How To Create A Project

A project is a job — the work you're doing at a specific address. Projects hold the work type, the assigned salesperson, tasks, estimates, and the record of everything that happens on that job.

When you'd use it

• A lead becomes a real opportunity and you're ready to start tracking the work
• You have a new lead and want to manage all of your leads on your project board
• An existing customer needs work at a second property
• A repeat customer is back for a different service

Before you start

Work Type is what tells your team which service this job is — roofing, siding, gutters, windows. Your admin controls this list.

Required fields (both system and account specific) are marked with a red asterisk on the form.

Three ways to create a project

All three open the same Create a Project window.

1. From the New menu
   
   

   Click New Project under the Exterio logo.

2. From the Projects board
   
   

   Click New Project in the top right.

3. From the customer's record
   
   If you already know the customer, this is the fastest path — their name is filled in for you.

1. • Open the contact.
   • Scroll to Projects.
   • Click Add New Project.
     
     

Filling out the project

1. Customer name — pre-filled if you started from the customer's record. Otherwise, search for an existing contact or add a new one.
2. Project address — defaults to the customer's address. Change it if the work is happening somewhere else, such as a customer with multiple locations.
3. Work type — required. This tells the team what service you're performing.
4. Project title — Exterio generates your customized project naming convention from your settings. Edit it if you want something more specific.
5. Salesperson — assign the rep who owns this job.
6. Notes — anything the team should know going in.
7. Click Create Project.

The project is created and ready to use.

Tips and gotchas

• Check the project address before you save. It defaults to the customer's address, which is right most of the time and wrong in the cases that hurt — rental properties, absentee owners, commercial accounts with several buildings. The crew works off this address.

• Work type drives more than labeling. It's how your team knows what's being done and how your reporting separates roofing revenue from gutter revenue. Getting it right at creation saves cleanup later.

• Edit the auto-generated title when it matters. The default is fine for a customer with one job. When someone has three projects, "Smith — Roof Replacement, Rear Building" is what keeps your team from opening the wrong one.

• Assign the salesperson at creation. An unassigned project is one nobody owns. If you don't know yet, assign yourself and reassign later.

• Second property? New project, not a new contact. One customer with two addresses is one contact with two projects. Creating a duplicate contact splits their history in half.

• Notes at creation are worth the thirty seconds. Whoever picks this job up next — estimator, production manager, crew lead — reads these first. "Homeowner works nights, don't call before noon" saves a wasted trip.