Beta Auto Dealers Visits and Sales Business Processes To begin the database design process, Hudson wrote the following narrative describing the visits and sales business processes: In a car dealership, it is very important for salespeople to make early contact with the customer Therefore, salespeople are constantly looking for customers either driving or walking around the lot or entering the dealership. The first point of contact occurs when a salesperson greets the customer. The salesperson tries to find out what the customer's needs are and will show the customer vehicles if the customer desires. During the visit, the salesperson obtains the customer's name and telephone number and asks if the customer has been to the dealership location before. If the customer has not previously visited the location, then the salesperson also obtains the customer's address and asks where the customer heard about Beta (eg., newspaper, radio, etc.) to help management determine which advertising touchpoint was effective in bringing in that particular customer. After the customer's visit the salesperson records information in the visit information system. For a new customer, the salesperson creates a new customer record in the system and inputs the customer's name, complete address, and telephone number. The visit information system assigns a unique identifier as the customer number. For a customer who has previously visited the location, the salesperson uses the name and/or telephone number to look up the customer number. For each visit, the salesperson enters both the date and day of week of the visit, the customer name and number, and the vehicle model(s) the customer viewed during the visit. The salesperson also enters his/her own name and number in the visit system, in case the customer comes back to the dealership (1.c., the salesperson could then continue to assist this customer in hopes of making a sale). Salespeople also use the visit information to make follow-up contacts with a customer. The salesperson inputs the advertising touchpoint for a new customer in the visit system and leaves the field blank for a customer that visited the dealership before. A customer may visit the dealership multiple times, and additional visits are recorded as new records in the visit information system. Additionally, a customer may talk with one salesperson on one visit and come in and request the same salesperson or choose to work with a different salesperson on another visit. Also, a customer may visit different locations, but the dealership has no way of knowing this, as cach location tracks its own customers, visits, and sales, separately. Currently, salespeople work at one location, but sometimes may work at another location if that location is short-staffed or running a promotion When a customer decides to purchase a vehicle, the salesperson handling the sale fills out a sales form with information about the sale (and this is the salesperson that gets the commission). In the rare event that a customer purchases more than one vehicle at a time, each vehicle is recorded as a separate sale. Beta also does not offer orders, thus customers can only purchase cars that are in stock. Inventory is assigned by VIN (though this is not in the Excel file due to privacy concerns). If a customer finances a vehicle or purchases an extended warranty through the dealership, the salespeople complete additional forms, from which a bookkeeper enters the information into the system. Since the dealership offers financing, customers can make monthly payments on their vehicles so customers can purchase now and pay in installments later. These payments are sent to the Accounts Receivables (AR) department. Additionally, the dealership has multiple cash accounts and that customer payments are always deposited in the same cash account. See Figure Beta Auto Dealers Visits and Sales Business Processes To begin the database design process, Hudson wrote the following narrative describing the visits and sales business processes: In a car dealership, it is very important for salespeople to make early contact with the customer Therefore, salespeople are constantly looking for customers either driving or walking around the lot or entering the dealership. The first point of contact occurs when a salesperson greets the customer. The salesperson tries to find out what the customer's needs are and will show the customer vehicles if the customer desires. During the visit, the salesperson obtains the customer's name and telephone number and asks if the customer has been to the dealership location before. If the customer has not previously visited the location, then the salesperson also obtains the customer's address and asks where the customer heard about Beta (eg., newspaper, radio, etc.) to help management determine which advertising touchpoint was effective in bringing in that particular customer. After the customer's visit the salesperson records information in the visit information system. For a new customer, the salesperson creates a new customer record in the system and inputs the customer's name, complete address, and telephone number. The visit information system assigns a unique identifier as the customer number. For a customer who has previously visited the location, the salesperson uses the name and/or telephone number to look up the customer number. For each visit, the salesperson enters both the date and day of week of the visit, the customer name and number, and the vehicle model(s) the customer viewed during the visit. The salesperson also enters his/her own name and number in the visit system, in case the customer comes back to the dealership (1.c., the salesperson could then continue to assist this customer in hopes of making a sale). Salespeople also use the visit information to make follow-up contacts with a customer. The salesperson inputs the advertising touchpoint for a new customer in the visit system and leaves the field blank for a customer that visited the dealership before. A customer may visit the dealership multiple times, and additional visits are recorded as new records in the visit information system. Additionally, a customer may talk with one salesperson on one visit and come in and request the same salesperson or choose to work with a different salesperson on another visit. Also, a customer may visit different locations, but the dealership has no way of knowing this, as cach location tracks its own customers, visits, and sales, separately. Currently, salespeople work at one location, but sometimes may work at another location if that location is short-staffed or running a promotion When a customer decides to purchase a vehicle, the salesperson handling the sale fills out a sales form with information about the sale (and this is the salesperson that gets the commission). In the rare event that a customer purchases more than one vehicle at a time, each vehicle is recorded as a separate sale. Beta also does not offer orders, thus customers can only purchase cars that are in stock. Inventory is assigned by VIN (though this is not in the Excel file due to privacy concerns). If a customer finances a vehicle or purchases an extended warranty through the dealership, the salespeople complete additional forms, from which a bookkeeper enters the information into the system. Since the dealership offers financing, customers can make monthly payments on their vehicles so customers can purchase now and pay in installments later. These payments are sent to the Accounts Receivables (AR) department. Additionally, the dealership has multiple cash accounts and that customer payments are always deposited in the same cash account. See Figure