eBay Email Management by ReplyManager

Update Rules Routing for eBay Emails

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:31:00 +0000

If you have ReplyManager also reading your POP account and you have enabled the eBay Duplicate Rule, then we recommend that you update the Duplicate Rule to filter the duplicate emails into the appropriate folder.

Go to Maintenance >Accounts. Click on the eBay Duplicate Rule. Under Conditions, please select "From" Equals "member@ebay.com" from the drop down menus. Be sure the appropriate account has been highlighted in "Apply this rule to". When an email notification is read from the POP account, this Rule will now filter and route the emails to the appropriate folder.

Be sure to check any other eBay Rules you have set up to properly route the emails into folders. Please see the Help Section on the application for complete setup instructions.

ReplyManager with eBay Integration Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:22:00 +0000

We are excited to announce that eBay integration for Ask the Seller is now available to existing customers. This new module interfaces with eBay to allow sellers to respond directly to buyers, which includes those buyers that choose to remain anonymous. Using the eBay trading API, sellers can receive and respond to messages buyers have posted about active item listings through the eBay message center. The API allows seamless threading of email messages with ebay messages. Heres how to set it up:

Easy Setup within ReplyManager:

1. First, go to Maintenance>Folders to add a new folder for the eBay account “eBay - Ask the Seller" Folder (to separate the email coming from your eBay email account)
2. Then, Maintenance>Accounts> Add new eBay account
3. Enter a description (Company Name eBay account)
4. Select "Force" into the new eBay folder, Click Update
5. Click “Get eBay Token” (code for account) This will open a new browser window, please follow the directions in the window.
6. Click “Open eBay Authorization Window”. Sign in to link your to eBay account. This step captures a piece of code to connect to the mailbox. Wait 30 seconds before clicking Update, then test to confirm you have a successful connection. All Unanswered emails, and those one day prior, from the eBay mailbox will begin to populate within a few minutes.

This eBay mailbox contains your “Ask the Seller” emails. eBay will also send notifications to your POP or IMAP account notifying you of system messages as well as the “Ask the Seller” emails. If RM is reading your POP or IMAP account, your “Ask the Seller” notifications will be read there as well and will be a duplicate email.

In that case, if you are an existing customer, please see the Help area on the application for the eBay - Duplicate Rule setup and conditions.

If you are a new customer, please activate the Rule already set up in your template, and apply it to the POP or IMAP account ONLY. You can then choose to Delete the duplicate emails OR move them to a designated folder (we recommend “eBay Duplicate email” folder). You can then browse and delete in that folder as you choose.

Please see our ReplyManager website for any other updates. Please let us know if you have any questions or need help implementing the new feature.

What To Look for in Email Management Software

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:29:00 +0000

The process of finding and selecting an email management solution (or any web-based software) should be similar to how a business might hire an employee. The company would search for prospects, group interesting candidates together, interview the candidates, check references and make a selection. When "interviewing" possible web software solutions, keep these questions in mind:

Is the software easy-to-use and to setup?
How long has the company been in business (they are, after all, managing your data)?
Is secure access available?
Do you do back-ups of the stored data?
How is their customer support? Do they provide only an email or is there a phone number with a live person on the other end?
What is their up-time?

Get answers to these questions, and you'll be better prepared to select the best and most reliable web-based solution.

Adding Images to Emails Within ReplyManager

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:44:00 +0000

The new ReplyManager HTML Editor includes an Add Image tool so users can insert an image into their email, which is different from simply including an attachment. Images are not uploaded, but are referred to by placing the URL of a hosted image (images stored at other virtual locations) into the HTML of the email. Here is how to do it:

Be sure the HTML Editor is active. While composing the email, click on the Insert / Edit Image button and add the URL of the image. Advanced features include positioning within text and linking the image to a URL.

Even better, if you use Firefox or Safari, the Drag and Drop feature is available to you when inserting images into an email.

If you are not sure what the URL of an image is (e.g. where it is hosted), but can see the image on a website (e.g. your company logo), right click on the image and select View Image, Copy Image Address or Properties (IE). You'll see the URL of the image in the address bar.

