Marketing Letters

From FloristWiki

Revision as of 12:12, 25 September 2012

Using forms provided in FTD Mercury, you can create several different letters for marketing purposes, including thank you letters for florists who have sent you business, discount letters, reminders to customers of upcoming occasions, and even completely custom letters. You can also print matching address labels, making the process of addressing these envelopes quick and efficient. FTD Mercury is designed to print labels using a template for Avery Standard 8160 labels, which can be purchased at most office supply stores.

Printing Florist Thank You Letters

FTD Mercury provides you with a way to print thank you letters to florists who have sent you business, as well as the ability to print matching address labels. The mail merge capability makes addressing these letters and envelopes an efficient process.

To print thank you letters with matching address labels:

1. On the FTD Mercury Main Menu, click Business Reports.
2. Double-click the Mercury Forms folder.
3. Double-click the Letters and Templates folder.
4. Double-click on the Florist Thank You icon to open the template.
5. When the FTD Mercury - Florist Thank You Letter window opens, click Next.
6. In the Select Start Date window, select the month, day of the month, and year you wish to start the extraction. Then, click Next.
7. In the Select End Date window, select the month, day of the month, and year you wish to end the extraction. Then, click Next.
8. When the Sender Information window opens:
   1. In the Enter the sender’s name field, enter the name of the person who is signing the letters (for example, the store owner).
   2. In the Select a Store field, click the arrow and select the name of the store sending this letter.
   3. Click Next.
9. Review the information you have just entered in the Finish window. If you need to change information, you may click the Back button to go back to any previous screen(s) and change information. If the information is correct, click Finish.
10. When the Mailing Labels window opens and prompts you with Would you like to create mailing labels?, click Yes to create matching labels for letter recipients, or click No to print the letters only. If you chose No, skip to step 15 below.
11. When the Labels document opens displaying the completed labels, load your Avery 8160 Standard labels and select File, Print.
12. When the label printing is complete, select File, Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.
13. When the Form Letters document reappears, load the paper in the printer and select File, Print.
14. When the letter printing is complete, select File, Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.

Florist Thank You Letter Example

October 1, 2010

FTD Flower Store
3113 Woodcreek Drive
Downers Grove, IL 60515


Dear Fellow FTD Florist:

Thank you for your recent floral order.

We at FTD Flower Store appreciate your confidence and trust in us. Like you, we
strive to provide quality service and products to our customers. Rest assured,
orders we receive from fellow FTD Florists are treated with the same care and
attention as our everyday customers here in our shop.

If you should need more floral orders filled in this area sometime in the future, we
hope that you will remember us.

Once again, thanks for your patronage!


Regards,
FTD Flower Store

Printing Order Recipient Discount Letters

FTD Mercury enables you to print discount letters to order recipients, including matching address labels. You can choose to print letters for Order Entry recipients (using data from Order Entry) or Mercury order recipients (using data from incoming Mercury orders).

To print order recipient discount letters:

1. On the FTD Mercury Main Menu, click Business Reports.
2. Double-click the Mercury Forms folder.
3. Double-click the Letters and Templates folder.
4. Double-click on the 10% Off icon to open the template. The 10% Discount Letter window opens.
5. In the Type area, select whether you want to send discount letters to Mercury order recipients or Sales Order recipients. This selection determines which recipient information to print. If you select Mercury 10% Discount Letter, FTD Mercury prints only incoming Mercury order recipients. If you select Sales Order 10% Discount Letter, the system prints only Order Entry recipients (including Mercury orders attached in Order Entry).
6. In the Sender’s Name field, type the name that you want to appear on the signature line of the letter (such as the employee sending the order, or the store owner).
7. If you have multiple stores, select the sending store in the Select Store field.
8. In the Date Range area, select the start and end dates for the orders that you want to include in the merge.
9. If you want to exclude orders with the Sympathy occasion code, make sure the check box is selected at the bottom of the window. It is highly recommended to keep this box selected so that you do not accidentally print and mail a letter to a sympathy recipient.
10. Click Finish.
11. At Would you like to create mailing labels?, click Yes to create matching labels for letter recipients, or click No to print the letters only. If you chose No, skip to step 13 below.
12. When the Labels document opens displaying the completed labels, load your Avery 8160 Standard labels and select File, Print.
13. When the label printing is complete, select File, Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.
14. When the Form Letters document reappears, load the paper in the printer and on the File menu, click Print.
15. When the letter printing is complete, on the File menu, click Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.

Recipient Discount Letter Example

Get 10% Off Your
Next Floral Purchase!
(if you save this letter)

October 1, 2010


John Smith
2131 Yellowstar Lane
Springfield, VA 12345

Dear John Smith,
On 09/06/01 you received a floral order from our shop, The Flower Store. We hope
that you were pleased with your arrangement and enjoyed the special sentiment that
flowers convey.

When you have a special occasion to celebrate or a sentiment you’d like to convey,
we hope that we can be your first choice. The Flower Store is an FTD member, which
means you’ll get the highest quality products and speedy service that’s recognized
around the world.

