The client directory

The directory (the Clients menu) lists the garage’s clients. It is reserved for people who have the permission to view clients; the New client button appears for those who can also create them.

Individual or business

A client is either an individual or a business. A business has a company name (required), and can have a SIRET and an EU VAT number. These numbers are checked (check digit) before saving.

Search

Type in the search field: the list updates after a short pause. You can search by:

• the name (of the person or the company);
• the phone number (mobile or landline, with or without spaces);
• the email;
• the SIRET or VAT number of a business;
• the address (street, postcode, city);
• the registration of a vehicle the client currently holds (if you have the permission to view vehicles).

Accents and capital letters do not matter, and part of a word is enough (“mar” or “tin” finds “Martin”). Several words add up: each one must be found.

Filter

• Type: all types, individuals or businesses;
• Status: active (default), archived or all;
• Source: the clients who came through a given source (“Trade show”, “Internet”…), see Client sources;
• Possible duplicates: the records that look like another one (same phone, email, SIRET, or same name and postcode), see Duplicates and merging.

The list is read in pages of 25: the pagination bar at the bottom leads to the other pages, and the page shown is kept in the address. Changing a filter or the search goes back to page 1. See Lists and pages.

Create a client

Click New client, then fill in:

1. the client type (and, for a business, the company name, SIRET and VAT number);
2. the main contact: at least a first name or a last name; email, mobile and landline are optional;
3. the address;
4. the client language: the language of the notifications sent to them;
5. optional notes;
6. optionally, Where did you hear about us?: the client’s source, picked from the garage’s list.

Tick Add a vehicle to this client to enter their motorcycle on the same screen (type, plate or VIN, colour): the client and their vehicle are created in one go, or not at all if any information is refused.

If a client of the garage has the same name, phone or email, Garage+ shows Existing client? with a link to their page (new tab). It is only a warning: you can still create the client. Archived clients are flagged as such; anonymized clients never are. The notice only appears if your role allows you to view the client directory.

Create a business from the register

For a French business, type its company name, SIREN or SIRET (at least 3 characters): Garage+ suggests companies from the French national company register (INSEE data, through the government’s public Recherche d’entreprises API). A closed company is marked “closed” and can still be chosen. Choosing a suggestion fills in the company name, the SIRET (the head office’s, or the establishment’s whose SIRET you typed), the French VAT number, computed from the SIREN, and the address, which then goes through the usual address check: if the National Address Base finds the address in the same postcode, it is “verified”; otherwise it stays pre-filled as a manual entry, to be corrected if needed.

Each suggestion shows the establishment’s city and postcode, then its SIRET. The field works with the keyboard: up and down arrows to browse the suggestions, Enter to choose, Escape to close the list. The same search is offered when you create a business on the fly, from a new job or a new vehicle: the SIRET, VAT number and address taken from the register show under the company name and are saved with the record; editing the company name drops them.

The Enter without the register link, under the field, turns it into a plain text field (foreign client, association, company not found); Search the company register brings the search back.

Garage+ only sends the register what you type in this field, never writes it to its logs, and keeps nothing other than the record you create. Sole traders and companies whose data is restricted are not suggested. If the register does not respond, the message “Register unavailable, manual entry” shows under the field: type freely, nothing is blocked. After many searches in a row, a message asks you to try again in a minute or to type freely. Editing a record sends no search until the company name is changed.

The address

Type at least 3 characters in Search an address: Garage+ suggests addresses from the Base Adresse Nationale (the French national address database). Pick one (with the mouse, by touch, or with the arrow keys and Enter): the street, postcode and city are filled in, and the client page will show “Verified address”.

If the address service is unavailable, or if you make too many searches in a row, a message tells you so: simply fill in the Street address, Postcode and City fields. The address is then saved as “entered manually”. Editing the street, postcode or city of a suggested address by hand also turns it into a manual entry; the address line 2 (building, floor…) can be added or changed without losing the verification.

Country: France is the default. For an address abroad, choose the country, type the address, then press Enter (or Search): the search is not run on every letter, in order to follow the rules of the OpenStreetMap service used. In France, if no address is suggested, or if you press Enter in Search an address without choosing a suggestion, the Search abroad option appears in the list and runs that same search; once the address is chosen, Enter saves the form. An address chosen from the list is “verified”; otherwise, fill in the fields. If the service answers “very busy”, try again a second later.

An address verified by OpenStreetMap is shown as “Verified address (OpenStreetMap)”; outside France, the postcode may contain letters (“L-1611”, “SW1A 1AA”) and the client page shows the country. The suggestions then carry the credit “© OpenStreetMap contributors”.

The address is optional, but if you provide it, the street, postcode and city are all required.

Suggestions come from the Garage+ server: your browser contacts no third-party service.