024934: Automated quote chase

1.   Overview

KCSL have added functionality that allows users to setup an automated quote chase email based on the number of days since a quote was created.

 

2.   Specification

Requirement from the development item:

An automated quote chase will be created based off of the following criteria:
      a) A new 'quote chase' option is enabled against the order
      b) A specific comm log entry hasn’t been put against the comm log
      c) It has been a specific number of working dates since the quote was created

The Sales Order will have a new option to enable the quote chase email when creating the quote .
      Example:
            --Email 1: 24 Hours After Quote Creation: If the Sales Order is still a Quote and a predetermined comm log entry hasn’t been entered: email 1 is sent.
            --Email 2: 72 Hours After Quote Creation: If the Sales Order is still a Quote and a predetermined comm log entry hasn’t been entered: email 2 is sent.
            --Email 3: 5 Working Days After Quote Creation: If the Sales Order is still a Quote and a predetermined comm log entry hasn’t been entered: email 3 is sent

Emails would be created through the email manager and will only consider working days. If an email would be set to go on a Sunday, it will automatically change to the next available working weekday.

If at any point a quote is changed to a Sales Order, it will no longer be considered for the auto quote chase functionality.

Changes that KCSL will make:
  1. Add a new tickbox to quote for "Chase Quote". If ticked, the trigger will work for these orders. If not ticked, the email trigger will not trigger for the quotes.
  2. Add new email rule type of Quotation.
  3. Add new rule criteria to check Num Days Old (i.e. since quote date), and 'Chase Quote' field on quote.  Can also check company class filter.
  4. Add new comm log entry type called Chase/quotation.
  5. If a CRM entry of type 'Chase/Quotation' is added against an order, the 'Chase Quote' filed will be unticked automatically.

3.   Configuration

An updated application and changelog will be provided with this functionality. KSDMU will also be updated to include a new action.

There are multiple configuration steps required to enable this functionality, which include:
  1. Setting up email message templates.
  2. Setting up email trigger rules.
  3. Setting up batch file to run process automatically through KSDMU.

Setup Email Message Templates

  1. Go to Email Manager.
  2. Click the 'Templates' radio button.
  3. Click 'new'.
  4. Set the Trigger Type to new 'Quotation' trigger.
  5. Setup the email as required. Note that the 'Available Tags' are the same as those available when using an 'Invoice' trigger type, minus the '$TO_FOLLOW_ITEM_TEXT' tag.
  6. Save your email template.
  7. Repeat as necessary - you may want multiple emails templates for different Quotation triggers.

Setup Email Trigger Rules

  1. Go to Email Manager.
  2. Click the 'Trigger Rules' radio button.
  3. Click 'new'.
  4. Set the 'Trigger Type' to new 'Quotation' trigger.
  5. Set the 'Message Template' to the relevant email template setup in the previous section.
  6. Tick 'Send Email Immediately'.
  7. Setup the various conditions as necessary by adding them to the 'Active Conditions' grid as you would for any other email trigger.
  8. Save when setup as required.
The available conditions:
  1. CHASE QUOTE ENABLED:
    1. Set to = True to only send emails if the 'Chase Quote' option is ticked on quote in the Sales Order | Additional screen.
    2. Set to = False to only send emails if the 'Chase Quote' option is unticked on quote in the Sales Order | Additional screen.
  2. NUM DAYS OLD:
    1. Set to, for example, = 7 to only send emails if the quote was created 7 working days prior to today's date.
      1. e.g. If the rule is triggered on Tuesday 17th, it would only send emails for quotes created on Friday the 6th, as weekends are not considered.
    2. It is recommended to only use the '=' comparison when using this condition to avoid sending emails for historic data.
  3. COMPANY CLASS:
    1. Set to, for example, = Retail, to only send emails if the quote is for a company that has a company class of Retail.

Setup Batch File

A batch file will need setting up to run the KSDMU action automatically each day. The Development Team can help with this.

The new KSDMU action is called QuoteChaseEmailTrigger and only contains one option - 'Only check sales orders with the quote chase option enabled'. This should be enabled to help limit unnecessary processing of non-'Chase Quote' orders.

Example batch file contents:

      FilePath\KSDMU.exe CONNECT:SERVERNAME\INSTANCENAME: DATABASE Action=QuoteChaseEmailTrigger  QuoteChaseEnabled=-1  OutputFile="FilePath\KSDMU.log"


4.   Usage

After applying the above Configuration, typical steps for usage would include the following.


For testing purposes, set the 'Order Date' of quotations to one that will match the conditions for your email trigger.  You may also want to set your system to use 'Email Testing Mode' in [ System Operations | Edit System Values | Contact Manager | Emails ], so that you can validate emails are sent as expected.
  1. Create quotations as usual. See that there is a new 'Chase Quote' option in [ Sales Orders | Detail | Additional ].
    1. Note that this is ticked automatically when an order's type is set to 'Quotation', and can be manually unticked if you do not want it to be considered during the quote auto-chase email process.
    2. Note that this is unticked automatically when an order's type is set to anything other than 'Quotation', and will be greyed out so it cannot be overridden.
      1. This includes when a Quotation is converted into a Sales Order.
  2. From a Quotation, use the [ Relationship Management | Create Comm Log Entry ] in the top bar to add a new comm log linked to the quotation.
  3. See that there is a new CRM type 'Chase/Quotation'.
    1. Adding a CRM entry of this type against an order will untick the 'Chase Quote' tickbox on the order, and so prevent it from being considered during the quote auto-chase email process if the trigger is setup to do so.
    2. It will not stop other quotations for that company from being considered.
  4. You can manually run the new KSDMU action to test the auto-chase action:
    1. Open KSDMU.
    2. Click 'QuoteChaseEmailTrigger' in the list of Actions.
    3. Tick the checkbox for 'Only check sales orders with the quote chase option enabled'.
    4. Click OK.
    5. See that emails have only been sent to those quotations that match your trigger conditions.
Note: if an email fails to send, it will show up in the [ Email Manager | Pending Emails ] tab. If the auto-chase process is run again that day, it will re-attempt to send the email. If the auto-chase is not run again that day, and the next time it is run the quote would no longer trigger the process, then manual intervention would be required.

 

 

 


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