In this article, you'll learn how to customise your simPRO Automation rules so that your invitations are sent to the right people at the right time.
If you're using the betterbunch Pro plan and have simPRO automation connected, your feedback invitations will be sent automatically once a job is completed. There are different settings you can adjust to control when and how these requests are sent.
These settings can be divided into three main groups. Click on the headings below to learn more about each group of settings.
Sending rules that trigger an invitation to send
Exclusion rules that prevent an invitation from sending
Settings to optimise automation
Sending rules that trigger an invitation to send
Your Automation settings give you the ability to customise how an invitation will be sent to a customer. You can choose which simPRO job status code will trigger an invitation, which contact the invitation will be sent to, and the time and date the invitation will be sent. Read on to learn more about each setting.
Updating the job status code that triggers an invitation to send
Inside your simPRO subscription, you have predefined job status codes. Every business's job status codes are different. As you perform certain actions (such as emailing an invoice), your job status code will change depending on your simPRO trigger settings.
From within your betterbunch sending rules, you can customise which job status code triggers a follow-up invitation being sent to a customer.
It's important to note that you can only have one job status code selected.
We recommend that you select the job status code associated with an invoice being sent to a customer or the Job status code that indicates a customer has paid an invoice.
You can find instructions on how to update your job status code that triggers an invitation here
Managing which contacts will receive invitations
Within your simPRO subscription, you may have multiple contact records associated with one job. betterbunch sending rules allow you to select which contact record your invitation will be sent to.
You can choose to send the invitations to one or more of the below contact record associations, and remember, we recommend sending invitations to as many contacts as possible, as this is a great way to gather more feedback. Where possible, select all three contact records to receive invitations.
- the 'Company' record,
- the 'Individual' record,
- or the 'Site Contact' record.
It's important to note that a Site contact is any contact that is marked as the Site contact inside the simPRO job record.
A Company contact and Individual contact are both determined from the Primary Customer Contact field within the job record.
If the Primary Customer Contact field contains a contact record with a first name, then the contact is considered an 'Individual' contact.
If the Primary Customer Contact field contains a contact record with a blank first name, then it will be considered a 'Company' contact.
Learn more about simPRO contacts here if you're unsure which contact you'd like to send invites to.
You can find instructions on how to update your contact settings here
Managing the time your invitations are sent
As part of the simPRO sending rules, you can customise the sending times of your follow-up invitations.
You can choose to send invitations at the following times:
- 'Best time to send': betterbunch uses data to decide when your recipient is most likely to open and respond to the invite
- 'Right away': This will send the message immediately after the trigger status has been met
- 'After delay': Here, you can choose to add a delay of X days so that a customer receives their feedback invitation X days after the trigger status has been met
- 'At specific time': Here, you can choose a specific time you would like your feedback invitations to send
We recommend selecting 'best time to send' as we regularly monitor this data, but you can make the call.
Learn how to update your sending times here.
Exclusion rules that prevent an invitation from sending
Within your betterbunch automation settings, you have the ability to customise which simPRO groups will not receive feedback invitations. Read on to learn more about this setting.
Excluding tags, zones or cost centres from receiving invitations
As a part of the simPRO Automation feature, you have the ability to set exclusion rules. This means that if you use simPRO tags, zones or cost centres to categorise and organise customers in simPRO, you can set rules to block invitations from sending to these specific groups.
Learn more about simPRO tags, zones or cost centres through these highlighted links.
- An example of a tag being used to exclude a customer group could be creating a betterbunch exclusion rule to prevent any contact with the 'billing account' tag from receiving follow-up invitations
- An example of a zone that excludes a customer group would be one simPRO subscription used for invoicing customers in the Melbourne North and Melbourne West regions. You may have one simPRO subscription for job management purposes, but each site has its own Google Business Profile. In this case, you could set a betterbunch exclusion rule, preventing any follow-up invitations from being sent from the Melbourne North betterbunch account to the 'Melbourne West' zone customers
- An example of a cost centre rule being used to exclude a customer group could be excluding any contact that is associated with the 'commission' cost centre
It is important to note that when adding exclusion groups, you must manually type the category you would like to exclude. This text must be an exact match to the categories you have in simPRO (including capital and lowercase letters and spacing).
You can also have multiple exclusion categories at any one time.
Learn how to add tags, zones or cost centre exclusions here
Blocking invitations
If you have customers you'd prefer didn't receive follow-up invitations, you can add them to your blocklist, which will block all feedback invitations being sent to them.
For example, you may add the email addresses of the accounts department or a phone number of a customer that has already given their feedback in a grumpy email (hopefully not).
Check out this article for instructions on how to add customers to your block list
Cool off period
Setting a cool off period will block invitations to your repeat customers (the best kind of customers) within your chosen timeframe.
For example, if you're an electrician, you may do regular work for a real estate agency. It might seem clingy to ask them for feedback after every job, but it's really important to check in with them periodically to ensure they're still raving about your services.
We recommend setting your cool off period between 90 and 180 days - you choose.
Learn how to set your cool off period here
Settings to optimise automation
The below settings can be used to optimise and enhance your simPRO a\Automation connection to help increase conversion rates.
Promotor Retargeting
If a customer interacts with your follow-up invitation by clicking thumbs up to show they were happy, betterbunch identifies them as a promoter.
If 24-hours go by and they haven't proceeded to Google or your chosen review site, promotor retargeting will send them a cheeky reminder email with the intention of catching your customer at a better time.
This is a great way to help increase conversion rates and grow your online reputation.
Check out this guide to learn how to turn on promotor retargeting for simPRO Automation
Customising your invitation wording
Customising the text displayed in your SMS and email invitations is a great way to help increase conversion rates. We find that your customers are more likely to interact with your invitations if the wording is personalised and matches your brand speak.
Check out this article for more information on customising invitations.
How to update your simPRO sending and exclusion rules
Updating your cool off period, adding contacts to your blocklist and promotor retargeting can be completed from your Settings menu.
If you want to update your sending and exclusion rules, follow the helpful steps below.
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Login to your betterbunch account
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Head to the Automation page on the left menu
- Click Edit on the simPRO tile
- Click the first dropdown and select the job status code that suits your business
- Click the second dropdown and select whether to send the invitation to the Company, Individual or Site Contact
- Next, click the third dropdown and select when to send the feedback invitation
- Once you're happy with your simPRO sending rules, select Next
- From the first dropdown, select a Tag, Zone or Cost centre you would like to exclude
- In the second box, type the category you would like to exclude from receiving feedback invites
Note: this needs to be an exact match of the categories you have in simPRO - Select Next
- Review your simPRO automation settings. Check that you are happy with the sending and exclusion rules you have set and select I'm happy with that setup, or you can return to edit the automation rules by selecting click here.
- We always recommend sending a test invite to yourself to check that everything's smooth.
To do this, you'll need to create a dummy job in simPRO using your name, email and phone number as the contact, then update the status of the job to match the sending rules you have set. When your sending rules have been met, you will receive your test feedback invitation
Remember, there are two ways to use betterbunch: proactively and reactively. Be sure to check out our suggestions on how to squeeze the most out of your subscription.