Reports and Marketing module tips
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Reports
Tip. Try your reports out on a small, known part of your database first, and then progress to the main database. Build it up in stages and check that you have your logic correct.

The main Reports now have a Fast Track which reads the data from the Daily Archive folder instead of going through the area of the database which has been selected.

The Simple Report can show lists of events and names. The Advanced Report gives a count of the number of times that a particular Template button was clicked. This is immensely useful in Help Desk situations where there is a need to know the statistics with regard to faults or market research, simply by setting up a Template with the type of information required either from telephone calls or from documents which are linked into the system these very useful tables
 
 
Flash Reports
In the Tables you can choose to obtain a count of items in the database according to the criteria available. The fields which you can choose from here are those fields which you have indexed in File/Setup/Indexing. Once you have a count, then you can drill down. At the bottom of the list thus produced is a link which then enables you to save the Table. Having the information in a table then allows you to set the columns accordingly or to use the list to phone, e-mail or write a letter from. Each name in the table can be clicked on to reveal the history below and additionally, a Virtual Folder can be created from this Table which can then be used for Mailmerging.

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Reports with Detailed Summary in the Diary
Quick, simple and fantastic!
Typical scenario:
The report that the partners want from the marketing people is:
1. How many calls made during a given period, generally a month?
2. How many calls were successful in making a meeting
3. How many meetings occurred
4. How many of the meetings which took place actually generated new clients"

Here's how to set this up:
1. The number of calls within a period can be seen in the User diary summary, simply highlight the period required and it will calculate the numbers.
2. Set up a button on your telephone call Template (and I urge you to use the default Templates with this modification) which states "This call resulted in an appointment being made". You could also set up a similar button in the Notes Template in case the user didn't click it during the telephone call "An appointment was made as a result of a telephone call". That sort of thing. You will never be able to get a report if you don't tag the phonecall or make the appropriate note. (Obviously).
3 & 4. Write up the notes of the meeting in Meeting Minutes. Use the default Template to annotate to show what kind of meeting it was, the content of the meeting and the outcome. So, if the meeting is "Initial meeting" or Initial meeting as a result of telephone canvassing" or whatever, and the outcome is "This contact will become a client" within 3 - 6 -9 months or whatever. This way you can get a count in the diary in Summary, a fuller details in Detailed Summary which can then be analysed in Tables quickly.

We don't believe that we can make the process quicker or simpler to do and to report on. You don't have to run special reports it is all in the Diary, and since you can have access to everyone's diaries (if you have the rights) then you can do a check at any time. A tip here though, don't just rely on the numbers, look at the content to see the quality of the call, that's the big advantage of TCM. The value of the system is the content of the events, all a user has to do is follow really simple procedures in order to record the full outcome of the call by way of simple clicks on the Template buttons, supplemented by more detailed notes where appropriate. Training. Supervision. Ra Ra sessions.

To set up the buttons for the Detailed Summary columns go to File/Setup/Diary/Summary layout and select which new columns you want to display in Detailed Summary. Suggestions are Time, Adjusted time, Forecasts (these display quickly) then, the Template button for Appointments made and another for Outcome of meetings.

You now have all of the information which was requested as a Report. And the tools to produce lots more besides.

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Marketing/Mailmerge
The first part of the Wizard is concerned with searching out contacts or companies within a selected area of the database according to the criteria that you have set. You then select a letter or e-mail (File/Setup/Write a letter - for e-mails you must include the e-mail address of the intended recipient somewhere in the letter) and the Wizard then Validates to see that all of the fields are filled in (and offers you the opportunity to do so if incomplete fields are found). You can also check your letters to be sent against the Campaign Manager so that you don't send out duplicates to recipients who already have been sent that letter. The Campaign Manager is vital where you have a growing database and you simply want to send a letter to someone who either has not previously had that letter, or who has had a specific previously sent letter. Ideal for a Letter 1, Letter 2, Letter 3 campaign. All letters are stored in the folder of the recipient.
The e-mail element of the Marketing module provides for mass e-mailing, the auto-filing of e-mails in the correct folders, and the automatic processing of Failed e-mails, either filing them in the contact folder or processing through various options including deleting folders of persistently returned e-mail contacts.

The Marketing module can be tied into the powerful Web backoffice functions of TCM which can process form submissions from your Web site quickly and easily, such as sending out Welcome or Help e-mails at the time of registration and of automatically re-directing leads from a central site to the appropriate dealer within a dealer network. These are generally high-end, expensive software items, but this functionality, along with lots more, comes straight out of the box with TCM4000 + Workflow System. The problem, often, is not knowing what the system is capable of, so please ask!