Centrally managed chains: one buyer for every branch

Some chains let each branch decide what it stocks. Others have one buyer at head office who decides for every branch. Mark that second kind as Managed centrally, so you chase it as one deal rather than a dozen.

Mark a chain as managed centrally

1. Open the chain and choose Edit store. To start a new one, go to Chains and choose New chain.
2. Make sure This is a chain is ticked.
3. Tick Managed centrally.
4. If the head office is only where the buyer sits, with nothing to deliver to, also tick Only a buying office, not a shop.
5. Save.

Add branches by choosing the chain under Chain on each shop's edit form. On a centrally managed chain, only people who can manage the chain itself can add branches to it.

How it shows in the pipeline

Instead of a row per branch, the pipeline shows the chain once, linked to the chain's page:

• Under its name, how many branches it has, followed by "managed centrally".
• One lead temperature for the whole chain. Set it on the chain's page under Lead temperature, for every branch; every branch takes it.
• The Seller column shows one name, or how many people when the branches have different Sellers.
• The follow-up is the soonest one among its branches, and the weekly value and what you'd earn add up every branch.

A chain that isn't managed centrally appears as its own row with its branches listed under it, each with its own temperature, Seller and follow-up.

An office-only chain is never a route stop

A chain marked Only a buying office, not a shop takes no deliveries. It is kept off the Stores list, off routes and off the public where-to-buy page, and it is never offered when you plan a route. If you tick it on a chain that was already a stop, it is taken off every route it was on. When the head office is a shop as well, leave the box unticked and it can be delivered to and put on a route like any other shop. The Chains list shows which is which under Kind: Office only or Office and shop.