Effective communication is key to delivering excellent customer service, but managing numerous customer interactions can be challenging. Fielder streamlines this process with two powerful tools: Inbox and Email Templates. This guide explains how to use these features effectively to save time, ensure consistency, and improve customer communication.
Email Templates: Streamlining Repetitive Communications
The Email Templates feature allows you to create pre-written messages that can be personalized with job, customer, estimate, or invoice details using placeholders. Here's how to make the most of it:
Key Features:
Customizable Templates: Access this feature under
Settings -> Templates -> Email Templates. Create as many templates as you need, each tailored for different scenarios.Rich Text Editor: Format your message by changing fonts, applying bold, underline, or italics, and adjusting text color.
Placeholders for Personalization: Insert dynamic placeholders via the "insert placeholder" button in the toolbar of the body field. These placeholders will automatically populate with relevant information when you use the template.
Preview and Attachments: Use the "Preview with sample data" toggle to get a better sense of how your message will appear, using fake data. You can also attach general-purpose files, but avoid including job-specific documents in the template.
Inbox: Managing Conversations with Ease
Fielder’s Inbox feature works similarly to a traditional email client but is tailored to managing customer communications within the context of your business.
Core Functionality:
Conversation Threads: Every message you send appears as a new conversation in the Inbox. Replies from recipients are automatically threaded, maintaining the conversation's continuity.
Email Event Tracking: Fielder provides insights on message status, including:
Delivery confirmation
Open status
Delivery failures
Spam reports (if available from the recipient’s email system)
Some email systems may block event tracking, so a lack of confirmation doesn't always mean the message wasn't opened.
Conversation Management: Mark conversations as "Closed" to declutter your Inbox. Closed conversations remain accessible via the status filter - they are not deleted.
Message Composition: Send emails directly from the Inbox or from within a Job, such as when sending an estimate or invoice.
Attachments: Include files up to 25 MB, though it's advisable to keep attachments as small as possible to avoid delivery issues.
Job and Customer Context
Every conversation in the Inbox is linked to a specific Job and Customer record. You can quickly navigate to these records directly from the conversation view, ensuring you always have the context you need.
Additional Features and Best Practices
Message Presentation: The Inbox displays messages as they appear to recipients, including inline attachments, which can be viewed with a single click.
Reply Options: Just like a traditional email client, you can reply, reply-all, or forward the latest message in a conversation.
Forwarding to Your Organization: Replies from customers are automatically forwarded to your organization’s primary email address, ensuring no message is missed, even if Fielder encounters issues with displaying the message.
Viewing messages in Inbox versus Job Log
Messages sent from a Job’s details page are automatically added to the Inbox as new conversations, making it easy to track communications in one place. Incoming and outgoing messages are also logged in the Job Log, though viewing them in the Inbox provides a clearer, conversation-focused view.
By leveraging Fielder’s Inbox and Email Templates, you can efficiently manage customer communications, maintain consistency across interactions, and keep all relevant information at your fingertips.