To access the Customer Order Notifications program:
Go To:
Modules >Customer Orders > Customer Order Notification.
The Customer Order Notifications program is your pathway to contacting customers who have a pending Customer Order.
You will need to contact customers manually, either via e-mail, text, phone, or mail, but the Customer Order Notifications program houses all of the pertinent information you need to make an informed decision as to when to notify a customer concerning his or her Customer Order.
The program also logs which customers have been notified, and when.
*** The Customer Order Notifications program does not apply to Customer Orders that are tagged Charge & Send ***
When you first access the Customer Order Notification Manager
The grid at the bottom of the screen will be blank.
You will notice three buttons on the top left portion of the screen:
Initial Notification: calls up a Query window, where you determine the search criteria to call up a list of customers who have a pending Customer Order and who have not yet received a notification.
Follow-Up Notification: calls up a Query window, where you determine the search criteria to call up a list of customers with a pending Customer Order and who have already been notified.
Problem Notices: calls up a Query window, where you determine the search criteria to call up a list of customers with a pending Customer Order in which at least one of the products involved has an applicable Problem Code attached to it..
Let's take a look at this Query window, and how you determine the search criteria.
For simplicity's sake, we will assume you selected Initial Notification
This calls up the Query window.
The upper left of the window is where you select a date range for the Customer Orders you want to select, with this query.
Fill out the Order Date From and Order Date To fields with the desired date range.
At this point, you can either select to run an existing query or create a new query.
New Query:
- Click on the Manage saved queries button at the top right of the query window.
- A dropdown menu appears
- Select Create a new query to save
- A small window appears, prompting you to name the query you are about to create.
- Key in the name of your new query in the blank line where the cursor displays
- Click on the OK button.
- The name you just keyed in will display in the Select saved query field back in the Query window.
Select the criteria for the new query.
- Choose the category you want to define your query by in the Select Field field by clicking on the down arrow at the right of the field.
- A pulldown list of categories appears.
- Click on the one you want.
- Once selected, it displays in the Select Field field.
- In the Select Operation field, choose Like, equal to, From, To, between, NULL, Not equal to, or Not Null.
- In the Choose Value field, choose the value or values that define the selection criteria.
- With the Customer Type example, say you chose "equal to" in the Select Operation field.
- If you then select "R/Regular" in the Choose Value field, the query will be run for all Customer Orders created for a Customer Type of Regular ("R" being the code, "Regular" being the description).
- For applicable categories (such as Customer Type), there will be a binoculars icon at the right of the Choose Value field.
- If you selected between in the Select Operation field
- Two fields will display under Choose Value.
- In the top field, choose the start value.
- In the bottom field, select the ending value.
- For Date categories (such as Needed By Date), a calendar will display if you click on the down arrow at the right of the Choose Value field(s).
- If you choose any date-related category in the Select Field field, the Choose Value field will automatically default to the current day's date.
- Once you have set the query fields the way you want,
- Click on the Add button at the right of the Query window.
- The query criteria you just set will display in the Selected Ranges box.
- Repeat the above process as many times as you want to define the criteria for your query.
- Each time you establish a new set of criteria and click on the Add button
- The new criteria will display in the Selected Ranges box.
- The more sets of criteria you select, the more specific the parameters of the query will be. There is no limit to the criteria. If you want to define 100 sets of criteria, you can.
Save Current Query
After creating the criteria for this new query
Click on the Manage saved queries button and select Save the current query
At this point, you can run the query immediately, or you can exit the query without running it.
Let's take a closer look now at the other selections under the Manage saved queries button.
Two choices allow you either to
a) view the list of queries saved only by you or
b) the list of queries saved by everyone on the system.
This is user-definable and up to you.
Choose whichever makes the most sense.
You can switch back and forth anytime you like.
The system will always default to the way you left it the last time you were in the Query program.
- These two selections have a direct impact on the Using saved query field to the left.
- This field has a pulldown arrow.
