Selling a unit
From Catalyst
Contents
Summary
This article explains how to deal with the sale of a vehicle. For all retail sales, this should consist of creating a sales order at initial point of contact, and then raising an invoice absolutely no earlier than the point of collection. For trade sales of used vehicles, where you will not carry out any work on that vehicle but simply sell it on to a trader, you should skip the sales order stage and only raise the invoice.
More Information
There are a number of logical steps to consider when dealing with the sale of a vehicle.
Consider the following issues.
- Has the customer dealt with us before ? If not, we will need to create an account for them.
- Is the vehicle the customer wants in stock ? If not, we must decide whether to use a non-stock sale vehicle at this stage, or to create a "dummy" stock number. If it is in stock, we must find the correct stock record.
- Is the customer buying any extras or accessories, including things such as road tax, registration fees, test fees, warranties or other items such as clothing or performance accessories? If so, we will need part numbers for most of these items so that the deal profit can be calculated accurately.
- Is the customer paying a deposit ?
- Is there a part exchange vehicle ? Is the customer leaving it with us or will it only be available for sale once the sale vehicle is delivered ?
- How will the customer be paying for the vehicle - will they require finance ?
These questions give you a plan to follow when creating a sales order for a vehicle.
Creating an Order
- Go to "Vehicle Sales" -> "Sales Ordering" -> "Add or Edit Sales Orders".
Customer Information
- At "Account:" or "Contact:", leave this as 'A' for Account.
- Type part of the customer surname into "Code:". Check to see if the customer is already on file and if not, add them to the customer database.
Sale Vehicle Information
- If you are selling a vehicle from stock, type the Stock Number of the vehicle. You can search for the vehicle here using the magnifying glass icon.
- If the vehicle required is not in stock, you can create either a "dummy" stock number for the vehicle by pressing <Shift+F10>, or a non-stock sale vehicle by pressing <Ctrl+F10>.
 | If you choose to create a stock number, this cannot be changed later. If you choose to create a non-stock sale vehicle, you must link the actual vehicle when it arrives on site to the order that you have created. |
Extras and Accessories
- Press <F6> or click [blue/orange box] at the bottom of the screen.
- Anything that needs to be sold with the vehicle should be included here. This does include taxes and registration fees, warranties, accessories, clothing and anything that needs to be excluded from the price of the vehicle itself.
- Add the part numbers or stock codes and quantities of the items to sell with the vehicle. This may not be straightforward, but is essential to keep the deal profits correct. It is well worth your while coming up with a list of common stock codes that can be sold with a vehicle for ease of use for the sales people.
- On the right hand side of the screen, you will see a column headed "Type".
- The options for "Type" are 'F' - Financial; 'W' - Workshop; 'S' - Stock.
- For items such as taxes and registration fees, warranties and other non-tangible items, this should be 'F' - Financial.
- For any other items, we recommend that this is set to 'W' - Workshop.
- Financial items allow you to use stock codes as short-cuts without keeping stock of these items. Items such as taxes and registration fees are usually not subject to sales taxes such as V.A.T., and generally you will want to analyse these items separately in your accounts. The stock code approach avoids the sales people having to remember to do this every time.
- Workshop items are posted automatically to the workshop job that is created from this order. The big advantage here is that all the tangible items that have been sold with this deal - exhaust systems, chrome items, motor movers for caravans, clothing and so forth - are kept together in one place. This may not suit the organisation of your business, but we have found that this gives the best results. Items that the customer has bought that cannot be obtained before they take delivery of the vehicle can be handled very efficiently by this method.
- Stock items have to be processed in a very particular way by the parts or clothing department, and should your processes require it, then items can be shown as 'Stock'. Any items handled in this fashion MUST be invoiced to the sales department before the vehicle is sold, otherwise problems will ensue.
- The options for "Type" are 'F' - Financial; 'W' - Workshop; 'S' - Stock.
