The RM (Relationship Management) module for FACTS is designed to assist in managing relationships with customers, prospective customers, vendors and others. It incorporates a wide variety of tools to aid in tracking verbal and written communications, managing follow-ups and opportunities, and even driving common processes such as Accounts Receivable collections.

One terrific tool RM has for reaching out is the ability to easily send a broadcast message via fax or email to a list of contacts. The message can also include an attachment of various formats. The attachment could be a sales flyer, catalog, newsletter, etc. Follow the easy steps below to prepare and send out an RM email or fax blast.

Step 1: Create a Name for the Broadcast List – Navigate to the RM (Relationship Module) menu and select Broadcast Lists from the main RM menu. Then select List Name F/M from the submenu. The screen is pictured below. All that is required is a Broadcast List name, but it is helpful to enter a Description as well. The Statistics area will be blank on initial setup, but is automatically updated whenever the list is actually used to broadcast faxes or emails. It contains summary information about the last time it was used.

Step 2: Select the contacts for the broadcast – Select the Lists option from the RM Broadcast Lists submenu. The screen will look as pictured below. Enter or search for the List Name in the header.

There are a couple of options to add a list of contacts to send this broadcast message to.

• Click the add line or the symbol in the detail list box in the lower portion of the screen. This will allow you to add a single contact to the list of contacts for this broadcast. Use a combination of the buttons at the bottom of the screen.
• The Filtered Add button will open a filter dialog pictured below where you can enter a number of criteria. The system will then return an entire list of contacts based on all or any of the criteria in the filter. In the example below we are going to select all contacts who are assigned to Slsp 10-Ronald Patton.
• Use the Filtered Del button when you have selected a broad list of contacts based on the Filtered Add and then need to fine tune that list and remove some of the contacts based on some other criteria. In the example below, we have set up a Mail Code called DNC-Do Not Contact for contacts that have asked to be removed from our email list. This will delete those contacts from the list.
  
• If you need to clear the list and start over you can click the Clear List button.

When the contacts have been selected, they can be reviewed in the list box at the bottom of the screen. The list can be sorted by any column ascending or descending by clicking the header on the column once or twice.

• As each contact is highlighted, the detailed information will appear in the middle portion of the screen as pictured below. Note that the fax numbers and email addresses are both automatically imported from each contact record. This information can be altered if needed for the distribution list by double clicking the contact line or selecting the Edit Line button. If the change should be part of the permanent Contact record checking the Update Contact box will update it to the Contact record.
  

Step 3 - Click the E-Mail or Fax button to prepare for sending - This is for setting up the details that will be sent with each Email/Fax.

• Email Option - The majority of these fields can be filled in automatically if a standard template is set up and selected using the Template button, otherwise the user must enter them.
• Email Note Options – When the note options are checked in the top box, this will automatically create an RM note for each contact indicating that this email was sent to them on this date/time so that you will have a record in RM that it was sent. You can optionally include the message text of the email in the note that gets created.
• Email Header/Message Entries - Fill in the typical email options such as From email address, CC, BCC, Subject Line, Priority, Receipt requested and the Message text.
• The Replacement option will allow for a drop down list of variable replacement fields that can be inserted into the message or subject. This will personalize the message text based on the contact that it is being sent to. You have to select the one you want to use and then place your cursor where you want it to appear and select Ctrl-V to insert it. You can spot the replacements as text in braces.

• Attachment – If you want to include an attachment file to the email (in this example an actual PDF file of our newsletter) enter the full path including the file name. There is a search button to allow browsing for a file and selecting.

  

Fax Option – Similar options to the Email screen, but fax specific.

• File Name - The file that will be sent with the fax cover page. It must be in a PCL, TIFF, Postscript or Text format for faxing.
• Delivery Options – Send at sets the time that the faxes will be sent. Mode is Std or Fine. Notify is for entry of an email address to alert someone based on the Notification status that is set.
• Cover Page – Allows setting of a standard Cover Page, Subject for cover page and Message.
• Contact Options – Will allow the creation of automatic RM Notes for each contact indicating that this fax was sent.
• Sender Info– This button allows entry of specifics about who the fax is sent from.
  

Step 4 – Test the Email/Fax – The Test button will allow a test of the email/fax before it is generated to the entire list of contacts. You would enter your own email address or fax number and it will send a copy to you for review.

Step 5 – Send the Email/Fax – Click the Send button on the Email/Fax message screen to send the Email/Fax to the list of contacts. The Contact list will be retained with the List Name so that the next time you want to Email/Fax to the same group of contacts you will not necessarily have to go through the steps of selecting and/or entering contacts.

Additional Use of Broadcast Lists – There may be occasions when you want to capture a list of contacts and do something other than send an Email/Fax. Perhaps you want to mail them something, or send a list to a third party company who will deliver something on your behalf. In this case, you can go through Steps 1 and 2 above and then instead of creating an Email/Fax to go out you can:

• Select Export off the top menu and Export to Excel to dump the entire list of contacts to a spreadsheet. This will give whoever is going to mail something a list of all the contacts and addresses.
• Then click on the Note Only button which will allow you to create an RM note for each contact with a description of what you did for them on this date/time for future reference.

There is some additional setup that must be done in RM control to enable faxing and emailing. The setup of templates improves the broadcast list functionality. These are outside the scope of this article, but should be explored before full advantage of broadcast lists can be realized.

Please contact your E&A support representative if you would like further information on using this feature or on the RM module in general.

Bill Briggs is a software consultant specializing in FACTS. He can be reached at 336.272.1241.