Customers Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about managing your customer roster, custom fields, family accounts, notes, tags, and imports in Zipper. Find answers to questions about customer profiles, data collection, family management, package invites, and more.

Product Capabilities and What It Can Do

Q: What can I do with customer management?

A: Customer management allows you to:

• View and manage your complete customer roster
• Add detailed customer profiles with custom fields
• Organize customers with tags and notes
• Set up family accounts with guardian relationships
• Import customers in bulk from CSV or API
• Track customer metrics and engagement
• Manage package invites and waitlists
• View payment history and booking data

Q: Can I create custom fields for my organization?

A: Yes! You can create unlimited custom fields specific to your organization. Custom fields can be:

• Text fields: Short text inputs
• Textarea fields: Longer text inputs
• Date fields: Date pickers
• Other types: Additional field types as supported

Fields can be set per-user or per-roster entry, and you can control who can see and edit them.

Q: Can I organize customers with tags?

A: Yes! You can:

• Create unlimited tags
• Assign multiple tags to each customer
• Filter customers by tags
• Use tags for segmentation and targeting
• Manage tags (create, edit, delete)

Tags help you organize customers into groups for easy management and targeting.

Q: Can parents manage their children's accounts?

A: Yes! Family accounts allow:

• Parents/guardians to manage children's accounts
• Parents to purchase subscriptions and packages for children
• Consolidated view of payment history across family members
• Control over what guardians can do on behalf of children

This simplifies family account management and allows parents to handle purchases for multiple children.

Q: Can I import customers in bulk?

A: Yes! You can import customers:

• From CSV files: Upload CSV files with customer data
• Via API: Programmatically import customers
• With validation: Data is validated before import
• With job tracking: Monitor import progress

Bulk imports support large datasets with batching and error handling.

Q: Can customers claim their own accounts?

A: Yes! You can invite customers to claim their accounts. Once claimed, customers can:

• Set their own passwords
• Update their profiles
• Manage custom fields
• View their booking history
• Manage payment methods through Stripe portal

This enables customer self-service and reduces support requests.

Q: What information can I track about customers?

A: You can track:

• Contact Information: Name, email, phone, address
• Custom Fields: Organization-specific information
• Notes: Team notes and communication history
• Tags: Organizational tags
• Metrics: Custom metrics you define
• Payment History: Transactions and subscriptions
• Booking History: Appointments, classes, and events
• Punch Card Status: Credits and usage

Q: Can I search and filter customers?

A: Yes! You can:

• Search by name, email, username, or custom fields
• Filter by tags, status, or other criteria
• Use multiple filters simultaneously
• Save filter combinations for quick access

This helps you quickly find specific customers or groups of customers.

How to Use the Product

Getting Started

Q: What do I need before I can manage customers?

A: Before managing customers, you should have:

• An active organization account at https://app.joinzipper.com
• Appropriate permissions:
  • "view-customers" to view the roster
  • "manage-customers" to add/edit customers
  • "view-customer-financials" to see payment history
  • "view-customer-calendar" to see booking data

You can start adding customers immediately, or import them in bulk.

Q: How do I get started managing customers?

A: To start managing customers:

1. Log in to https://app.joinzipper.com
2. Click CRM in the left sidebar
3. You'll see your customer roster
4. Click Add customer to add customers manually, or
5. Use Import to bulk import customers from CSV

You can then add notes, tags, custom fields, and other information to each customer.

Common Tasks

Q: How do I add a customer to my roster?

A: To add a customer:

1. Go to CRM
2. Click Add customer (or use the + button)
3. Enter customer information:
   • Email (required)
   • First name and last name
   • Phone number (optional)
   • Other details
4. Optionally assign tags or custom fields
5. Click Save

The customer will be added to your roster immediately.

Q: How do I add notes to a customer?

A: To add notes:

1. Go to CRM
2. Find and click on the customer
3. Go to the Notes section
4. Click Add note
5. Enter your note
6. Set visibility (who can see the note)
7. Click Save

Notes are timestamped and visible to team members based on visibility settings.

Q: How do I assign tags to customers?

A: To assign tags:

1. Go to CRM
2. Find the customer(s) you want to tag
3. Select the customer(s)
4. Click Add tags or use the tag selector
5. Select existing tags or create new ones
6. Click Save

You can assign multiple tags to each customer and use tags for filtering and segmentation.

