Reminders


The Workshop Manager includes the capability to set up reminders for customers when their MOT or annual service is due. In total you can set up to six reminders with two of those being MOT and annual service respectively, and the other four being available for customisation.

When a vehicle is in for a test or service, once the work is complete you can enter the date for the vehicle's next test or service. In the case of servicing this will generally correspond to the manufacturer's stated maximum time between services, often one year. In the case of MOT tests the expiry date of the MOT will be set.

Once the reminders are set up, you can then look at all the due services and tests for a given month and generate reminder messages. These can be in the form of letters, e-mails or SMS text messages.

Setting reminders for a vehicle

To set a reminder for a vehicle:

1.Click the Vehicles icon Cars in the toolbar.
2.Locate the vehicle and open it by double-clicking.
3.Click the Edit icon Edit24 in the toolbar.
4.Add a reminder by clicking the drop-down menu next to the relevant reminder and selecting the date.
5.When finished, save the changes by clicking the Save icon Save24 in the toolbar.

Reminders section of vehicle record

Setting up contact methods for a customer

For each customer you can define up to three contact methods: letter, SMS and e-mail. When a customer is created in the Workshop Manager, 'letter' is selected as the default reminder type. If you want to enable SMS and/or e-mail as a contact method you should ensure that the customer details include a mobile phone number and/or e-mail address.

Reminders section of customer record

The options to select the contact methods are in the Reminders section of the customer details screen. To select options:

1.Click the Customers icon UserGroup24 in the toolbar.
2.Locate the customer in the customer list and double-click to open.
3.Click the Edit icon Edit24 in the toolbar.
4.For SMS, enter a mobile phone number and select the 'Send SMS Text' option in the Reminders section.
5.For e-mail, enter an e-mail address and select the 'Send Email' option in the Reminders section.
6.Click the Save icon Save24 in the toolbar to save the information.

If you have a number of customers with a mobile number and/or e-mail address you can configure the delivery method easily. Open GDS > Configuration Settings > System Settings > E-Reminders > Initial Customer Setup. You will see two buttons:

•Send reminders by SMS text only for customers with a mobile number
•Send reminders by e-mail only for customers with an e-mail address.

Clicking either of these buttons will cause the Customer database to be modified such that customers with a mobile number and/or e-mail address will be configured to receive messages via that method.

Setting up a bespoke reminder

To set up your own bespoke reminder:

1.Open GDS > Configuration Settings > System Settings > Reminders.
2.Click the Edit icon Edit24 in the toolbar.
3.Amend the Reminder names as required.
4.Click the Save icon Save24 in the toolbar.

Topics

Sending reminders by e-mail and SMS

Customer Mailing List

Generating mailshots from reminders