Dates For Followup Letters

[autoauthority]

It appears the mailing list for followup/recommendation letters pulls a customer list from the "need by" date on the recommendations. I would like to mail out letters from the date the recommendation was made, also known as "service date from_____" as noted in the selection criteria. If we leave the "need by date" the same as the date of recommendation, we get the correct follow up letter mail list but not changing the "need by' date affects your CRM communications. Can your system give me a customer list, from date of service, for follow up letters with the recommendations printed on it ?

[ricmorin]

I'm thinking no. The only option to print recommended text is from the recommendations tab, which is driven by the 'needs by' date, not the actual last service date.

There may be a way to do this using the export function.

[timbre4]

Recommendations content including dates would not be included as part of any MM Query for export.

As noted, the system will use the Needed By date to print letters within date range selected. If the Needed By date is 60-90 days out, I'm not sure I understand the need to print those so far ahead of those expected service dates.

[autoauthority]

We send out a follow up letter with recommendations to customers based on date of service. We send this out 30 days after date of service. If I changed the need by date to 30 days after service, your CRM program will send a txt message 3-4 weeks prior to that date, which would be received approx. 1 week or less after date of service. I will change all recommendations to a need by date of 60 days to get the correct report/letter. I just thought it odd that I can't pull this follow up letter report based on date of last service. I feel the need by date is subjective, depending on the severity and importance of the issue recommended and therefore we have us always adjusted the need by date accordingly. The date of last service is valid and documented, not variable.

[ricmorin]

Talk to your CRM agent. You should be able to fine tune when the recommended services emails go out.

feel the need by date is subjective, depending on the severity and importance of the issue recommended and therefore we have us always adjusted the need by date accordingly. The date of last service is valid and documented, not variable.

You are correct, however the service date in most cases is irrelevant to when a particular recommendation is actually needed. By queuing off the need by date, you can deliver solid reliable service to your customers.

As an example, I may want to remind a customer that something needs to be done for next yearly inspection. I set the date for one year from now. Using the service date here is useless to me and my customer.

[Perftire]

The "need by" date is very subjective when it comes to brakes, tires, and other services that are mileage related. For example, if brakes are at 90% it is difficult to predict at what date they will be 100% worn out. We would also prefer to use the recommended date as a guideline to customer to prepare for a future expense without committing to a date at which the service is Needed.

A perfect example would be our customer that was in for an oil change in August, their battery failed the load test, we recommended a battery. Our normal communication was to explain the condition and "recommend" replacement. Our follow-up letter went out appx 30 days later with a "Need by" date (which was the date it was recommended). The customer has not yet replaced the battery and has questioned the Need by date.

In my opinion there is a difference between a "recommendation" and a "Need". Tires are bald and NEED to be replaced-tires are worn and we "recommend" replacement soon. Battery is Dead and "Needs" to be replaced - Battery failed load test and we "recommend" replacement. Both of these items have a subjective NEED BY date.

We would prefer to use the "recommended" date as a guideline to communicate with our customers.

[Perftire]

I should clarify - can we remove the words "We recommend the following be performed by 00/00/00" It is giving us the appropriate results to print but still give a "Need by date" when the recommendation letters print.

[ricmorin]

The "need by" date is very subjective when it comes to brakes, tires, and other services that are mileage related. For example, if brakes are at 90% it is difficult to predict at what date they will be 100% worn out. We would also prefer to use the recommended date as a guideline to customer to prepare for a future expense without committing to a date at which the service is Needed.

Yes, the date is very subjective. Instead of typing 'needs brakes', how about something like 'we recommend you have us inspect brakes' at the time you designate? If you prefer to use the recommended date, simply enter the 'needs by' date as the same as recommended date. As as side note, I would never try to predict brake life from a 90% starting point, nor would I create a recommendation at that point. We tend to use 5/32 as a starting point for brake recommendations.