Customer Management
Create and manage customer information, pricelists and transaction history
Effective customer management is the foundation of successful sales processes. Odoo Sales integrates closely with the Contacts module to provide a comprehensive customer management system, including contact information, pricelists, payment terms and transaction history.
Creating New Customer
You can create customers from multiple places in Odoo:
Steps
1. From Contacts menu: Contacts → Contacts → Create
2. From quotation: Enter new customer name and select "Create and edit..."
3. From CRM: Convert Lead/Opportunity to customer
4. Bulk import: Use Import feature from CSV/Excel
Basic Customer Information
Important Fields
| Field | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Customer name | Required, displayed on all documents |
| Company Type | Type: Company or Individual | Affects displayed fields |
| Contact email | Used to send quotations, invoices | |
| Phone | Phone number | Quick contact with customer |
| Mobile | Mobile number | Additional contact information |
| Website | Company website | Optional |
| Tax ID | Tax identification number | Important for VAT invoices |
| Tags | Classification labels | VIP, Wholesale, Retail... |
Customer Classification
In the Sales & Purchase tab, you can classify customers:
Key points
• Is a Customer: Mark as customer (purchases from you)
• Is a Vendor: Mark as vendor (sells to you)
• Can be both: Both buy and sell
Steps
1. Open customer information
2. Go to "Sales & Purchase" tab
3. Check "Is a Customer"
4. Set Salesperson (Responsible person)
5. Select Payment Terms
6. Select Pricelist if applicable
Managing Customer Addresses
Each customer can have multiple addresses for different purposes:
Steps
1. Open customer information
2. Click "Add" in Contacts & Addresses section
3. Select Address Type
4. Enter complete address information
5. Save address
6. When creating order, select appropriate address
Address Types
| Address Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Contact | Main contact address |
| Invoice Address | Billing address |
| Delivery Address | Shipping address |
| Other Address | Other addresses |
Customer Pricelists
Pricelists allow applying different prices for each customer:
Key points
• Price by customer: VIP, Wholesale, Retail
• Price by quantity: Volume discounts
• Price by time: Seasonal promotions
• Price by product: Special prices for specific products
Steps
1. Create pricelist: Sales → Configuration → Pricelists
2. Set up price rules (Price Rules)
3. Assign pricelist to customer: Customer → Sales & Purchase → Pricelist
4. When creating quotation, pricelist automatically applied
5. Product prices calculated according to pricelist rules
Payment Terms
Payment Terms define payment deadline for customers:
Steps
1. Create terms: Accounting → Configuration → Payment Terms
2. Set up payment term lines
3. Assign to customer: Customer → Sales & Purchase → Payment Terms
4. Terms automatically applied to invoices
Common Payment Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Immediate Payment | Pay immediately |
| 15 Days | Pay within 15 days |
| 30 Days | Pay within 30 days |
| 45 Days | Pay within 45 days |
| End of Month | Pay at end of month |
| 2/10 Net 30 | 2% discount if paid within 10 days, or full within 30 days |
Using Tags for Classification
Tags help classify and search customers easily:
Key points
• VIP: Important customers
• Wholesale: Wholesale customers
• Retail: Retail customers
• International: International customers
• High Value: High-value customers
• New Customer: New customers
Steps
1. Create tags: Settings → Technical → Tags (or create directly on customer)
2. Assign tags to customer: Customer → Tags
3. Filter customers by tags: Contacts → Filters → Tags
4. Use in reports and analysis
Transaction History
View complete transaction history of customer:
Steps
1. Open customer information
2. Go to "Sales & Purchase" tab
3. View summary statistics: Total Invoiced, Total Due
4. Click "Sales" to view all orders
5. Click "Invoices" to view all invoices
6. Click "Payments" to view payment history
Additional Information
Useful additional information:
Key points
• Internal Notes: Internal notes not visible to customer
• Fiscal Position: Tax position (for international customers)
• Bank Accounts: Customer bank accounts
• Credit Limit: Credit limit
• Analytic Account: Cost analysis account
Customer Portal
Allow customers to access portal for self-management:
Steps
1. Open customer information
2. Click "Grant Portal Access" (if not already)