As a special offer to recipients from our shop, we’d like to extend a one-time 10%
discount on any order that you place within 90 days.
All you have to do is bring this letter into our shop to receive your special
discount. For phone orders just give us the code number at the bottom of this
letter. Either way, you can save money.

We hope to serve you soon!

Regards
The Flower Store

P.S. Don’t throw away the letter! Remember, this offer is good for 90 days.
Phone order code: FTD-A1

Printing Mailing Labels

FTD Mercury enables you to print mailing labels for customers and order recipients. It is designed to use Avery Standard 8160 address labels, which can be purchased from most office supply stores.

To print mailing labels:

1. On the FTD Mercury Main Menu, click Business Reports.
2. Double-click the Mercury Forms folder.
3. Double-click the Letters and Templates folder.
4. Double-click the Mailing labels template. The Mailing Labels window opens.
5. In the Type section, select whether you want to print Mercury Mailing Labels or Sales Order Mailing Labels. Mercury Mailing Labels prints labels for recipients of Mercury orders; Sales Order Mailing Labels prints labels for customers or recipients that placed orders that were processed through Order Entry (local or wire out orders).
6. In the Print Customer/Recipient Labels area, select whether you want to Print Labels Within Date Range or Print All Labels. If you select Print Labels Within Date Range, the Date Range section becomes active so that you can enter a date range.
7. If you selected to print Sales Order Mailing Labels, then select in the Select Address Type for Mailing Labels section if you want to create labels for Customer Addresses or Recipient Addresses. Customer Addresses prints labels for customers who placed orders at your shop. Recipient Addresses prints labels for the recipients of orders that were placed at your shop.
8. If you selected the Print Labels Within Date Range option, then you must specify a sale date range in the Date Range section. Click the down arrows in each of the Start Date and End Date sections to select start and end dates for the date range.
9. If you want to print customers with particular marketing types, click Marketing Criteria Selection so that a check mark appears (otherwise leave this option unchecked). This allows you to filter customer information so that, for example, you can print only Business accounts in the report. (If this area is blank, it means that you have no marketing categories set up. See Marketing Screen for information on setting up these categories.)
   To select marketing categories to print, first click on a category so that a drop-down arrow displays. Click this arrow to display a drop-down list of marketing types. Then check which types you want to print.
   To print only customers with no marketing information specified in the Customer Detail Information window, first check the Marketing Criteria Selection option so that a check mark appears, then check Customers with No Marketing Criteria.
10. When you have completed all of the information in this window, click Finish.
11. When the Labels window appears, load your Avery Standard 8160 labels and on the File menu, click Print to print your mailing labels.
12. When the label printing is complete, on the File menu, click Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.

Printing Occasion Code Letters

Occasion code letters remind your customers of upcoming occasions for which they have previously made a purchase for your shop. These letters remind the customer of the special occasion, and offer product recommendations.

To print occasion code letters:

1. On the FTD Mercury Main Menu, click Business Reports.
2. Double-click the Mercury Forms folder.
3. Double-click the Letters and Templates folder.
4. Double-click on the Occasion Code icon to open the template.
5. In the Sender’s Name field, type the name of the employee (or store owner) that is sending the letter. Then click the arrow in the Select Store field and choose the store from which this letter is being sent.
6. Click the arrow in the Code field and choose the occasion for which you are creating letters.
7. In the Date Range section, select a start and end date for the data that you want to include in the report. Remember that these dates should be for orders that were placed last year.
8. If you want to print customers with particular marketing types, click Marketing Criteria Selection so that a check mark appears (otherwise leave this option unchecked). This allows you to filter customer information so that, for example, you can print only Business accounts in the report. (If this area is blank, it means that you have no marketing categories set up. See Marketing Screen information on setting up these categories.)
   To select marketing categories to print, first click on a category so that a drop-down arrow displays. Click this arrow to display a drop-down list of marketing types. Then check which types you want to print.
   To print only customers with no marketing information specified in the Customer Detail Information window, first check the Marketing Criteria Selection option so that a check mark appears, then check Customers with No Marketing Criteria.
9. Click Finish.
10. At Would you like to create mailing labels?, click Yes to create matching labels for letter recipients, or click No to print the letters only. If you chose No, skip to step 11 below.
11. When the Labels document opens displaying the completed labels, load your Avery 8160 Standard labels and on the File menu, click Print.
12. When the label printing is complete, on the File menu, click Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.
13. When the Form Letters document reappears, you can customize your letters as desired. Type in suggested products and prices.
    

    If you want to quickly and easily replace the generic text in the letter with your own text, use the Replace command on the Edit menu. By doing this you can quickly “find” the generic text (such as the text that reads “[description, price]”) and “replace” it with your own custom text (such as “a dozen roses for $50.”). Clicking Replace All replaces all of the generic text with your custom text.

14. When you are ready to print the letters, load the paper in the printer and on the File menu, click Print.
15. When the letter printing is complete, on the File menu, click Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.

