Feedback on: EventPro User Manual - Mail Merge LettersMail_Merge_LettersChapter 9: Company/Contact Management > Company/Contact Mail Merge > Mail Merge Letters /Dear EventPro Documentation Department,
Mail Merge Letters
In the Company/Contact screen, click on the Company List View tab or Contact List View tab, depending on whether this mail merge is intended for companies or contacts.
You can include all of the companies/contacts in the mail merge or you can limit the number of companies/contacts.
1.
Multi-Select: Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the desired companies/contacts. You can now include only these selected companies/contacts in the mail merge. Review Introduction: Common Functions, Multi-Select Items.
2.
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 learn how to set a filter, refer to Introduction: Common Function,Setting a Filter.
3.
All: You do not need to filter or select companies/contacts if you intend to include all of them in your mail merge.
If you want to create a mail merge that filters recipients by events, see Event Mail Merge in Chapter 12: Communications.
Click the Detail Options button to the right and select Mail Merge.
2.
The Company/Contact Mail Merge Wizardwill open.
3.
Select the data you want to merge: Selected Records or All. Selected Records will send the communication to the one or multiple companies/contacts you selected above. All refers to all of the records visible in the selection grid. Therefore, if you set a filter and only half of the companies/contacts are visible, those visible companies/contacts amount to “All” for the purpose of the mail merge.
Printer: Print to paper or to PDF files using a PDF writer. If you want to print the letters to PDF files, select Printer and choose your PDF writer.
b.
Email: The main email addresses for the Companies (for a company mail merge) or Contacts (for a company contact mail merge).
c.
AlternateEmail: The alternate email addresses for the Companies or Contacts. 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.
If you want to attach the mail merge to an event, click the ellipsis next to the BookNo field.
a.
Search for the event in the Find Event window, reviewing the instructions in Introduction: Common Functions, Finding a Record, if necessary.
b.
Select the event and click OK to return to the mail merge wizard.
2.
Under Pick the Letters to Merge, the selection grid contains a list of all Letter Templates. For information on how to create letter and label templates, see Chapter 12: Communications.
3.
Check the Selected box(es) next to the Letter(s) you want to send.
4.
To see a preview of the letter you have currently clicked on, check the Letter Preview checkbox.
5.
If you want to make changes to a template for the current mail merge, click to highlight the template and click the Edit Letter button.
a.
The Word Processor appears.
b.
Make your changes to the template. If necessary, refer to Chapter 12: Communications, Part B: Letters, Word Processor. Note that the changes you make here will only be saved for the template as used in this current mail merge. If you want to edit the letter template so that the changes appear for all mail merges and communications, you must return to Setup | Letter/Label Templates and edit the template there.
c.
When you are done, save your changes and close the Word Processor to return to the Mail Merge Wizard.
6.
If you chose Email or Alternate Email as the merge destination and you choose a Letter Template here, the Letter will be sent as a PDF Attachment to the email.
7.
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; see Subject and Body of Communication below.
Select a Communication Method from the drop-down list. This is 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.
2.
Check the Update Communications box if you want to save a copy of this communication in the records of the recipient companies/contacts.
a.
Choose a DefaultReference for the documents sent in the mail merge. You set up Communication Methods and References earlier in your General Lookup Tables.
b.
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 boxes.
3.
Check the Create Follow Up Action box if you want to create a follow up action.
a.
From the Method drop-down box, choose whether you want to create One Action per Recipient or One Action for All Recipients.
b.
If you select One Action per Recipient, EventPro 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.
c.
If you select One Action for All Recipients, EventPro will create only one action, which will appear in the program Actions screen, but not in the individual company or contacts’ Actions tabs.
d.
Click the Edit button and create the action in the Mail Merge Action [New] window. Click Save to return to the mail merge wizard.
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.
3.
In the notes space, type in any notes you would like to record regarding this communication. 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.
4.
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).
a.
Click the LoadTemplate button/icon.
b.
In the Letter Templates window, select the appropriate template and click OK.
c.
The letter will appear in the notes field. Remember that when emailing letters, it is better to avoid templates that are intended for printing, i.e. with complex formatting and headers/footers.
5.
Check the Read Receipt checkbox if you want to receive a message notification when the recipient reads the email.
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. Select your Printer settings and click OK.
b.
If you chose Document as your merge destination, the Save Merged Document Towindow 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. 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". To review how you set the Do Not Contact By list for companies and contacts, see Entering a New Company or Entering a New Contact.
5.
If you want to print the mail merge results, click the Print button. Select the report options in the Mail Merge Results window and click OK. Adjust your printing options in the Print window and click OK.
6.
When you are done viewing and/or printing the mail merge results, click Close.