3. System creates portal account and sends invitation email
4. Customer logs in to portal with email
5. Customer can: View orders, View invoices, Download documents, Pay online
Searching and Filtering Customers
Use filters to find customers quickly:
Key points
• By name: Search by name or customer code
• By tags: Filter by classification labels
• By salesperson: Customers of specific salesperson
• By country: Customers by region
• By company: In multi-company environment
• Customers: Show only customers (not vendors)
Merging Duplicate Customers
When there are duplicate customers, you can merge:
Steps
1. Go to Contacts → Contacts
2. Select duplicate customers (checkbox)
3. Click Action → Merge
4. Select master record
5. Confirm merge
6. All orders, invoices transferred to master customer
Customer Analysis
Use reports to analyze customers:
Key points
• Top Customers: Customers with most purchases
• Customer Lifetime Value: Customer lifetime value
• Purchase Frequency: Purchase frequency
• Average Order Value: Average order value
• Customer Retention: Customer retention rate
• New vs Returning: New vs returning customers
Best Practices
Steps
1. Always fill in complete customer information (email, phone, address)
2. Use tags to clearly classify customers
3. Set up appropriate pricelists for each customer group
4. Configure payment terms according to company policy
5. Add multiple addresses if customer has multiple branches
6. Use Internal Notes for important notes
7. Grant portal access to frequent customers
8. Regularly clean duplicate customer data
9. Track receivables and credit limits
Integration with CRM
When using CRM module, customers are closely integrated:
Steps
1. Lead/Opportunity automatically creates or links customer
2. Interaction history stored
3. Track sales pipeline
4. Notes and activities synchronized
5. Analyze conversion effectiveness
Receivables Management
Track customer receivables effectively:
Key points
• Total Invoiced: Total invoiced value
• Total Due: Total unpaid receivables
• Overdue: Overdue receivables
• Credit Limit: Allowed credit limit
Steps
1. Set Credit Limit: Customer → Accounting tab → Credit Limit
2. System warns when limit exceeded
3. Track receivables: Accounting → Customers → Customer Statements
4. Send automatic payment reminders
Handling Special Situations
Situations and Solutions
| Situation | Solution |
|---|---|
| Customer has multiple subsidiaries | Create main Company and child Contacts |
| Customer requests special price | Create separate Pricelist for customer |
| International customer | Set up Fiscal Position and Currency |
| Customer exceeds credit limit | Request prepayment or increase limit |
| Customer information changes | Update information, keep history in Internal Notes |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Key points
• How do I merge duplicate customer records? Select duplicate customers in Contacts list, click Action → Merge, choose master record and confirm, all orders will be transferred to master customer.
• Can one customer have multiple pricelists? No, each customer has one default pricelist, but you can change pricelist when creating quotation or create pricelist with multiple complex rules.
• What's the difference between contact and delivery address? Contact address is company main address, delivery address is specific delivery location, one customer can have multiple delivery addresses.
• How do I set credit limits for customers? Go to Customer → Accounting tab → Credit Limit, enter maximum amount, system will warn when customer exceeds limit.
• Can customers have multiple contacts? Yes, click "Add" in Contacts & Addresses section to add multiple contacts with different roles and information.
• How do I grant portal access to customers? Open customer information, click "Grant Portal Access", system creates account and sends invitation email, customer can login to view orders and invoices.
• What's the difference between customer and vendor? In Odoo, both are Contacts, distinguished by "Is a Customer" and "Is a Vendor" checkboxes, one contact can be both.
• How do I track customer purchase history? Open customer information, go to Sales & Purchase tab, click "Sales" to view all orders or "Invoices" to view invoices.
• Can I categorize customers with tags? Yes, create tags in Settings → Technical → Tags or directly on customer, then assign tags to categorize like VIP, Wholesale, Retail.
• How do I handle customer subsidiaries? Create main Company for group, then create child Contacts with Address Type as "Other Address" or "Delivery Address" for each subsidiary.