# Find and manage customers

URL: https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/managing-customers

Find a B2B customer, check their access, customer group, credit and addresses, and fix customer sync errors in SparkLayer.

> **Quick summary**
>
> - **Customers** lists every B2B customer who can order on your store, with their **Access** (**Standard** or **Limited**) and customer group. Find it at **Customers** in the SparkLayer Dashboard ([open](https://app.sparklayer.io/customers/list)), or **SparkLayer Wholesale > Customers** in the Shopify app.
> - A banner at the top tells you when the customer sync found records that need fixing.
> - Open a customer to see what SparkLayer holds for them: company, customer group, credit, role, company users, addresses and IDs. You change their **Role** here. Everything else comes from your store.
> - Available on every plan.

## How it works

SparkLayer doesn't hold its own customer accounts. It syncs your B2B customers from your eCommerce platform (on Shopify, customers tagged `b2b`) and shows them here. Use it to check what each one sees when they sign in.

Where customer data comes from:

1. **Your platform**: The customer, their tags and their company live in your store's admin
2. **Customer sync**: SparkLayer imports B2B customers automatically, and tells you about any it couldn't
3. **Customers**: You check their access, group, credit and addresses

To change most details, edit the customer in your platform, and the change syncs to SparkLayer. The exception is the customer's [role](#make-a-customer-a-sales-agent), which you set here.

## Find a customer

1. Go to **Customers** in the SparkLayer Dashboard ([open](https://app.sparklayer.io/customers/list)), or **SparkLayer Wholesale > Customers** in the Shopify app.
2. Search by name, email or company.
3. Click the customer's name, or **View**, to open them.

## The Customers screen

The Customers screen lists every B2B customer who can order on your store. Go to **Customers** in the SparkLayer Dashboard ([open](https://app.sparklayer.io/customers/list)), or **SparkLayer Wholesale > Customers** in the Shopify app.

| Part | What it shows / does |
| --- | --- |
| **Open in Shopify** | Opens **Customers** in your Shopify admin. |
| Sync banner | Shown when the last customer sync had problems. See [Fix customer sync errors](#fix-customer-sync-errors). |
| Search | Type a name, email or company (**Search by name, email or company**). |
| **Name** | The customer's name, with their company underneath. Click it to open the customer. |
| **Email** | The email address they sign in with. |
| **Access** | **Standard** or **Limited** (see below). |
| **Group** | Their [customer group](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/customer-groups.md). Sales agents show **Base**. |
| **View** | Opens the customer. |

If nothing matches your search, the list says **No customers found** ("Try a different name or email.").

### Access

| Access | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Standard** | They can sign in and place orders. |
| **Limited** | They can build orders, but their orders need approving before they're placed, as a [limited company user](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/company-users.md#limited-access). |

## A customer's page

A customer's page shows everything SparkLayer holds for them. To open it, click the customer's name or **View**. To open the same customer in your Shopify admin, click **View in Shopify**. An empty value shows **None set**.

| Card | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| **Basic information** | **Email**, **Company**, **Customer group**, **Price list override** (a price list for this customer only, see [Prices for one customer](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pricing/customer-pricing.md)) and **Sales agents who can see them**. |
| **Financial details** | **Discount percentage** and **Accounting ID** (see [advanced account settings](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/account-and-addresses.md#advanced-account-settings)). Under **Payment on account**: **Balance**, **Credit limit**, **Net terms** and **Currency**. See [Credit limits and net terms](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/ordering/credit-net-terms-and-invoicing.md). |
| **Role** | Whether the person is a customer, a sales agent or a sales administrator. See [Make a customer a sales agent](#make-a-customer-a-sales-agent). |
| **Company users** | "Everyone at this customer's company, and their roles." With none, it suggests adding company users, with **Learn more**. See [Company users](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/company-users.md). |
| **Addresses** | **Default shipping address**, **Default billing address** and **Other addresses**. |
| **Identifiers** | **Platform ID** (the customer's ID in your platform), **Legacy ID** and **Internal ID** (SparkLayer's own ID). |

**Sales agents who can see them** lists the agents allowed to see this customer's customer group, plus any agents who can see every customer. See [Sales agents](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/sales-reps.md).

