Staff Groups

Learn how to organize your sales team using staff groups for better management and reporting.

Overview

Staff Groups are a simple way to categorize staff accounts (for example by territory or team). A staff group name is stored on staff accounts and carried into staff-related order context for reporting.

Use Staff Groups to:

• Organize staff by territory, department, or function
• Filter staff in Admin lists and reports
• Group orders by staff team (especially useful with Staff > Reports screens)
• Use a stable group id for integrations (for example SAML mapping)

Create Staff Group

Navigate to Groups

Location: Staff > Staff Groups (Admin)

Add New Group

1. Click Add New
2. Enter Name: e.g., "Territory North"
3. Click Save

Group Names Examples:

• Territory North
• Territory South
• Inside Sales
• Field Sales
• Customer Service
• VIP Account Managers
• Product Specialists

Assign Staff to Groups

During Staff Creation

1. Create new staff account
2. Select Staff Group from dropdown
3. Save staff account

Edit Existing Staff Account

1. Edit staff account
2. Change Staff Group
3. Save

Note: A staff account can only belong to one group at a time.

Default Staff Group

Configure Default

Location: Stores > Configuration > MageB2B > Staff > General

Setting: Default Staff Group

Behavior:

• New staff automatically assigned to default group
• Can be changed during creation
• Can be changed later

Use Case: Assign all new staff to "General" group initially

How Groups Are Used (In Practice)

Orders: Group Context

When an order is assigned to a staff account, the system also stores staff group context on the order. This allows:

• grouping/analysis in reporting tools

Integrations (Example: SAML)

Some add-ons (like SAML) can use group ids as stable identifiers for mapping "roles" to staff attributes.

Reporting

Group Reports:

• Sales by group
• Commission by group
• Orders by group
• Customer distribution by group
• Performance comparison

Tip: Reporting screens are available in core (Admin: Staff > Reports).

Use Cases

Geographic Territories

Structure:

├── Territory North
│   ├── Staff 1
│   ├── Staff 2
│   └── Staff 3
├── Territory South
│   ├── Staff 4
│   └── Staff 5
└── Territory West
    ├── Staff 6
    └── Staff 7

Benefits:

• Clear territory ownership
• Regional performance tracking
• Territory-based goals
• Resource allocation

Functional Teams

Structure:

├── Inside Sales
│   ├── Phone Sales Rep 1
│   ├── Phone Sales Rep 2
│   └── Email Sales Rep
├── Field Sales
│   ├── Field Rep 1
│   └── Field Rep 2
└── Customer Service
    ├── Support Rep 1
    └── Support Rep 2

Benefits:

• Role-based organization
• Function-specific metrics
• Skill-based assignment
• Training coordination

Product Lines

Structure:

├── Electronics Team
│   ├── Electronics Specialist 1
│   └── Electronics Specialist 2
├── Furniture Team
│   ├── Furniture Specialist 1
│   └── Furniture Specialist 2
└── Clothing Team
    └── Clothing Specialist

Benefits:

• Product expertise
• Category performance
• Specialized training
• Inventory planning

Hierarchical Structure

Structure:

├── Senior Sales (Managers)
│   ├── Territory Manager North
│   └── Territory Manager South
├── Mid-Level Sales
│   ├── Senior Rep 1
│   ├── Senior Rep 2
│   └── Senior Rep 3
└── Junior Sales
    ├── Junior Rep 1
    ├── Junior Rep 2
    └── Junior Rep 3

Benefits:

• Career progression
• Mentorship structure
• Tiered commission
• Skill development

Group Management

Rename Group

1. Go to Staff Groups
2. Edit group
3. Change name
4. Save

Effect: All staff remain in the same group (only the name changes).

Delete Group

Groups can be deleted; related staff rows follow the configured database relation behavior.

Recommendation:

1. Reassign staff to another group first
2. Then delete the group if it is no longer needed

Best Practices

Group Structure

Keep It Simple:

• 3-7 groups ideal
• Clear naming
• Logical organization
• Easy to understand

Avoid:

• Too many groups (>10)
• Overlapping groups
• Confusing names
• Frequent changes

Group Assignment

Criteria:

• Geographic location
• Product expertise
• Experience level
• Customer type
• Sales channel

Documentation:

• Document group purpose
• Define assignment criteria
• Communicate changes
• Regular reviews

Performance Tracking

Set Goals:

• Group sales targets
• Commission goals
• Customer acquisition targets
• Activity goals

Monitor:

• Weekly progress
• Monthly reviews
• Quarterly analysis
• Annual planning

Integration

CRM Integration

Sync Groups:

• Map Magento groups to CRM teams
• Sync group assignments
• Share performance data

ERP Integration

If you sync staff groups to an external system, you typically use the group name/id as a stable reference (for example for cost center mapping).

Troubleshooting

Cannot Delete Group

Cause: Delete operation failed (for example due to custom business constraints or data/state issues)

Solution:

1. Check if staff currently reference the group
2. Reassign staff if needed
3. Retry delete and review logs on failure

Staff Not in Correct Group

Check:

1. Staff account group assignment
2. Recent changes
3. Default group setting

Solution: Edit staff, change group, save

Orders Not Tagged with Group

Check:

1. Staff has group assigned
2. Order placed after group assignment
3. Staff group information is visible in order data/reporting

Solution: Verify staff group, check order data

Next Steps

• Order Management →
• Commission System →
• Reports →