For example, if I want to insert the ReplyManager Email Management logo into an email I would include the following URL:

http://www.replymanager.com/images/rm_logo.gif

To include attachments, please use the File Attachment function.

Staying Positive is Good for Business!

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:02:00 +0000

It is hard in this current state of affairs to stay positive in your attitude and outlook on all things business or personal, especially when our media is keeping us informed on all the negatives.

Here is an interesting article from eMarketer on practical steps for focusing on things you have control over, recognizing opportunities and achieving positive results for your business.

"The answer lies in seeking a balance—anchoring yourself to reality while focusing on every glimmer of hope and opportunity you can find."
Read the full article
Commentary from Geoff Ramsey: How Staying Positive Is Good for Business – February 9, 2009

Boomers and Their Online Buying Trends!

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Studies are confirming what we all know - Boomers are a powerful bunch!

Research is showing that Boomers, those between the ages of 44 and 62, are now one of the largest groups of online users. They are doing everything from shopping, gathering information on products and services and staying in touch with friends and family. Understanding and adapting websites to their buying trends would be beneficial to online Marketers.

Read the full article at eMarketer
You’ve Come a Long Way, Boomers, and You’re Online Now! – December 4, 2008

One Click Email Search for Reply Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Jodi Gaines Pereira) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Reply Manager provides a quick and easy way to search for all emails sent or received by the same email address. To do this, open an email from the person you would like to search. Click on the linked From address at the top of email. The system will automatically generate search results that include all emails sent to and received from this email address.

New mbox Format for Exporting Email

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:15:00 +0000

In addition to the 3 file formats used to export emails, ReplyManager now supports the mbox email storage format!

This new mbox feature will allow you to export email, and all its follow ups, directly to several common email clients that support this format, such as Thunderbird or Eudora, which can then be easily read. It will also allow import to Outlook via 3rd party tools.

While in ReplyManager go to:
Maintenance>Export>select format (mbox format in ZIP file), date range, folder, status of email, and process.

The file created can now be saved to your desktop and opened with Thunderbird or other email client.

Please see related link to Help area in ReplyManager:
http://help.replymanager.net/v4/help:maintenance#export

Spam and Email Management - An Oxymoron?

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:13:00 +0000

To many, the words spam and email management are two terms no one wants to see in the same sentence. No doubt, an oxymoron! Not only is spam a nuisance, but it is the catalyst for worms and viruses and the source of millions of lost dollars. So what do you do?

If you are using ReplyManager, here are a few reminders to keep spam at bay:

Start With The Accounts Tab
Spam can be managed for each Account. From the Maintenance menu, click on Accounts. Choose the account you wish to edit. Spam Handling is located at the bottom of the form.

What To Do With Emails Tagged as SPAM
You can select to delete spam or automatically move it to another folder for further investigation. We use a Junk or Spam folder for this. The emails within that folder can be bulk deleted in only a few steps.

Setting SpamAssassin Scores
Incoming emails are filtered using SpamAssassin. Detected spam can be auto deleted or moved to a folder for further investigation. Using a wide range of tests on the header, body and text of the email, SpamAssassin assigns a number on a scale of 1 to 10. Emails receiving a 5 or above, as a standard, are considered Spam. However, if you find that incorrect emails are being sent to your Spam folder (or other action selected), you may want to increase the rating. The higher the rating the more likely it is that the email is Spam.

Using Rules for Further Filter Spam
A new ReplyManager feature allows users to select a rule to process incoming emails, before SpamAssassin, in order to identify any email that might look like spam, but is not. These emails can be routed to a separate folder so that users do not lose any ligitimate emails. Basically, the rules look for keywords (that you set) within the email that might make it valid.

Built-in Virus Protection
Because ReplyManager is a web application (built with open source tools), it is less susceptible to viruses and worms. It also has a built-in feature that tags potential viruses and defangs executable files (which are often a disaster waiting to happen).

Fast Email Responses = Happy Customers!

