When sending SMS messages through Operate, you can create and use templates that can help make the process faster every time. Let’s see how.
Start by going to Settings > General, in the main navigation menu.
Select Templates.
Select SMS Templates.
Select a folder where you want to place the template. The folders usually represent areas of your business in which you would use the particular SMS message. Use the Folder Maintenance section to manage your folders or click New to create new ones as needed. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll be choosing the Sales folder.
Click New to add a new template.
Next, add your template information:
Name your template.
Add a Description - Here is where you can add details about the contents of the template, the situations in which it should be used or any other information that you believe would be relevant and helpful for the staff who will be able to send SMS messages.
Check that the Folder is correct. You can select another one if you change your mind and the folder you have previously selected no longer fits your needs.
Select a field from the category (module) that you want to use in your message. Then, select the field name below. These fields will automatically pick up information that corresponds to the customer you’re messaging, without the need for you to collect this information manually. A Merge Field will be generated after you select your desired field. You can simply copy and paste it into your message body. Repeat steps D and E for all of the fields you want to add.
Now simply edit your SMS body until you are happy with it.
Check the Available to Use checkbox if you want to make the template available immediately, then click Save to complete your setup.
When your template is ready and made available, it will be provided when creating a new SMS message.
If you want to make changes in the future, go back to Settings > Templates > SMS Templates and click the pencil button to edit an SMS template, or the “x” to delete it.
Example: Let’s create an SMS Template that you would use when sending reminders to potential customers who requested to tour your offices. To do that, we would first name our template and add a description and select the folder. If you want to, you can start adding some of the text, within your message body. You can insert fields within the text, to combine your message with information pulled from within the system.
Let’s take the text in the screenshot above as an example and look at how to add fields. We are aiming for a message that would sound something like this:
Hi Skyline, Thank you for booking a tour with Demospace. We just wanted to remind you that your tour is scheduled tomorrow, 25/10/2016, 11:30am at The Red Building, 1 Anytown, Reston, VA. We look forward to meeting you.
Notice how, in the SMS body that gets sent, the fields are being replaced with actual information that corresponds to the prospect we’re messaging. To add the necessary fields for this particular message, we went through the following steps:
To display “Skyline” - Under Select Field From we first selected Account. Under Field Name, we selected Account Alias, the copied the generated Merge Field into the SMS body.
To show the tour date and time, we have selected Tour under Select Field From; then Start Date and Time, under Field Name.
To show the location of the tour - The Red Building - we chose Tour under Select Field From, then selected Tour Location from the Field Name list.
To show the address, we selected a field from Location, then chose Address Line 1 and Address Line 2 from under the Field Name list.
That’s it. You can use the same process to add any fields you need within your message. Just make sure to keep it short and simple, to make it efficient.