I'd like the ability to add Customer Notes

joelfernandes

that would come up when re-booking a previous guest so I can see what, if any, problems they may have caused, or if they were really awesome. We had a guest that had dogs and left them in the room for 6 hours at a time, they peed all over the rugs and barked incessantly. I'd like to know this so I can factor this in to whether I'll rent to them again or ban them altogether.

Dedric

here is what I've done:

In MANAGE / LAYOUT / BOOKING FORM
I've added a custom field.
I called it "Internal Note"
Parameters for this field:

Customer               0 Show on form     0 Required     0 Show on invoice

Staff                        X Show on form     0 Required     0 Show on invoice

Customer Profile     X Attach this field to the customer profile

Contact Info            0 Display this field in the contact info section of the invoice

This allow a place to save information that can only be seen by Staff.

If a booking is created by a Staff, the field will be automatically filled with the info at the time of creation, so you can make the appropriate decision.

You can even include the content of this field in a notification, using "{$name_of_field}".


Unfortunately, I haven't found a way (and I've tried hard!!) to have the content of this field to be added/"imported" to a booking made by the customer.
The field needs to be "Shown on form" only to Staff (for obvious reason), therefore, CheckFront doesn't fill it with saved info when the Customer creates its booking!!!!

TO CHEKFRONT:
is there a way to change that ?

Kendra_Checkfront

Hey there! Kendra here from the product team at Checkfront - great timing for sharing this use case with us. Our team is looking at better ways to add guest notes that appear where guest information appears so that you can save information only seen by Staff. 

Stay tuned for more insights on next steps from us! 

parawing742

Customer Notes have been on the feature request list for almost three years now: https://www.checkfront.com/forum/discussion/comment/4212/

Dedric

Great!
That would defo be very helpful.

On the topic of Customer's info, I understand that during the 1st ever booking made by a new customer the info he submits are stored in his profile (for fields with the option "Attach this field to customer profil");
then when a returning customer creates a new booking, these info are used to pre-fill the new booking.

But then these info are not automatically updated if modified on the booking.
They can only be modified through the Customer's profile page.

Would it be possible to have the option of auto-updating of fields every time a booking is submitted ?
This option would be set individually for each field, as some may be required to not be updated automatically (as it currently is), while others should...

I hope this makes sense.

courtneyryan

Bump for this feature on our end. If we were able to add a bit more detail under the main customer profile then we would not need a separate CRM system. In addition to notes, we've talked internally about new fields like "VIP" and "Loyal Guest" in addition to fields for anniversaries and birthdays. We don't need a full blown, expensive CRM system, so simple additions like this to the customer profile would be a huge help to running our business at the next level and add a lot of value to Checkfront as a whole to us...

ikrcgc

Another bump!  Ditto to the above post.  We have a lot of repeat business & this would save a LOT of time for customers & for us.

Dedric

yep, another basic feature that it would be nice to see become a reality…
Thanks

Dedric

Anyone at Checkfront would like to inform the community on the advance made for this ?

thanks

parawing742

Good luck. As best as I can tell, feature requests are simply ignored.

SteveH

+1 for the ability to add a customer note. The "add field" workaround listed above no longer works, because there is no longer an option to "Attach this field to the customer profile". A customer note field is important for better customer service, such as being able to note if a customer has a disability, animals, specific info, or other factors that persist beyond individual bookings. This feature has been repeatedly requested and is very common in other booking programs. Checkfront, please advise on your plans for this.

broomhaylie

Great post, a lot of stuff in here i did not know about 

Dedric

@SteveH I believe it is still possible to create a new custom field and attach it to the customer's profile. (at least I was still able to just now after reading your post).

However, this workaround (see the 2nd message on this thread) lots of limitations on how to use, display or report it.

Anyone at CheckFront ?

Ryan_Checkfront

Thanks for your feedback, everyone. 

Currently, the Customer Profile and Customer booking form on the Edit tab of the Invoice are not synced. This means that if you update the name of a customer on the Edit tab of the Invoice, it won't update the customer profile. That said, I can see how having this information synced could be helpful, and I've made a note of your feedback. 

Dedric mentioned a helpful workaround option - adding an internal note.  Adding an 'internal note' field allows operators to add customer notes to each booking a customer makes. 

Here's how to set this up: 

When adding a note, you'll need to add it to the Customer Profile, and when making a booking as a staff, you'll want to use the Customer Directory if the customer has booked with you before.

1. Go to the Booking Form Settings page (Manage > Layout > Booking Form)
2. Create a new form field 
3. Select the 'Paragraph' field type
4. Under 'Options', select: "show on staff form", "show on Invoice", attach this field to the customer profile, and "display this field in the contact info section of the Invoice."
5. Save the field, and you're all set! 

Remember that when adding a note, you'll need to add it to the Customer Profile and when making a booking as a staff, you'll want to use the Customer Directory if the customer has booked with you before.

Click here to see a silent video of how this is done.

Adding notes to the Customer Profile

If you want this information to be on all future bookings made by this customer, you'll want it to be on the Customer Profile. 

1. Click the Customer Profile name on the sidebar of the Invoice
2. Add the note to profile, and Save

To add a note to the new booking for a customer who doesn't have a note, you'll also want to add the note to the new booking. To do this, click Edit on the Invoice and add it to the customer form. 

Staff Bookings

When making new bookings as a staff member, use the Customer Directory if the customer indicates that they have booked with you in the past.

Click here to see a silent video.

Customer Bookings

With the internal notes added to the Customer Profile, all future bookings made by the customer (with the same email and name) will have that note on it. 

I hope this helps shed some light on this workaround. Thanks again for your feedback, and please get in touch with us directly at support@checkfront.com to dive further into your specific use case! 

Dedric

Thanks @Ryan for your reply, but it doesn't really bring much to the table, as you are only stating what has already been said all along in this thread!

I am SO tired of every reply made by CheckFront's support to be of the form "...I can see how this would be useful… I've added your name to an existing feature request… blablabla".
And then nothing happens. for years. or ever.

If you mean it, if you really see how something is useful for us, then ACT on it!


Anyway, the work around in this case is ONLY a WORK AROUND. This can't be an [acceptable] solution for at least the following reasons:

• it requires initiating the booking from the Customer Directory. If already existing, entering a customer's email should automatically fill all attached fields when creating a new booking by the staff (without having to search in the Customers' directory)
• the fields should sync between the Customers' Profile and booking. Precisely, there should be an option to automatically sync or manually sync or not sync at all for each field.
• if an existing customer doesn't have a note, and, while creating the booking (having your customer over the phone for example), you need to add a note to the customer's profile, you need to add it to the booking, but you also will have to remember to copy/paste it to add it again to the customer's profile ! there is so much room for forgetting! (in the rush if having customers over the phone, or queueing in your shop, etc).

Precision on your description of the workaround:

• Under 'Options', select: "show on staff form", "show on staff Invoice", attach this field to the customer profile, 
  
• 
  
• and "display this field in the contact info section of the Invoice." —> this is not required.
  

Dedric

To add to the workaround, since there is not way to display the content of the field in a formatted way (color, bold, framed, etc….), I added an output field to be displayed only on Staff invoice before presenting any internal notes:

Ryan_Checkfront

Hi @Dedric, 

You’re right - it’s a workaround and a temporary solution, and it does have it’s limitations. We receive hundreds of feature requests and suggestions for feature improvements each month, and while we don't have the ability to add all of them (even those that may seem like no brainers), we can still appreciate all the feedback and suggestions that we get. 

We’d like to provide a better experience and more clarity into our product and development process, so thank you for indicating that this is something that is important to you.