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Communication Wizard

  NOTE: This feature is available in the Essential, Professional, and Enterprise versions of both Spectra and Stratus Desktop.

Use the Communication Wizard
(found on the Tools menu) to create
a batch of emails, SMS texts, phone calls, or
letters at a time. Follow the instructions below
for the type of communication you wish to create.

ATTENTION!

Using Stratus and StudioPlus Mail? At the end of the wizard, you will be asked if you want the job to Start Immediately or if you want to Schedule the job. If you select for the job to Start Immediately, the your communications will be submitted to the Stratus Control Center that runs on a cycle. As soon as it’s time for the Communication Wizard jobs to run, it will process your submitted job. The job will typically process within the hour.

Sending Emails with the Communication Wizard #

  1. Go to Tools > Communication Wizard to open the wizard.

  2. Press Next to begin.

  3. Client Selection. Choose which clients you want to email.  Choose by Client Group, Client Status, Marketing Plan, or Filter. Make your selection from the drop-down box and check the specific group(s), status(es),
    plan(s), or filter you want to include. Press Next to continue.

  4. Client Confirmation. The software displays all the clients in your chosen group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter. Use this page to adjust your list. Check/uncheck individual clients or use the Select All and Deselect All tools above the grid. Add columns with the Column Chooser and use the Filter tool to further break down your list. Click Next to continue. Note: Clients must have the Allow Email Marketing checkbox checked on the client form in order to receive the message.

  5. Communication
    Type.     Select Emails as your communication type and click Next to continue.

  6. Email Draft. Use this page to select the email you want to send to the chosen clients.

    • Letter/HTML
      – The first line is for choosing a form letter or HTML email.
      You can choose to send a form letter you have already created or an HTML email you have already created in the software. See also: Form Letter Builder and HTML Email Builder

    • Email Subject
      – The second line is for the email subject. Type in whatever
      you want included as the email subject. This will be pasted into
      the email and the client will see it as the email subject.

    • Send As –
      You can choose to send the email as an HTML email or as plain
      text. HTML is a richer and more graphic type of email while plain
      text is just text. Use HTML if you are sending an email with pictures,
      colors, etc. Basically if you include other stuff in your email besides
      text, use this option! Remember clients will need an Internet connection to be
      able to read HTML emails. If you’re just sending plain text,
      use plain text.

    • Email Category – Categories are used primarily to organize your analytics (i.e., bounces, clicks, etc.) when using the StudioPlus Mail service. For more information, refer to Email Categories and StudioPlus Mail Overview.

    • Link these clients to a Referral Program (Available in )  – Select to have these clients automatically assigned to a referral program when the wizard processes. Also select if the wizard should not be sent to a client who is already part of a referral program, or if it should change their current plan to the one you have selected. This benefits clients who have already been assigned to a special referral program separately. See also: What is a Referral Program?

    • Text Field
      –       Use this space to type in your email if you are using
      plain text. If you have chosen to use a form letter template, this field will
      automatically be populated with the template.

  1. Attachments. Use this page to add attachments to the email you’re sending. Click Add to open a
    browse window and then browse to the item you want to add. Click Open
    to attach. To remove an attachment, select the attachment and click
    Remove. Click Next to continue.

  2. Client Notes. Choose what you want stamped into
    the client status notes for each client being sent the email. Simply type in what
    you want to include. Click Next to continue.

  3. Test Email. Use this page to send a test email. For example, if you want to see what your clients will be receiving, send the email
    to yourself. Simply type the email address into the text box and click Send. An email will automatically be sent to that address alone. If you are satisfied with the email, click Next to continue.

  4. Finalize. This page gives your final warning before the emails are
    sent. At the top you can see how many emails you are about to send.
    It’s helpful to check this number to make sure you are sending the right amount
    of emails. For example, if it says you’ll be sending 25 emails and you know
    there are only 10 clients, it would be a good idea to go back and look over your client list again.

    Throttling Emails!

    Another option on the final page of the communication wizard is to Throttle emails as they are sent. Throttling emails controls the speed at which each email is sent. If the number of emails being sent at a time is too high,  email providers and ISPs may view your email address as a Spam address and block you from emailing clients. We highly recommend using the throttle option as it can help the Communication Wizard run more efficiently and help keep your email address from being marked as Spam.

    If using StudioPlus Mail we take care of the Throttle on our servers automatically, so you won’t see this!

    NOTE: If you send email using the StudioPlus Mail service, you’ll be asked to enter an email address that a confirmation email can be sent to when the job has run, as well as to schedule the job to run at a future date, if desired. 

  5. Click Finish to send the emails.

Sending SMS Text Messages with the Communication Wizard #

  1. Go to Tools > Communication Wizard to open the wizard.

  2. Press Next to begin.

  3. Client Selection. Choose which clients you want to send a text message to. Choose by Client Group, Client Status, Marketing Plan, or Filter. Make your selection from the drop-down box and then check the specific group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter you want to include. Press Next to continue.

  4. Client Confirmation. The software displays all the clients in your chosen group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter. Use this page to adjust your list. Check/uncheck individual clients or use the Select All and Deselect All tools above the grid. Add columns with the Column Chooser and use the Filter tool to further break down your list. Click Next to continue.
    NOTE: Clients must have the SMS
    text messaging check box checked on the client form next to their
    phone number(s) as well as the Allow Text Marketing checkbox on the client form in order to receive the message.