Q: How do I set up custom fields?

A: To set up custom fields:

1. Go to Organization Management → Custom Fields
2. Click Add field
3. Configure the field:
   • Name: Field label
   • Type: Text, textarea, date, etc.
   • Visibility: Who can see/edit the field
   • Required: Whether field is required
4. Drag to reorder fields
5. Click Save

Fields will then be available when viewing/editing customers.

Q: How do I set up family accounts?

A: To set up family accounts:

1. Go to CRM → select a customer
2. Go to Family Accounts section
3. Click Add guardian or Add child
4. Enter the relationship information
5. Set permissions (what the guardian can do)
6. Click Save

Parents can then manage children's accounts, purchases, and subscriptions.

Q: How do I invite a customer to claim their account?

A: To invite a customer:

1. Go to CRM → find the customer
2. Click Invite to claim account (or use the invite button)
3. Verify the customer's email
4. Click Send invite

The customer will receive an email with instructions to claim their account and set a password.

Q: How do I import customers from CSV?

A: To import from CSV:

1. Go to CRM → Import
2. Click Import from CSV
3. Download the template (if needed) to see required format
4. Prepare your CSV file with customer data
5. Upload the CSV file
6. Review and map columns to customer fields
7. Validate the data
8. Click Start import
9. Monitor import progress

The system will validate data and show any errors before importing.

Configuration and Settings

Q: How do I configure custom field visibility?

A: To configure visibility:

1. Go to Organization Management → Custom Fields
2. Edit the field you want to configure
3. Set visibility options:
   • Who can see the field
   • Who can edit the field
   • Whether it's visible to customers
4. Save the field

Visibility settings control who can see and edit custom field values.

Q: How do I set up guardian permissions?

A: To set guardian permissions:

1. Go to CRM → select customer with guardian relationship
2. Go to Family Accounts section
3. Edit the guardian relationship
4. Configure permissions:
   • What the guardian can do on behalf of the child
   • Which actions require approval
5. Save the permissions

Permissions control what guardians can do when managing children's accounts.

Troubleshooting

Q: Why can't I see the customer roster?

A: You might not see the roster if:

• You don't have "view-customers" permission
• You're not logged into the correct organization
• The roster is empty (no customers added yet)

Solution: Check your permissions with your organization admin, verify you're in the correct organization, and try adding a customer if the roster is empty.

Q: Why can't I add or edit customers?

A: You might not be able to edit if:

• You don't have "manage-customers" permission
• The customer is archived
• You're trying to edit restricted fields

Solution: Contact your organization admin to grant "manage-customers" permission if needed.

Q: Why do I get "Email is invalid" when adding a customer?

A: This error means the email address format is incorrect.

Solution: Make sure the email address:

• Contains an @ symbol
• Has a valid domain
• Is properly formatted (e.g., customer@example.com)

Q: Why can't I import customers from CSV?

A: Import might fail if:

• CSV format is incorrect
• Required fields are missing
• Email addresses are invalid
• Data doesn't match expected format

Solution:

1. Check the CSV template format
2. Verify all required columns are present
3. Validate email addresses
4. Check for data format errors
5. Review import error messages for specific issues

Q: Why don't I see custom fields when editing a customer?

A: Custom fields might not appear if:

• No custom fields are defined for your organization
• Fields are hidden based on visibility settings
• You don't have permission to view the fields

Solution: Go to Organization Management → Custom Fields to create fields, or check visibility settings if fields exist but aren't visible.

Q: Why can't I set up a guardian relationship?

A: You might not be able to set up guardians if:

• The customer doesn't exist in your roster
• You don't have permission to manage family accounts
• The relationship would create a conflict

Solution: Make sure both customers exist in your roster and you have appropriate permissions.

Q: What does "Customer selection is required" mean?

A: This error appears when trying to perform an action (like sending an invite or processing a payment) without selecting a customer first.

Solution: Select a customer from your roster before performing the action.

Edge Cases and Advanced Usage

Q: Can I have multiple tags per customer?

A: Yes! You can assign unlimited tags to each customer. This allows you to:

• Categorize customers in multiple ways
• Use tags for complex filtering
• Create tag combinations for segmentation
• Organize customers flexibly

Q: What happens when I archive a customer?