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

In the world of instant gratification, keeping a happy customer really isn’t that difficult. Businesses need just respond to their email inquiries and they’ll feel important enough to stay loyal and keep buying. Surprisingly enough, this doesn’t always happen.

Can you imagine all of the income they are missing out on just because they can’t get to the barrage of emails they are receiving? Poor email management can be very damaging to any business that depends on getting and keeping Happy Customers.

So how do you manage bulk incoming email? Get organized. Make a plan, implement processes and rules so that emails are responded to within 24-48 hours, and get a good, easy-to-use email response management system.

Get Rid of the Junk
Get a grasp on all the Junk. In our office, we created a Junk folder in ReplyManager to receive and dispense with all the Spam. We use SpamAssassin as the Spam filter.

Sort Related Email
Create Folders and use Rules to automatically sort related email together. This will make it easier to answer multiple emails at once and to assign the right staff.

Assign Actions and Keep Notes
Create Categories, set Priory Levels and enter References that refer to specific actions if emails can’t be answered immediately. And if multiple steps need to be taken to address the email, keep accurate notes in the email ticketing system so that the next person knows where you left off.

Create Standard Replies
Keep track of frequently asked questions and create a database of Standard Replies. This will increase response rates and unify your company message.

Avoid Email Loops in ReplyManager

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:08:00 +0000

Email loops from Catch All folders with autoresponders can generate much unwanted email when bad emails cannot be delivered and the system is continuously sending and bouncing the automated emails resulting in a never ending email loop. You can avoid this frustrating situation by making sure that you do not have an Autoresponder set on a Folder that is also designated as the "Catch All" Folder.

One folder in ReplyManager is always designated as the "Catch All" folder to receive all email not routed into folders by other means. Autoresponders will respond to forged email as well as legitimate email. If this is a forged or bogus email, an autoresponder is dispatched as possible misdirected mail. ReplyManager receives the email back into the system (catch all folder) - this will create bounces and could happen hundreds of times.

Autoresponders are a great tool for immediately providing information to potential customers and then following up with them when time allows.

The easiest remedy for this potential "loop" is to create a new folder labeled "Catch All" or "Other" and select the box to make that the catch all folder.

Changing a From Address Within An Email String

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Ever receive an email with an incorrect From address or want to change the From address (e.g. when Sales Leads are forwarded to an account) without disrupting the email conversation? Incorrect From addresses often lead to undeliverable replies which can be frustrating. With ReplyManager v4, the fix is quick and easy.

1. Open the email
2. Look for the From: email address that appears as a link
3. Click on the "2 people" icon
4. Enter the New From email address
5. Click update

Now each time you reply to this email, the correct client address will appear.

Superior Customer Support w/ Email Management

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:04:00 +0000

A few more reminders on how to provide superior email customer support with ReplyManager...

Organize your emails with Advanced Rules Routing and Bulk Functionality.

Use the “Category” settings to further organize emails within folders. Set up the “auto assign” category in Rules and Folders Administration. Add additional comments in the Reference field.

Use the settings for Spam filtering to identify, delete or move emails to Spam folder. This separates or removes Spam and unwanted email from clogging your important folders.

Users have the option to set up separate signatures for different folders. This helps their responses to be more specific.

Evenly Distributing Emails Using Rules Management

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:11:00 +0000

For many customer support and sales managers, identifying which representative answers which email can be a daunting task - whether you are answering 20 emails or 20,000. To organize your emails and assign them to the right people, follow these basic steps using Folders and Rules Management.

Here is a scenario to help illustrate email distribution – similar to an email ticketing system:

There are three (3) Customer Support Rep's responsible for responding to email relating to the service of bicycles within the company. However, there are no specific guidelines established for who will answer what email and when. They also need to avoid more than one Rep responding to the email at one time. Here is how they solve the dilemma using ReplyManager:

Create a Folder
From the Maintenance Menu, click on Folders. Begin by creating a specific folder for each user that will be assigned to answer these emails. In this case, they create 3 folders named: Support (Jane), Support (John), Support (Tom). The only necessary information to enter is the Folder Name and From email address. The reason for setting up these folders is that we will establish certain rules requesting that email be distributed evenly to these folders (and thus users).

