedule. Their history stays.
Untick Inactive and those visits come back. Clients only become inactive when you mark them. Deleting a client removes them and their records for good.
The client map and site list
The Client map (from the ⋯ menu on Clients) shows your active clients' sites around your base. Select one to see when you last worked there and their contact details.
Each site has its own page with its address, notes, photos and jobs. Open it from the client's Sites tab.
Importing clients
If your clients are in a spreadsheet, import them from the ⋯ menu on Clients. The template takes one row per site, so repeat a client's name to give them several sites.
Only the client name is required. Imports add new clients and don't duplicate ones you already have. Files can be .xlsx, .xls or .csv.
Key workflows
Add a client with a site
Clients › Add client
- Add their Full name, Email and Phone.
- Fill in Notes and Parking, Access & Green Waste.
- Under Sites, add the Site name, Address, Town and Postcode.
- Select Add site for each extra site, then Add client.
Mark a client inactive
Clients › a client › Edit
- Open the client and select Edit.
- Tick Inactive under Status.
- Select Save changes.
Import clients
Clients › ⋯ › Import clients
- Download the template and fill in one row per site.
- Choose your file.
- Select Import clients.
Questions
Can staff see my clients' phone numbers?
Not by default. Staff can see clients and sites, but not phone numbers or emails. You can change this in Role permissions under Client phone & email.
Should I use client notes or site notes for parking?
Use the client's notes when every site is the same. Choose Use site notes on a site when its parking or access is different.
What happens to a client's visits if I mark them inactive?
Future visits from their recurring jobs are taken off the schedule. Past and completed visits stay, and the future ones come back if you make them active again.
Will importing create duplicates of clients I already have?
No. The import only adds clients that aren't already in Fieldfare.