- Click on the arrow and a drop down displays, listing all of the saved (existing) queries you can choose from.
- When you select one, that query's criteria will display in the window. At that point, you can run the query.
If you selected only to view queries you yourself created under the Manage saved queries button,
Then only queries you created and saved will display under the Using saved query field.
If, however, you chose to view all queries on the system under the Manage saved queries button, then all queries (created by all the users on the system) will display under the Select saved query field.
The last choice under the Manage saved queries button is a Delete the current query option.
Clicking on this will call up a dialogue box that asks you if you want to delete the query that's displayed.
If you do, simply click on Yes.
The query will be deleted.
Run the Query
Click on the Submit the query button at the bottom of the Query window.
- Click on Exit without searching if you do not wish to run the query.
Once the query has been run, a list of applicable Customer Orders appears in the grid at the bottom of the Customer Order Notifications Manager screen.
The first thing to do at this point is select how you want to notify the customers, and what type of notification to send.
In the Notification delivery method field, click on the drop-down arrow and select one of the three choices to determine how you will contact the applicable customers . . . Email, Mail merge file, Telephone.
In the Notification message to deliver field, select the Customer Notification parameter to use for the notification.
At this point, we recommend that you browse through the Orders individually, just to make sure the information is correct.
Browse Individual Orders
Highlight one of the Customer Orders in the grid, and then click on the Browse orders button.
The Customer Orders Notification List window will display for the selected Order.
There is a lot of information listed on this screen:
customer's phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, along with information on the Order itself.
In the Customer Order Notification Log, any previous notifications for this Order are listed (logged). If this is an Initial Notification, this log will be blank.
At the lower left, there is information on the notification category (initial or follow-up?), notification delivery method that you had selected back at the Customer Order Notifications Manager screen, and the notification message.
At the lower right, you have a series of tabs to choose from.
Log notification done by phone: opens the Confirm Customer Order Notifications Specifications window, with the Notification delivered via field set to Telephone.
- Key in any notes that might be useful to you
- Then click on Yes.
- Obviously you will only use this option if you have already called the customer and now want said call to be logged in iMerchant.
Text notification requested: As long as you have your Twilio account set up in the General tab of Tools > Options this will let you send a Text notification
- you can enter in a personalized note or log notes if needed
- click on Yes
- a Text notification will be sent to the customer
Remove from this selection: will remove the Order from the list back at the Customer Order Notifications Manager screen.
E-mail the notification requested: will open the Confirm Customer Order Notifications Specifications window, with the Notification delivered via field set to E-mail.
- Key in any personalized messages
- Then click on Yes
- This will automatically send an e-mail to the customer (provided that their Properties page has a valid e-mail address listed) as well as log the notification in your system
- For the e-mail function to work, be sure to fill in the necessary e-mail fields in Tools >Options.
Create notification requested: will open the Confirm Customer Order Notifications Specifications window, with the Notification delivered via field set to the default you had established back at the Customer Order Notifications Manager screen.
- Key in any personalized messages
- Then click on Yes
View complete order: takes you to the complete Customer Order Properties screen, where you can review all of the information for the Order. You can also change Order information, if needed.
Batch Notices for Orders
To create notices for a batch of Orders simultaneously:
- Within the Specify Notification Content and Delivery Method portion of the screen
- Click on the Notification Delivery Method and select the method to be used
- Click on the Binoculars of the Notification Message to Deliver field and select the Message to delive
- Then in the list of Orders in the grid, highlight the Orders for which you want to create a notification.
- Click on Create notices
- The Confirm Customer Order Notifications Specifications window will open
- Key in any personalized messages
- Key in any Log Notes
- Click on Yes
- If e-mail or text were selected. This will send the notifications to each customer simultaneously
- Otherwise, it will log the notification if telephone or mail merge is selected.
- It is up to you to physically telephone the customers or send notices to them via the mail.
- If you chose the Mail Merge method of delivery, a dialogue box will appear, asking you to select the file location where you want to write and save the Customer Order Notification information.