Set Some Rules
Once you have created the necessary folders, click on Rules from the Maintenance menu. Enter the name and set the conditions for capturing the right emails. Then, select the Support (User) folders created above.

As email arrive into the POP account, the specified rules are matched and the email is evenly distributed to the folders (users) selected. And since John is the only Rep assigned to answer email in the Support (John) folder, there is no chance of duplicate responses.

Happy Customers More Important than Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:13:00 +0000

In our challenging economic times, we are always looking for creative ways to actively market to new customers. But now, more than ever, we should also remember the importance of keeping focus on our existing customers and their needs - keep them happy. They are, after all, already purchasing our products or services. One way to do this is through responsive and credible email management. Reestablishing contact with customers, strengthening customer relations, and keeping customer contact information up-to-date are all ways ReplyManager can help. Here is what we recommend:

Create Auto-responders, such as “We received your request.”
Create a Standard Replies database for consistent, efficient and credible responses. Be sure responses accurately address your customers question and avoid being too broad.
Add internal informational notes as reminders so users know when and how to follow up further with customers.
Identify potential issues or upselling opportunities and assign categories, add notes, escalate the status of the email and move to appropriate folder for action.

Faxing with ReplyManager

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:22:00 +0000

Did you know that you can manage your incoming faxes using ReplyManager?

If you are using a MyFax or eFax number all you need to do is forward faxes to an email address that is being received in ReplyManager. We created an alias (fax@yourcompany.com) to receive fax emails. If you use an alias, simply set up a folder with that associated email and you'll soon begin to receive faxes. If you use another email (that is shared for other issues), use Rules Management to direct online faxes into your Fax folder.

Have more tips on managing specific kinds of email? Post them here!

Assign Emails Quickly in ReplyManager

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Many customers have asked about adding a "Take Button" to allow users to take responsibility for an incoming email in ReplyManager when several users are working in the same folder. Although there is no designated "button" for this, the same result can be achieved by performing the following quick and easy steps:

INSTRUCTIONS:

Create categories with user names (necessary only the first time)
From the folder view, mark a group of emails for a particular user
From the bottom of the list, select the category (user name) from the drop down menu and click on the Change button

Now you have assigned a specific number of emails that will be answered by one user and that user only.

Drag & Drop Email File Attachments with Firefox

noreply@blogger.com (Jodi Gaines Pereira) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:12:00 +0000

If you use Firefox, you'll love the Firefox add-on DragDropUpload. You can literally drag files from your desktop into the attachment field of ReplyManager instead of clicking on the Browse button to upload the file from your computer.

To start using it, download the application from Firefox at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2190 and install. If you don't already have the latest and greatest version of Firefox, you'll need to update that too. This application works best with Firefox 3.

More Housecleaning Tips for ReplyManager

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:02:00 +0000

Here are some more helpful tips to keep ReplyManager cleaned up and functioning efficiently.

Update Recycle Procedures
Check and update the settings for "automatically purge deleted emails from the system". Periodically delete old emails or attachments that are using space but are no longer needed. Export old information from the system to maximize efficiency in your use of space.

Access ReplyManager Securely
Is everyone using the secure login? ReplyManager uses GeoTrust SSL web server certificates so you can conduct secure online communication. Also, it is a good idea to change your password periodically. Use a combination of numbers, letters and punctuation. Always keep your password secure!

Keeping ReplyManager Secure with Housecleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:57:00 +0000

Software systems tend to get just as cluttered as a well used closet. If left "unchecked" the closet can get downright messy and you forget what you had in there to begin with. Such is the case when basic maintenance tasks are not performed with business applications such as ReplyManager. Here are a few Housecleaning Tips on how to keep ReplyManager organized and secure.

Clean Up User Access
With employee turnover, it is important to be diligent in maintaining a current list of active Users and their permissions. Remember to delete all those that no longer need access to the email program and update current User emails for system messages.

Unused Folders and Rules
Are there any Folders that are no longer being used or any old Rules associated with those folders that could be deleted? Check and update the auto responders associated with those folders – you might have more current information to include! Do you still want those forwards included?

