Business Customers
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      How do I use and navigate Business Customers?

      If you sell to companies who have multiple users that want their own logins, but need to share data such as quotes, orders, addresses and billing information - Business Customers gives you all of this and more.

      Overview

      The Business Customers plugin is designed to help businesses manage customer accounts more efficiently by linking customers to companies and enabling data sharing between users within the same organisation.

      This article outlines the key concepts, settings, and procedures for using the plugin effectively.

       


      Key Concepts


      Primary Customer

      • Definition: The Primary Customer is the user who owns all the data shared with colleagues within the same company. All other users inherit data from this Primary Customer.
      • Role: Typically, the Primary Customer is also the Manager, though this role can be assigned to another user.

      Manager

      • Role: A Manager has the ability to:
        • Reassign the Primary Customer role to another user.
        • View all orders placed by users within the company.
      • Optional Setting: The “Hide Manager” feature can be enabled to prevent users from seeing the Manager role.


      Getting Started


      Installing the Plugin

      1. Go to Plugins.




      2. Click on See All Plugins at the top right of the page.




      3. Find Business Customers




      4. Configure Settings:

        • If you want maximum data sharing between users within the same company, enable all checkboxes except 'Hide Manager'.




        • Assign the Primary Customer role to the main user in each company. If needed, assign a separate Manager who can change the Primary Customer in the future.


      Linking Customers to Companies


      Linking customers to their respective companies is an optional step but recommended for streamlined data management. You can link customers in three ways:

      1. Manually:
        • Locate the customer in the Shopblocks admin system.
        • Add a new or existing company in the right sidebar.
        • Click the 'Link' button to connect the customer to the company.



      2. Via the Shopblocks API:
      3. Via Email Invitation:
        • Primary Customers can send email invitations to colleagues.
        • Invited users can create their own accounts and will automatically be linked to the same company.



      Example Scenario


      Step 1:       Log in as the Primary Customer (e.g., jane@example.com).


      Step 2:       In the My Account > Company area, invite a colleague (e.g., john@example.com) via email.


      Step 3: The colleague receives the invite, registers, and is automatically linked to the company.


      Step 4:       The new user (John) can now place orders, which will be visible to the Manager.


      Plugin Settings Overview


      Left-Hand Side Settings

      • Customer References Applied Company-Wide: Sync customer references from the Primary Customer to secondary users.
      • Hide Mentions of Manager: Enable or disable visibility of the Manager role.
      • Remove Company and Reference on Unlink: Decide whether to wipe company/reference information when a customer is removed from a company.
      • Customers Inherit Billing Address: Sync billing address information from the Primary Customer to secondary users.
      • Customers inherit billing address from primary customer: When a customer is added to the company, their default billing address will be set to the primary customers default billing address. Customers will not be able to change this address.
      • Use Primary Customer billing address for orders: Secondary customer orders will always use the primary customer billing address.

      Right-Hand Side Settings (Dependent on Other Plugins)

      • Custom Fields: If the Custom_fields plugin is installed, you can sync custom fields data from the Primary Customer to secondary users.
      • Customer Groups: If the Customer_groups plugin is installed, sync customer group data from the Primary Customer to secondary users.
      • Category Visibility: If the Category_visibility plugin is installed, sync category visibility data from the Primary Customer to secondary users.

      Key Features

      • Account View: Linked customers can view all orders within the company.
      • Order Consistency: Orders are consistently set up with references and addresses.
      • Shared Baskets and Orders: Users within the same company can share baskets and take over orders.
      • Special Pricing: Admin users can set up accounts with special prices, which are inherited by linked users.
      • Self-Service:
        • Customers can invite secondary users and manage their own accounts.
        • Shared data includes addresses, custom fields, and order information.
        • Users can start an order, and another user can finish it.

      Security Considerations

      • Access Revocation: If an employee leaves the company, their access can be revoked immediately.

      This concludes the guide on using the Business Customers plugin for managing business customers. For further assistance, please refer to our additional documentation or contact support.