As part of EQ's CRM capabilities EQ manages your customer list and communication entries, so it is very useful as a starting point for marketing prospects who have expressed interest, contacted you, but not proceeded with a quote for example. EQ can send emails and SMS text messages in bulk to any filtered list (chargeable credits required - see System Config for SMS credits).
Before continuing you should have a text (SMS) template setup or email template setup.
This article covers:
- Filter to select your contacts
- Send messages in EQ (Email or SMS)
- Send messages using a marketing tool (or mail merge letter)
Filter to select your contacts
The key to selecting the right contacts is using the Filter List function, either on your Customer List screen or on the Projects > Communications screen.
The Customer List provides these options:
Criteria can be selected and combined in any way that you need.
Also consider using the communication (contact history) options at the bottom. For example, if you have an Action for Showroom Enquiry or similar you could filter out customers who made an enquiry, without an action between dates of the previous month.
When you click Filter List all of the matching customers are displayed.
Send messages in EQ (Email or SMS)
Once a filter is applied as above, go to the Customer menu at the top of the screen and select either:
Email All... or Text [SMS] All... as shown:
You can then select a template to bulk send your communication.
Customers without a mobile phone number or email address will not be selected. All customers who can be contacted will be selected in a screen like this email screen:
If your email or text template includes any fields that refer to communication details (such as last appointment date or time) then select the action that the template should use to populate the text, from Last Action Type. Otherwise if it is just customer name(s) select Customer Details Only.
If you tick Preview before sending EQ will show the email with merged details, before sending to every customer. You will have to click Send to every email.
If you do not tick Preview, EQ will merge the messages and send automatically.
Note about mass sending email via EQ:
EQ is not an email marketing tool so it will send emails in bulk, using any email address and server you configure. The practicality of how many emails you can send at once depends on the mail server’s sending rules. There may be a rate limit restricting sending to avoid being used for spam. Marketing solutions tend to have their own mail servers that are trusted and able to do mass bulk sending.
Send messages using a marketing tool (or mail merge letters)
As an alternative to having EQ send SMS text messages or emails directly, you can use the same filter criteria to select customers to export to a marketing tool for emailing in bulk, or for mail merging for letters/leaflets. For example you could use Mailchimp, SendGrid, Klaviyo or others that can import a CSV file.
- Apply the filter as above.
- Click Customer on the top menu and select Export Mailing List. You will see this screen:
- Select or deselect customers with the tick box.
- When you export this file, EQ can record the marketing campaign that you will send, so you have a record of it along with all other communication.
Enter your description in the Mailshot Description box and tick Record in Contact History.
- Specify a location to save your CSV file, so you can locate it and upload it to a marketing tool of your choice.