Check Accounts
Check the mail accounts in the system. Are there any that are no longer being used, but not yet deactivated? If left unchecked, the system will continue attempts to make a connection to the mail account and uses up valuable bandwidth.

Are Your Standard Replies Current?
Update those Standard Replies that you have been using for years. Make sure addresses and links are current!

High Gas Prices, Better E-Commerce

noreply@blogger.com (Jodi Gaines Pereira) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:15:00 +0000

Some hope for online business from the depths of economic troubled waters...

eMarketer published an article last week about the rising prices of gas and how they affect online shopping habits. Retail stores showed a decline in sales while their websites showed a significant increase. While Convenience remained the #1 reason to buy online, 54% cited rising gas prices as incentive while 48% cited overall lower pricing.

Read the Full Article
Gas Prices Boost E-Commerce - July 25, 2008

Managing Autoresponders in ReplyManager V4

noreply@blogger.com (Suzan) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:58:00 +0000

ReplyManager can be configured to send autoresponder emails, automatically, based on specific rules or folders. These can be very simple ( e.g. Thank you - received your email and will respond.) or quite complex (e.g. Using macros in the subject or body). The message immediately provides information to the prospective customers and provides a bit of cushion for the next followup.

In ReplyManager v4, autoresponders can be enabled or disabled by marking (or unmarking) the checkbox. This is helpful if you want to temporarily deactivate the autoresponder without deleting its content. Autoresponders can be configured in a specific folder or as an action to a rule.

1.) For Folders, go to Maintenance>Folders. Click on the Folder you want to edit. Scroll down to the Autoresponder box and enter the From, Subject and Body. Click on update.

2.) To configure Rules, go to Maintenance>Rules. Click on the Rule you want to edit. Enter the autoresponder form data. The autoresponder will be sent to email originators that match the rule criteria.

Address Book Matching Rule

noreply@blogger.com (Jodi Gaines Pereira) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:36:00 +0000

For customers that wish to organize their folders within ReplyManager by Client Name (ABC Company), you can now collect all incoming email from a specific email address that is part of a particular Group in your Address Book by using Rules to route the emails into a specific folder.

How It Works
ReplyManager will search the Address Book for a match, then will route incoming email (from a specific entry or group) to a folder based on email(s) belonging to a Group in the Address Book. You will be sure to have ALL correspondence from ABC Company in one specific folder!

How To Do It
Click on the Address Book button. Click on New Group. Select one or more addresses to define your Group and click Update. The system will automatically generate an email address for this Group. Next, go to Maintenance > Rules > Add New Rule. Create a name for the Rule (maybe ABC Company Group Rule). From the Conditions - select From, Equals, and then enter the group email address assigned by the system. Select the folder you would like the incoming emails to be placed in and click Update.

New and Improved Help

noreply@blogger.com (Jodi Gaines Pereira) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:23:00 +0000

Although ReplyManager has always had a comprehensive help section, we converted it to a searchable database to help find topics more easily. You may also notice that when you click on the Help link while on a specific topic, you go directly to that related topic.

For example, if you are viewing topics in the Administrative area and you click on Help, topics for Administration will display. There are lots of internal links to other topics as well.

ReplyManager v4: Clean Up Attachments

noreply@blogger.com (Jodi Gaines Pereira) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:35:00 +0000

If you are chomping at the bit to clear some space out of your ReplyManager account, version 4 now provides an easy solution with the Clean Up Attachments feature. Administrators can follow the directions below (also available in the Help Section):

Select Maintenance, then Recycle from the menu. To remove attachments from emails (in bulk) without deleting the actual email, select the applicable filters under Clean up Attachments. Available filters include: From a folder(s), with a specific status, and/or the “Older Than” date (deletes attachments with an original date older than the date selected).

!! WARNING !!
This feature does allow administrators to delete ALL attachments EVERYWHERE and deleted attachments CANNOT BE SALVAGED, so please proceed with caution. You may want to start by testing a small grouping first.

We don't mean to yell, but this is really important.