As we approach the fall, the industry’s busiest season, we thought it worthwhile to revisit the help options available on BNC SalesData. There’s nothing worse than being in a hurry and not knowing where to go for help. We, at BookNet Canada, are looking out for you and have provided you many, many ways to satisfy your hunger for help.
Sometimes while on the BNC SalesData site, you can’t remember that next step in the search you’re building or you’re unsure the site is even capable of doing what you want or need it to do to get ready. And you’re hurried; you have to rush for that sales meeting or to complete that report on deadline. In other words, if you are hungry for more knowledge but aren’t sure where to turn, there are a few avenues you can walk down to find the help that you need.
1. Tool Tips—Amuse-bouche
You may have noticed the little ? icon (image). It can be found on the home page, on the forms you use to build your search query, and on the results pages where you view your data. These “Tool Tips,” as we like to call them, are there to provide immediate help, on the spot, when you need it. They provide a little more information about how to use the box on the form or how to work with the tabular results on the screen without having to open up the whole Help Manual. They are meant to be there for when you need a little assistance. We’ll call them the amuse-bouche of the SalesData world. A helpful snack just when your resolve starts to flag.
Here is an example of a tool tip for the Simple Search box that is available on most pages on the site.
Simply click the ? to open the tip
Then click the ? icon again to close it.
2. Help Manual—Ordering From the Menu
If you are hungry for more, the Help Manual is the entire menu. Available on every page through the top navigation, this user manual is there to answer just about every question you may have about the site.
To view the manual click the link, and it will display either on the screen or in a new window depending on the browser you are using.
Whether it is about functionality, like what reports are available and how to create them, or what data is found in a results table and what it means, the Help Manual is there to feed you the full meal.
It starts off with some appetizers such as the Retail Contributors list and the Binding Code list.
Then we move onto the entrées. Each part of the application is described and broken down by report type and other site functions, such as Saving and Emailing reports and viewing Early Preview Data. Each section has tutorials that break the site down by section into a 5-15 minute videos. All you need are headphones and a few minutes to find out what each section can do and how to use it.
3. Contact Us—Dessert
The Contact Us is the after dinner dessert and/or digestif that offers a little more personal service than the Tool Tips or the Manual can. If you click Contact Us in the top menu available on all pages, you will see a form on screen into which you can enter the details of your inquiry and submit. This form and its details goes directly to a team of people, one of whom will reply to you quickly.
4. Training and Other Assistance—The Buffet Dinner
For those with an insatiable appetite for BNC SalesData detail, we offer a few training options where you can get all you can eat:
A) Webinars/In-House Training: A few times a year we offer webinars to subscribers via the web and voice-over IP (VOIP). The next one of these is offered on August 10 at 2pm. If you are interested in attending, please go to the Event Brite link listed in this week’s eNews. These are quick and convenient. We also will come to you in person or via the Web on a firm-by-firm request basis. To make such a request, please get in touch with us at salesdata@booknetcanada.ca.
B) Live Chat:You may have noticed that there is a little red link in the top navigation bar. This is where you can click to chat with us in real time about what you want to do in the site. We have operators standing by most days from 9-5. If not, then the link will read as Offline. One of the other help options may have to serve in the meantime until we are back up in person.
C) Call Us: If you are working on the site and you have no idea how to get the information that you need for your report/sales meeting/etc, please don’t hesitate to call us. We will be happy to walk you through your process and try to help if what you want or need is not obviously available through the simple reporting tools in the site.
D) Custom Reporting: When all those tools do not fit the bill, we do entertain formal requests for custom reporting. These requests do have a fee attached to them and can be discussed on a case-by-case basis depending on the scope and size of the request.
What’s next for Help? We are planning a few improvements to the existing Help that we provide on the site. It is too early to talk specifics but I am happy to say more help is on the way. Watch this space and other BookNet Canada communication channels for news when these will be available to you on the site.
As Sid the Sloth says, Mangia, Mangia!