## Change a customer's details

Customer information comes from your connected platform. To change fields such as the email address, name or company, edit the customer in your platform (on Shopify, click **View in Shopify**) and the change syncs to SparkLayer.

**Shopify only:**

Fields such as the accounting ID and default addresses can also be set with metafields on Shopify: see [advanced account settings](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/account-and-addresses.md#advanced-account-settings).

## Make a customer a sales agent

A sales agent is a customer with a sales agent role. To give someone sales agent access:

1. Open the customer and go to **Role** ("Assign a role to manage permissions for this person.").
2. Choose a role.
3. Click **Save** in the bar at the top. You'll see "Role saved".

| Role | What they can do |
| --- | --- |
| **Customer** | "Can log in and place orders." |
| **Sales agent** | "Can place orders and manage addresses, shopping lists, and company access on behalf of customers." |
| **Sales administrator** | "All sales agent permissions, plus the ability to edit order prices and create new customers." |
| Your own roles | Any [custom role](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/sales-reps/roles.md) you've created, shown as "Custom sales rep role." |

To remove sales agent access, choose **Customer** and save.

Sales agents need the Starter plan or above. Below Starter, choosing an agent role shows what sales agents do and how to upgrade.

If you've used all the sales agents on your plan, you'll see "You've used all" and your plan's number of agents. Change another agent's role to **Customer**, or upgrade. See [Sales agent ordering](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/sales-ordering.md) and [Your plan](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/dashboard/plan-and-features.md).

## Remove a customer from B2B

Once a customer has synced to SparkLayer, removing the `b2b` tag (or label) in your platform doesn't remove them from SparkLayer. It doesn't take them out of their customer group either. They stay at **Customers** in the SparkLayer Dashboard ([open](https://app.sparklayer.io/customers/list)), or **SparkLayer Wholesale > Customers** in the Shopify app with the same group.

To remove customers you no longer want in SparkLayer, [contact our support team](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/support.md) with their email addresses. We can remove them one at a time or in bulk.

To move a customer to another group instead, change their group tag: see [Assign customers to a customer group](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/add-customers-to-a-group.md#assign-customers-to-a-customer-group).

## Fix customer sync errors

SparkLayer syncs your customers in full now and then, and syncs changes in between (a partial sync). When a sync finds records it can't use, a warning banner appears at the top of Customers. For example:

> **Customers sync completed with 3 errors**
> We synced your customers to SparkLayer, but some records need fixing.

The banner also gives the times of the last full and partial syncs. Home shows the same problem in your briefing ("customers didn't sync from Shopify"), with **Show errors**.

To fix them:

1. Click **Show errors**. **Customer sync errors** lists each customer's name, email and the problem.
2. Click **Open customers in Shopify** and fix each record there.

The fixed customers sync on the next partial sync. You don't need to do anything else.

| Example problem | How to fix it |
| --- | --- |
| Missing a default shipping address | Add an address to the customer and make it the default. |
| Tagged `b2b-trade` but no first or last name | Add the customer's first and last name. |
| Tax exemption ID is not valid for DE | Correct the tax exemption ID for the customer's country. |

The banner is a warning, not an error: the sync worked for everyone else. Close it with **×** and it stays hidden until the next sync.

## FAQs

**Why is a customer missing from the list?**

Only B2B customers are synced. Check the customer is marked as B2B in your platform (on Shopify, tagged `b2b`) and has an email address and a default address. If the sync banner is showing, click **Show errors** to see whether they're listed.

**Can I edit a customer's email or company in SparkLayer?**

No. Change them in your eCommerce platform and they sync across to SparkLayer.

**How do I move a customer to another customer group?**

Change their tags (or labels) in your platform. See [Assign customers to a customer group](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/customers/add-customers-to-a-group.md#assign-customers-to-a-customer-group).

**I removed the b2b tag but the customer is still in SparkLayer**

That's expected. Removing the tag doesn't remove a customer who has already synced, or change their customer group. Ask our team to remove them: see [Remove a customer from B2B](#remove-a-customer-from-b2b).

**Where did the customer data lookup go?**

Customer sync now lives on this screen: the banner shows the last full and partial sync and any errors, and **Show errors** lists the records to fix. To check one customer, search for them here and open their page.