  5. Communication
    Type.     Select
    SMS Text Messages as your communication type and click
    Next to continue.

  6. Text Draft.
    Use this page to draft the text message you want to send to the chosen clients.

    • Text
      Source       – Choose Free Text or
      use a Form Letter that has already been created in the software. See also: Form Letter Builder

    • Text
      Field       – Type in the text message you want
      to send. This area will be automatically populated if you chose
      a form letter. Just above the text area you can see how
      many characters you have left.

    • Link these clients to a Referral Program (Available in ) – Select to have these clients automatically assigned to a referral program when the wizard processes. Also select if the wizard should not be sent to a client who is already part of a referral program, or if it should change their current plan to the one you have selected. This benefits clients who have already been assigned to a special referral program separately. See also: What is a Referral Program?

  1. Client Notes. On this page you can choose what you want stamped into
    the client status notes for each client. Simply type in what
    you want to include. Click Next to continue.

  2. Test SMS Text. Use this page to send a test SMS message. For example, if you want to see what your clients will
    be receiving, send the text to yourself. Simply type the cell phone
    number into the text box and click Send.
    A text message will automatically be sent to that number alone. When
    you are satisfied, click Next to continue.

  3. Finalize. This page gives your final warning before the text messages
    are sent. At the top you can see how many text messages you are about
    to send. It’s helpful to check this number to make sure you are sending the right amount of texts. For example, if it says you’ll be sending 25 text messages and you know there are only 10 clients, it would be a good idea to go back and look over your client list again.

    Enter an email address that a confirmation email can be sent to when the job has run. You can also schedule the job to run at a future date, if desired. 


  4. Click Finish to send the text messages.

Creating Phone Calls with the Communication Wizard #

  1. Go to Tools > Communication Wizard to open the wizard.

  2. Press Next to continue.

  3. Client Selection. Choose which clients you want to create phone calls.  Choose by Client Group, Client Status, Marketing Plan, or Filter. Make your selection from the drop-down box  and then check the specific group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter you want to include. Press Next to continue.

  4. Client Confirmation. The software displays all the clients in your chosen group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter. Use this page to adjust your list. Check/uncheck individual clients or use the Select All and Deselect All tools above the grid. Add columns with the Column Chooser and use the Filter tool to further break down your list. Click Next to continue. Note: Clients must have the Allow Phone Marketing checkbox checked on their client form in order to have the call record created.

  5. Communication
    Type.     Select Phone Calls as your communication type and click Next to continue.

  6. Call Draft.
    Use this page to set up the call that will be created for each of the chosen clients.

    • Call
      Description –       This text will appear as the description
      of the phone calls.

    • Call
      Type       – Choose what type of call you want the phone calls to be. See also: Phone Call Types

    • Call
      User       – Choose who you want to make the calls. Select multiple
      users and the phone calls will automatically be evenly divided
      among the selected users.

    • Due
      Date       – Choose what day you want the calls to be made.

    • Target
      Session Date       –

    • Call
      Priority       – Choose to rank the importance of this call.

    • Call
      Notes       – Type in any notes you want included with this call.

  1. Finalize. This page gives your final warning before the calls are created. At the top you can see how many calls you are about to create. It’s helpful to check this number to make sure you are creating the right amount of calls. For example, if it says you’ll be creating 25 calls and you know there are only 10 clients, it would be a good idea to go back and look over your client list again.

    Enter an email address that a confirmation email can be sent to when the job has run. You can also schedule the job to run at a future date, if desired. 


  2. Click Finish to create the calls.

Generating Printed Letters with the Communication Wizard #

  1. Go to Tools > Communication Wizard to open the wizard.

  2. Press Next.

  3. Client Selection. On this page you can choose which clients you will
    communicate with. You can sort by Client Group, Client Status, Marketing Plan, or Filter. Make your selection from the drop-down box then check the specific group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter you want to include. Press Next.

  4. Client Confirmation. The software displays all the clients in your chosen group(s), status(es), plan(s), or filter. Use this page to adjust your list. Check/uncheck individual clients or use the Select All and Deselect All tools above the grid. Add columns with the Column Chooser and use the Filter tool to further break down your list. Click Next to continue.

  5. Communication
    Type.     Select Letters as your communication type and click Next to continue.

  6. Letter Draft. On this page, choose a form letter or HTML email
    to print.

    • Letter/HTML
      – Choose a form letter or HTML email you have created in the software. See also: Form Letter Builder and HTML Email Builder

    • Text
      Field       – This field will be automatically populated with
      the form letter or HTML email you have chosen.

  1. Client Notes. On this page, choose what you want stamped into
    the client status notes of each client. Simply type in what
    you want to include. Click Next to continue.

  2. Finalize.
    This page gives your final warning before the letters are
    merged and printed. At the top you can see how many letters you are about to
    print. It’s helpful to check this number to make sure you are generating the right amount of letters. For example, if it says you’ll be generating 25 letters and you know there are only 10 clients, it would be a good idea to go back and look over your client list again. Use Print to print out the
    form letters, Preview
    to preview the form letters on your computer, or Export
    to export your form letters to another document.

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