Automated E-mail

[awardsguy]

Can we have a function to automatically send a survey maybe a week after an order is picked up (based on criteria we select like minimum order size)? How about an automated e-mail 10 or 11 months after an order is completed to remind the customer that "it's that time again"? If the person is no longer in the same position, we'll get an e-mail deamon to let us know that we need to make a phone call and if they are still there, it's a "touch" that will remind both them and us.

This is a good way to generate revenue to pay for the system!

[nielsnorby]

I think that is a great idea, I would love to see it, but I think just having follow up email automatically sent is to generic and will not fit every situation or order. Example, what if it is a quarterly event, or a yearly event, or lets say it is a custom order that requires a certain amount of time to complete. I would like to have another field below event date that says follow up date. Then either select no follow up or allows you to put in a date to follow up. Then under the queued emails add another line that says follow up notices: #'s. Then when you click on that, it pops up a window for you to check, send canned email or make a phone call or something. Select all that need to send an email, and send them, but then you can also make a phone call or more personal email if needed.

[M. David Matney]

I would love to see more discussion on this, but the idea Niels has is one that we are leaning towards. Due to the way every store operates different, some stores may wish to send automated e-mails to everyone, some stores may wish to call to provide a more personal touch, and some stores may want to do a mix, send automated e-mails to lower end clients and make phone calls to higher end clients.

Having a followup date and a followup screen will accomplish the same goals with very little effort as proposed by Steve Rapchick, but will fit the needs of a wider variety of store environments more efficiently.

Don't forget that BizWizard has followup capabilities even today using the calendar events.

[nielsnorby]

I also like the idea of a survey in the original message. It would be a nice way to ensure that we are providing our customers with the best possible service.

[M. David Matney]

I think we have two ideas going on within this thread. They are closely related and is why the confusion.

Idea #1: A Survey E-Mail that is automated.

Idea #2: A Followup E-mail that is scheduled in the future to remind a customer that they have a reorder coming up soon.

The first idea would be good if there is a way to capture the results of the survey. The only way to capture those results is via web page survey whereby questions/answers are submitted and data is gathered so that it can be compiled into decisioin support information. this can be submitted to ALL clients at a predefined schedule (say 2 weeks after order is picked up)

The second idea would be implemented via creating a new date field as suggested by Niels for "Followup Date" that is either set to "No followup" or a date. Then a new option to work with all followups scheduled so you can send an e-mail or make a phone call depending upon how you wish to handle the followup.

[awardsguy]

I had in mind the ability to do a survey (maybe using "survey monkey" )or some other type of web program that you're talking about. I'd also like an opportunity to automatically send a "
Thank You" as you mentioned above, and a reminder e-mail 11 months (or whatever we decide...as long as we can set a default and then change that as needed) to follow up.

[Kami]

The survey is a great idea and can be generic enough as far as customer service, quality, price, meeting expected delivery, etc.

We do the reminders for every rush order that comes in our store automatically. We also ask clients if they would like a reminder for their order that helps us with not just the annual orders, but the quarterly orders as well. "Calendar Event" is the greatest tool.

[nielsnorby]

As for the reminder emails, further thought led me to a possible solution. Allow in the system setup to turn on or off a feature that creates a pop up window when triggering a job for completion, to pop up a window to ask: Would you like create a reminder/calendar event for this order YES/NO, if yes pop up the calendar event window and you can create your reminder, if one has not already been done.

By setting this feature to on or off in system setup, each store can choose to use the "Reminder Feature".

In the calendar event window, to make this work I think to the right of where notifications are, you would need to create a category "Email Notification" and have two drop down lists:

First drop down list would be: Email Notification Type:
Option 1: Send Default Reminder Email
Option 2: Send Custom Email

Second Drop Down List would be: Send email in?:
option 1: 15 Days
Option 2: One Month
Option 3: Two Months
Option 4: Three Months
Option 5: ..... (each month up to one year)
Last Option: Custom Date

This way, you have the power of the calendar event already included in bizwiz, so you can setup a calendar event to not only send a reminder email, but for those large orders, setup for you to make a phone call or something even more

[awardsguy]

Right now, we're not using the calendar function to it's full capability. Will it send e-mails or is it "just" a reminder for us to take action?

[M. David Matney]

Right now, we're not using the calendar function to it's full capability. Will it send e-mails or is it "just" a reminder for us to take action?

It is a reminder for you to take action, which is better than automated e-mails. If you need to take action on f $10,000 order, you probably want to make a phone call. If you need to take action on a $1000 order, you might want to send an e-mail. BizWizard allows you to make the decision based upon what you know about the client and their importance level to you.

E-Mails often end up in Spam folders and if you sent an automated e-mail to a $10,000 repeat order customer, and it goes to their spam box, you might risk loosing the order. A Phone call is more personal.

So having it remind you of action is better so you can take action as you see appropriate based upon your knowledge of the customer in question.