Frequently Asked Question
Exclusion Rules tell the Account Watch which customers and categories to leave alone. Use them for accounts nobody calls on, such as cash sale, house or VIP accounts, and for product lines you no longer sell. Open them from CP2 Admin > Exclusion Rules; the rules apply to everyone in the company. Only users given the Exclusion Rules module (in CP2 Manager) see the page.
Customer rules
Pick what the rule checks, how to match it, then type the value:
| Rule | Example | Leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| Account number | begins with CASH | CASH, CASH01, CASH-WEST |
| Customer name | contains INTERNAL | Any name with INTERNAL in it |
| Customer name | ends with STAFF | Names such as JOE SMITH STAFF |
| Customer type | equals VIP | Accounts whose Counterpoint customer type is VIP |
| Industry | equals HOUSE | Accounts in that industry code |
| Territory | equals 99 | Accounts in that territory |
| Sales rep | equals HOUSE | Accounts assigned to that rep code |
| No sale in (months) | 24 | Accounts with no invoice in 24 months, and accounts that have never bought |
The match can be equals (the whole value, exactly), begins with, ends with or contains. Upper and lower case don't matter, and the value is taken as typed. Add a note under Why so others know what the rule is for. The Accounts column shows how many accounts each rule leaves out.
A customer that matches a rule:
- isn't scored by the Account Watch, so it never appears on the Call List as needing a call;
- doesn't get AI Insights;
- isn't counted when CP2 works out what similar shops buy;
- isn't checked on the Data Cleanup tab.
Its CounterCRM page says Not watched and names the rule it matched. You can still pin it, log calls and book follow-ups.
Category rules
Pick a category to leave out, such as a line you stopped selling. The Account Watch then ignores it: a customer who stopped buying it isn't flagged for that, and its sales come off the customer's monthly spend, so dropping the line doesn't read as a customer spending less. AI Insights never suggest it.
Excluded categories are also left out of FlightDeck's analysis: the CP2 Brief, sales by category, category margins, lost sales, sales below margin and returns. FlightDeck's sales totals don't change, so they still match Counterpoint.
When rules take effect
Adding a rule takes customers off the Call List straight away. Removing one puts them back on the watch from the next nightly run. The cash customers listed in the old cashCustomers setting were turned into account number rules when CP2 2.0 was installed.