A: When you archive a customer:

• The customer is removed from active roster view
• Historical data is preserved (bookings, payments, notes)
• You can unarchive the customer later
• Archived customers don't appear in normal searches

Archiving helps keep your active roster clean while preserving customer history.

Q: Can I bulk update multiple customers?

A: Yes! You can:

• Assign tags to multiple customers at once
• Update custom fields for multiple customers
• Import updates via CSV
• Perform bulk operations through the roster interface

Bulk operations help you efficiently manage large customer databases.

Q: How do I handle duplicate customers?

A: To handle duplicates:

1. Search for customers by email or name
2. Identify duplicate entries
3. Archive or merge duplicate entries
4. Keep the most complete customer record

You can also prevent duplicates by checking for existing customers before importing.

Q: Can customers see their own notes?

A: Notes visibility depends on your settings:

• Notes can be visible to customers (if configured)
• Notes can be team-only (not visible to customers)
• You control visibility per note

Check your note visibility settings to control who can see each note.

Q: How do I track customer metrics?

A: To track metrics:

1. Define custom metrics in your organization settings
2. Go to CRM → select customer
3. Go to Metrics section
4. Add or update metric values
5. View metric history over time

Metrics help you track customer engagement and measure success.

Q: Can I export customer data?

A: Yes! You can export customer data:

• Through reports functionality
• Via API access
• By generating CSV exports

Exports include customer information, custom fields, notes, tags, and other data you've collected.

Q: What happens if a customer claims their account?

A: When a customer claims their account:

• They set their own password
• They can log in to the customer app
• They can update their profile and custom fields
• They can view their booking history and purchases
• They can manage payment methods

This enables self-service and reduces support requests.

Q: Can I see a customer's complete history?

A: Yes! Customer profiles show:

• Booking History: All appointments, classes, and events
• Payment History: Transactions and subscriptions
• Registration History: Class and event registrations
• Note History: All notes added over time
• Metric History: Metric values over time
• Punch Card Status: Current credits and usage

This comprehensive view helps you understand each customer's relationship with your organization.

Birthday Features

Q: How do I see whose birthday is coming up?

A: Zipper displays birthday banners on customer profiles when their birthday is approaching. You'll see:

• A celebration banner on the customer profile
• Birthday indicator in the customer information
• The customer's birth date if entered

To make this work, ensure customers have their birth date entered in their profile.

Q: Can I get notified about customer birthdays?

A: Yes! You can enable birthday notifications in your notification settings. When enabled, you'll receive notifications about upcoming customer birthdays, allowing you to:

• Send personalized birthday messages
• Offer birthday promotions or discounts
• Provide special birthday experiences

Configure birthday notifications in Settings > Notifications.

Credit Balance

Q: What is customer credit balance?

A: Credit balance is a store credit amount that customers can use for purchases. Credit can be added to customer accounts:

• As refunds instead of cash refunds
• As promotional credits or rewards
• As adjustments for service issues
• As gift card balances

Customers can use their credit balance at the Point of Sale or for drop-in payments.

Q: How do I view or add credit to a customer's balance?

A: To manage customer credit balance:

1. Go to the customer's profile
2. Find the Credit Balance section
3. View current balance
4. Add or adjust credit as needed

Credit balance is displayed on the customer overview and can be used during checkout at Point of Sale.

Family Account Enhancements

Q: Can I create guest accounts without email addresses?

A: Yes! When adding family members as guests, you can create accounts without requiring email addresses. This is especially useful for:

• Children who don't have email
• Family members who share a parent's email
• Temporary guest accounts

Guest accounts without email can still:

• Be registered for classes and events
• Have purchases made on their behalf
• Be managed by their parent/guardian

Q: How do parent payment methods work for children?

A: When a parent/guardian relationship is set up, the parent's saved payment methods become available for purchases on behalf of the child:

1. At Checkout: When registering a child for a class or event, parent payment methods appear as options
2. For Appointments: Parents can pay for children's appointment bookings
3. For Cancellation Fees: If a child's booking is cancelled with a fee, it can be charged to the parent's payment method
4. At Point of Sale: Parent payment methods are available when processing sales for children

This simplifies family billing by eliminating the need to save payment methods on each child's account.