The Messenger in detail

We have a feature for you, your field techs, and your customers to communicate from within the web application. We call it the Messenger. Here is how it works.

• Let’s start with configuring our Messaging Templates and Customer Reminder page. Here we are going to set the email address for replies to our emails.

• Here I show how communicating to field technicians and your customers about the immediate job works easy for everyone.
  
  

• First, we have to have a customer record that you have captured their mobile number and checked the box below that reads “This contact has requested text message reminders for upcoming appointments”

• For your customer to also receive an email at the same time you need to have an email address installed on their customer record, but it is not a requirement for text messaging.
  
  

• Next, create an opportunity or job and assign a technician to it. Notice the megaphone icon to the right of the event. It’s a drop-down.

We provide three features:

• Notify Employee

• Send Details

• On The Way

1. Notify employee - will send your field tech a text message with:

• Job number, customer’s name, event date and time, service address, customer’s primary phone number, job description, and finally the event description.

NOTE: that if you need the customer’s mobile number sent you need to have it as the primary number in the customer record.

• Also, note that most cell phone service providers have a limit for how many characters can be in a text message generated by a 3rd party such as Kickserv and will most likely break up your texts into at least two messages.

With Send Details - we send your customer an email and text message with this feature. 

• Your customer will receive the name of your tech, your company name, the start date and time of the service, plus possible end time, and finally the name or title of the service you are providing.

With On The Way - your customer will be sent a text as well as an email stating the company's name and your client's service address.

NOTE: Your company’s physical address is pulled from your Kickserv marketing home page if you have set it up otherwise, we use your company information set-up page.

• The customer can reply back directly from their email

• Which will send you only an email to your reply-to address.

• Or message you from their self-service portal

• Which they can access from the email.

• Your customer will have links to their customer self-service portal where they can see their history and message you back.

Next, You will notice an envelope icon in the upper right of the web application. This is the main page where your messages will all gather.

Opening the messages in the main inbox:

In bold will be the "unread. The truck symbols are job messages, and the exclamation point are the requests for more work.

*Notice the filters at the top.

NOTE: only messages from the message from the customer’s self-service portal or customers requesting more service from your marketing page will appear on this message page. 

And there is one last gem baked into our messaging feature and that is a method to send your customers a one-off type email for any purpose – such as following up on an estimate or to ask for feedback or anything you like. Just make certain that the customer’s primary contact record is up to date with an email address.

Then, all you have to know is the customer record name. In other words, by the commercial name of the business or for residential the person’s name.

The customer can simply reply to the email to your default notifications email or they can click on the link “Reply to the conversation” and that will put a reply in your message envelope.

That’s a wrap! Please log in to your Kickserv account and practice. Check us out on Facebook too!

[Compose]

• Email any of your primary contacts that have email addresses

• No email – will get a message that there is no email

Notes:

• Truck symbol = reply to work messages

• Bang symbol = request for more new work

• If there is no symbol that is a reply to an email from the “Reply to the conversation” link in the customer’s email.

Notes:

EMAIL only

• Reply directly from email returns to reply email only

• Estimate modification requests go to reply email only  

Email and message page

• Customer portal message tabsends email AND adds a message to the message page. 

• ./connect(aka self-service) page requests for more work

Notes:

When you message back from the message main page the reply message will appear in the customers self-service portal as well as their email.