Need To Include a Link in Your Email?

This blog has been moved to our new email management blog at the following location:

http://www.ifmodules.com/blog/2009/05/include-a-link-in-your-email/

Boost Business with Unique Christmas Cards

Whether you're an online business or a traditional brick-and-mortar company, the Holidays are a great time to stay in touch with customers and to lay the ground work for future relationships. One way to help boost business is to send Christmas greeting cards to customers and prospects. We recommend www.graphics3inc.com. Their unique pop-up Christmas card designs will surely make an impression your customers.

Read the guide:
»Unique Christmas Cards to Boost Your Business

Happy Customers More Important Than Ever

In our challenging economic times, we are always looking for creative ways to actively market to new customers. But now, more than ever, we should also remember the importance of keeping focus on our existing customers and their needs - keep them happy. They are, after all, already purchasing our products or services. One way to do this is through responsive and credible email management. Reestablishing contact with customers, strengthening customer relations, and keeping customer contact information up-to-date are all ways IFM eMail Manager can help. Here is what we recommend:

• Create Auto-responders, such as “We received your request.”


• Create a Standard Replies database for consistent, efficient and credible responses. Be sure responses accurately address your customers question and avoid being too broad.


• Add internal informational notes as reminders so users know when and how to follow up further with customers.


• Identify potential issues or upselling opportunities and assign categories, add notes, escalate the status of the email and move to appropriate folder for action.

Managing Autoresponders in eMail Manager v4

eMail Manager can be configured to send autoresponder emails, automatically, based on specific rules or folders. These can be very simple ( e.g. Thank you - received your email and will respond.) or quite complex (e.g. Using macros in the subject or body). The message immediately provides information to the prospective customers and provides a bit of cushion for the next followup. 

In eMail Manager v4, autoresponders can be enabled or disabled by marking (or unmarking) the checkbox. This is helpful if you want to temporarily deactivate the Autoresponder without deleting its content. 

Autoresponders can be configured in a specific folder or as an action to a rule. 1.) For Folders, go to Maintenance>Folders. Click on the Folder you want to edit. Scroll down to the Autoresponder box and enter the From, Subject and Body. Click on update. 2.) To configure Rules, go to Maintenance>Rules. Click on the Rule you want to edit. Enter the autoresponder form data. The autoresponder will be sent to email originators that match the rule criteria.

Reminder: New URL for eMail Manager Customers

Several weeks ago we migrated the service to a new data center. The old server has been providing redirections from the old service URL to the to the new service URL. We want to remind all of our customers to use their new URL as well as to update their bookmarks to the new service URL.

The new arrangement has improved some performance issues and will allow for future growth.

eMail Manager Links to Third Party Applications

This article has been moved to our main site. Click here to view.

Manage Sales Leads: Website to eMail Manager

This article has been moved to our website. Click here to view.

Assign Emails Quickly in eMail Manager

This article has been moved to the blog on our main site. Click here to view.

Did You Know Your Email Has a Tone of Voice?

Often when we send emails, we end up typing as few words as possible to relay our message. After all, email should be short and sweet, to the point and void of any fluff as to reduce the clog of our email system (or the amount of characters slow typists must type). While this is a good concept (especially for those with fast fingers), we should remember that our emails have a Tone of Voice, much the same as our phone conversations or voice mail messages.

So, when you are responding to a customer, sending an email to a sales lead or politely telling your boss that you disagree with a new policy, keep your "tone" in mind. Choose your words carefully, be more passive, proof your email and try not to use too much Internet slang.

Customer Service... eStyle

BNET, my new favorite blog, posted a very informative article discussing how to provide great customer support online. The post is rich with tips on the right methods to use paired with economic factors. In essence, online support starts with an easy-to-use, well structured, content rich site that addresses many issues customers frequently ask about. But the website cannot answer all questions or handle all problems. You have to be able to go the next logical step, which is managing email, phone calls, online chat etc. Deciding which option(s) to choose depends on your customers, how much money you have and how much staff you have to devote to the task. That is why this article is so great. It gives you advice on how to make those choices.

If you get anything out of these posts, we hope you'll remember to always answer emails in a timely, relevant manner. Regardless of the technology you are using, make sure you can send some sort of an email (even an auto-responder is better than nothing) so the customer feels they are being acknowledged in some way. Wait too long, and you may end up losing a customer. Respond quickly, and you'll probably gain a loyal customer that refers you to a friend.

You might find this previous post useful too.
Fast Email = Happy Customers

Did You Know? - Managing Customer Email History

Did you know that the IFModules (IFM) Email Management Blog has now begun a new series called "Did You Know?" The series will focus on quick tips on IFM eMail Manager use and will be published twice a month, sometimes more if we have have new information we just can't wait to share. So, here it goes...

Did you know that you can keep track of a customers email history (as long as it is in eMail Manager - of course)? There are a few ways to do this.

1.) Email Treads: Each email is assigned a unique ID, so when the customer responds to the email, the response (and your response and notes) will be included in the same thread.

2.) Email Search: If the same customer sends a different email, the responses will be assigned a different ID, causing a different thread to be created. No problem. While viewing the email, click on the customer email address (at the top) and the system will search for any email thread with that address.

3.) Categorize: You can also categorize emails by assigning a custom category (e.g. shipment questions, product inquiries, etc.). A category specific report can then be generated in the administrative section.

Have more questions, recommendations or ideas for this post? Send an email to blog@ifmodules.com or post your comment here (click on comments below).

eMail Manager, CRM and The Sales Team

BNET posted an interesting blog about CRM vendors and the industries' habit of belittling sales people (a large % of their customer base) because of their reluctance to use cumbersome and over-bearing CRM packages. And lets be honest, if a CRM package does not help a sales person close a deal, why bother using it. This is much the same premise we had when we built eMail Manager some years ago. Email management is merely a part of what it takes to manage tasks associated with sales. We wanted to focus on that one important task and make it the best we could while making it easy to use - a required feature. In fact, most of our releases are based on customer comments and requests that are merged and simplified to make a better experience for everyone using the system.

Let me finish by saying that I am really blown away at how the CRM vendor started a pitch letter by knocking sales people. Isn't there some sort of rule not to insult potential customers? Hello?

Fast Email Responses = Happy Customers

This blog has been moved to our new email management blog at the following new location:

http://www.ifmodules.com/blog/2007/02/fast-email-responses/