- Having entered all the extras and accessories, press <Esc> to return to the main sales order entry screen.
Delivery Date
- It is important to enter a delivery date. Even if you are not sure of the date, at least make an estimate of the date.
- When the workshop job is created from this order, the due date for that job is set to the day before this date, so that the vehicle stands a chance of being ready for the customer when they come to pick it up ! Any parts that are required have their delivery date set to the day before the workshop job is due, again so that there is a fighting chance that the parts will be available for the workshop to fit.
Payment
- Enter any money that the customer is paying you here. It is the responsibility of the person taking the money off the customer to ensure that it is entered onto the system on that day. If you don't enter the money, this will make the daily takings wrong and cost the people dealing with the till and the takings a lot of wasted time. The "Pre-Paid Deposit:" shows any money paid previously by the customer.
- Choose the correct payment method by clicking or pressing the letter that corresponds to the way the customer has paid.
- If the customer has paid by more than one method, you will need to enter just the first method here, finish off the order as it stands and then retrieve the order to handle the other amount and method of payment.
Part Exchange
- Press <F9> or click the [blue arrows] if the customer has a part exchange vehicle.
- Click [Stock] if the customer is leaving the vehicle with you.
- Click [Non-Stock] if the customer is not leaving the vehicle with you.
- Enter as much of the information about the part exchange as possible, making sure that you enter at least an estimate of the amount that you are going to give the customer for the vehicle.
Finance
- Press <F5> or click the [Clipboard and Hands] if the customer wants to put the balance on finance.
- Enter the finance code that represents the company and the deal that you have agreed with the customer.
Sales Person
- Enter the initials or code of the sales person who did this deal. This is very important for sales and commission figures.
Printing the order
- Press <F2> or click [Document] to print the document.
- If you have not entered the date of birth of the customer, you will be warned about this, and can choose whether to continue or to enter the information. In certain circumstances, the date of birth is required information, but even if it is not, sending your customer a birthday card or birthday e-mail helps with your customer satisfaction index !
- Accept the order once you have printed it.
- If you have entered a payment on the order, you get the option to print a separate receipt for the payment. Press <Esc> and <Accept> if you do not require a separate receipt.
- Your copy of the printed order should be filed in the deal file.
Retrieving an Order
Once you have created an order for a vehicle and customer, you can retrieve this order for any subsequent changes. For example, the customer may come back and make another deposit payment; they may change their mind about extras and accessories; they may decide to part exchange their old vehicle.
Go to "Vehicle Sales" -> "Sales Ordering" -> "Add or Edit Sales Orders".
- Press <F8> immediately - do NOT enter any customer details or vehicle details.
- Press <F2> to view all the orders on file.
- Use the <Down Arrow key> to move to the order that you want to change.
- Press <Enter> to load this order.
- Make the necessary changes.
- Press <F2> to print the order again. This will give it a new number, but that is because it has changed.
- Add this printed order to the deal file.
 | Please note that the changes will not be saved unless you print the order. |
You can retrieve and change the sales order as many times as you need. It is sensible to ensure that the order reflects the deal exactly as you want to see it before you print the invoice, because once you have printed and accepted the invoice, the deal is cast in stone and if something changes, you will then have to credit the deal and start again at the beginning. If you need to write back the value of the part exchange, now is the best time to do it - you can do it at point of invoice, but it is best to do it here.
We would recommend that, wherever possible, the invoice is not raised until the customer is nearly leaving the building after hand-over.
Raising the Invoice
- Go to "Vehicle Sales" -> "Invoicing".
- Press <F8> immediately - do NOT enter any customer details or vehicle details, unless this is a trade sale where there does not need to be an order.
- Press <F2> to view all the orders on file.
- Use the <Down Arrow key> to move to the order that you want to invoice.
- Press <Enter> to load this order.
- Check that the details are correct, and that you have written back any values to that which you want.
- Press <F2> or click [Invoice] to invoice the deal.
- Press <Enter> to accept.
