Feedback on: EventPro Planner Manual - Companies/Contacts Mail MergeCompaniesContacts_Mail_Merge_Chapter_3Chapter 3: Companies/Contacts > Companies/Contacts Mail Merge /Dear EventPro Planner Documentation Department,
Companies/Contacts Mail Merge
Once you entered companies and contacts into your Companies/Contacts database and have created letter templates for your frequently sent documents (see Chapter 14: Letter and Label Templates), EventPro Planner's mail merge feature can be a powerful marketing tool for your company.
In the Companies/Contacts screen, click on the Company List View tab or Contact List View tab.
You can include all of the companies/contacts in the mail merge or you can limit the number of companies/contacts:
a.
Multi-Select: Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the companies/contacts you want to add to the mail merge.
b.
Filter: Set a filter so that only the companies/contacts you want included in the mail merge appear in the selection grid. For example, if you only want to send a letter to Government and Non-Profit companies, set a filter so that only those types of businesses appear. To review how to set a filter, see Chapter 1: Overview, Common Functions: Filter Information above.
c.
All: If you want to send the mail merge communication to all companies or contacts, you do not have to select or filter any.
2.
After you have selected or filtered companies/contacts as required, click the Detail Options button to the right of the selection grid and select Mail Merge.
Data to Merge: Choose whether you want to merge Selected Records or All.
a.
Selected Records will send the communication to the one or multiple companies/contacts you selected above.
b.
All refers to all of the records visible in the selection grid. Therefore, if you set a filter so that only half of the companies/contacts are visible, those visible companies/contacts amount to “All” for the purpose of the mail merge.
Printer: Print the letters to paper or a PDF writer.
b.
Email: The main email addresses for the Contacts or Companies.
c.
Alternate Email (or Fax): The alternate email addresses for the Contacts or Companies. This can also be used for creating a fax mail merge. Some internet service providers can provide faxing capabilities or you may be able to configure your email server to send and receive faxes. Ensure that you entered the correct fax/email information in the Alt. Email field when creating your companies and contacts.
d.
Document: Letters are saved in an RTF file, each letter starting on a new page.
2.
If you choose Email or Alternate Email, you can choose your Email Options. Select the radio button next to one of the options:
a.
Normal: This option sends one email per recipient. In other words, if the mail merge includes ten recipients, you will send out ten emails. This is the option you should choose if you are using Letter Templates with merge fields specific to each recipient, e.g. First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, etc.
b.
Group: This option sends one email to all recipients. In other words, if the mail merge includes ten recipients, you will send out one email to all ten email addresses. Do not use this option in you are using Letter Templates with merge fields specific to each recipient, e.g. First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, etc. If you select the Group option you have two other options to choose from:
i.
Use the "To" field when sending: This option will put all of the mail merge recipients' email addresses in the "To" field of the email, meaning that the recipients can see all of the other recipients' email addresses.
ii.
Use the "BCC" field when sending: This option will put all of the mail merge recipients' email addresses in the "BCC" field of the email, meaning each recipient will not be able to see the other recipients' email addresses.
In the next screen, you can select an event to which this mail merge is attached, if you want. Click the ellipsis next to the BookNo field. Select the event in the Find Event window and click OK.
2.
The selection grid contains a list of all Letter Templates. Click on a template to see a preview of the letter in the bottom of the window.
3.
Check the Selected box(es) next to the Letter(s) you want to include in the mail merge.
4.
To bring up the Word Processor and make any changes to the template, click to highlight a template and click the Edit Letter button. When you are done, close the Word Processor to return to the Mail Merge Wizard.
5.
If you chose Email or Alternate Email as the merge destination, and you choose a Letter Template here, the Letter will be sent as an Attachment to the email. If you want the Letter to be in the Body of the email, do not select any Letter Templates here. Later in the process, you will load the appropriate template into the body of the email.
6.
If you chose Printer or Document as the merge destination, the letters will be printed to paper, pdf or file (depending on the options you select).
Check the Update Communications box if you want to save a copy of this communication in the records of the company/contact recipient.
a.
Select a Method from the drop-down list and choose a Default Reference for the documents sent in the mail merge.
b.
Selecting a Communication Method is particularly important if you have marked certain recipients as "Do Not Contact By" certain communication methods. For example, if you send an email mail merge and attempt to include a recipient you have marked to not contact by email, the recipient will not be sent the email.
c.
If you do not need to save a copy of the letter and/or body content of the communication, uncheck the Store Letter and/or Store Body/Notes box. You may have selected a default in the Mail Merge Settings of System Settings.
2.
Check the Create Follow Up Action box if you want to create a follow up action. From the Method drop-down box, choose whether you want to create One Action per Recipient or OneAction for All Recipients.
a.
If you select One Action per Recipient, EventPro Planner will create multiple actions (one action for every company or contact in the mail merge) and attach each action to a company or contact so that it appears in the company or contact’s individual Actions tab, as well as the program Actions screen.
b.
If you select One Action for All Recipients, EventPro Planner will create only one action, which will appear in the program Actions screen, but not in the individual company or contacts’ Actions tabs.
c.
Click the Edit button and create the action in the Mail Merge Action [New] window. To learn how to create an Action, see Chapter 12: Actions.
Enter a Subject for this communication. This will be the subject under which the communication is saved. If you send the communication via email, this will also be the subject header of the email.
2.
If this is an email communication, you may click the Add Signature button to add your personal email Signature. To review how to create a signature, see Chapter 2: Setting Up EventPro Planner: Step 4: Users, Create User: Email.
3.
Check the Read Receipt box if you want to receive a message notification when the recipient opens the email.
4.
In the notes area below, type in any notes you would like to record regarding this communication.
a.
If you chose Email or Alternate Email as the merge destination, any notes you enter in this space will become the body of the email message.
b.
If you want to send a Letter Template as the body content of an email, this is the place where you load the template (not the previous page where you had the option to check the Selected boxes). Click the Load Template button/icon. Select the appropriate template and click OK. The letter will appear in the notes field.
c.
When emailing letters, it is better to avoid templates that are intended for printing, i.e. with complex formatting and headers/footers. You may want to create two sets of templates: one set for printed letters and one set for emails.
Click Finish. The Confirm box will appear, asking if you want to continue with the merge to your selected destination. Click Yes to continue.
a.
If you chose Printer as your merge destination, the Print window will appear. If you need to adjust your printer settings, click the Properties button. Click OK.
b.
If you chose Document as your merge destination, the Save Merged Document To window will appear. Choose the folder where you want to save the file, type in a File Name and click Save.
2.
The Merge Results screen will appear and will build a list of the companies/contacts included in the mail merge.
3.
A checked Successful box indicates that the merge was successful for the company/contact.
4.
If the mail merge was not successful for a company/contact, the Successful checkbox will be unchecked and there will be an explanatory Error Message.
5.
If you have marked certain recipients as Do Not Contact By the communication method used in this mail merge, the recipient will be excluded from the mail merge and the Error Message will indicate that the contact "Does not wish to be contacted by this method".
If you want to print the list of merge results, click the Print button in the lower left corner.
2.
In the Mail Merge Results window, choose whether you want to show Successful, Unsuccessful or both Successful and Unsuccessful merge results from the Options drop-down list. Click OK.
3.
To learn more about report printing options, see Chapter 18: Reports, Print Reports.
4.
When you are done with the Merge Results window, click Close.