Occasion Code Letter Example

You Have a Special Event Coming Up!

October 1, 2010


John Smith
123 Main Street
Lisle, IL 60532

Dear John Smith:

Last year you asked us to deliver a floral gift to Jane Smith on November 08, 2009.
Would you like to celebrate this birthday with the memorable gift of flowers once
more?

We have several products and different price levels to choose from. For example, our
most affordable gift is [add detailed descriptions of most affordable product with
price]. For just a few dollars more, you can choose an arrangement with
[description, price]. And for that truly memorable gift, we can deliver an
arrangement that includes [description, price].

Any of these products is sure to bring a smile to the face of someone special with a
special event coming up. Call us today to place your order and ensure timely
delivery of one of these lovely gifts.

Thank you for your business. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Regards,
The Flower Store

P.S. In addition to the products described above, we’d be happy to customize an
arrangement for you. Give us a call or stop on in!

Creating Customer Letters

The Customer Letter template allows you to create a custom letter to send to your customers. The template has been set up to merge your customer information so that each letter will be a professional, customized letter. Then you can create your own text message in the letter and save the template for later.

To create a custom letter:

1. On the Management menu, click Reports and Templates.
2. Double-click the Mercury Forms folder.
3. Double-click the Letters and Templates folder.
4. Double-click on the Customer Letter icon to open the template. The following message appears:
   

   The customer letter is designed to allow you to create a customized letter to send to your top customers. You can either edit and save the letter to be used later or use the letter as it exists now to generate custom letters.

   
   At this time you must decide if you want to first generate the letters (merge the customer data) or edit the letter. FTD suggests you first edit the letter. Click Edit Letter to edit the letter.
5. Before editing the letter, make sure that you print the instructions that are on the letter. To do this, on the File menu, click Print. Save these instructions in case you have to refer to them at a later time.
6. Delete the instruction portion of the letter (between the asterisks (***) messages). Do not delete text marked by brackets (<<>>). This text marks where the customer data will be merged. If you edit this text then the data will not merge correctly.
7. Type the body of your letter (where the instructions used to be) in a standard letter format. Remember not to delete text marked by brackets (<<>>).
8. Save the letter when it is complete. To do this, on the File menu, click Save As.
9. Select a name and location to save the letter (or accept the default name and location) and click Save.
10. On the File menu, click Close. You must close the file so that when you re-open the file, the template wizard will reappear.
11. When you are ready to merge the customer information, open the custom letter file that you just saved.
12. Click Generate Letters. The Custom Letter window opens.
13. In the Select Store field, click the arrow and select a store name. The customers that are in that store’s customer database will be printed. To select all stores, click Select all locations.
14. You can choose to type a number of top customers (customers with the highest sales volume) in the Top Customer Option field. For example, if you would only like to print the top 50 customers, type 50 in this field. You may leave this field blank.
15. In the Date Range field, select a sale date range, so that only customers who made purchases within the date range will be printed. To do this, click the down arrows in each of the Start Date and End Date fields to specify a start and end date for the date range.
16. If you want to specify a range of ZIP codes (for example “60501 to 60512”), type the beginning ZIP code in the Start field and the ending ZIP code in the End field and then click Add. The range is added to the text box below. You can then add more ZIP code ranges. You can also leave this information blank.
    

    To enter a specific ZIP code, type a zip code in the Start field and then click Add. You can then add additional ZIP codes this way.'

17. If you want to print customers with particular marketing types, click Marketing Criteria Selection so that a check mark appears (otherwise leave this option unchecked). This allows you to filter customer information so that, for example, you can print only Business accounts in the report. (If this area is blank, it means that you have no marketing categories set up. See Marketing Screen for information on setting up these categories.)
    To select marketing categories to print, first click on a category so that a drop-down arrow displays. Click this arrow to display a drop-down list of marketing types. Then check which types you want to print.
    To print only customers with no marketing information specified in the Customer Detail Information window, first check the Marketing Criteria Selection option so that a check mark appears, then check Customers with No Marketing Criteria.
18. When you are finished selecting the options in this window, click Finish.
19. You are then asked Would you like to create mailing labels? Click Yes if you want to print mailing labels, otherwise click No.
20. To print the letters, on the File menu, click Print.

Printing Delinquency Letters

Sending delinquency letters to customers who need the reminder for payment helps you collect from those customers. FTD Mercury includes a gently-worded letter template to help you send a reminder.

To print delinquency letters:

1. On the Management menu, click Reports and Templates.
2. Double-click the Mercury Forms folder.
3. Double-click the Letters and Templates folder.
4. Double-click on the Delinquent Letter icon to open the template.
5. When the FTD Mercury - Delinquent Letter window opens, click Next.
6. When the Select Days Due window opens, select the days past due for which you want to create letters. You may choose any combination of the 30, 60, 90, and/or 120 day periods listed. Then, click Next.
7. When the Sender Information window opens:
   1. In the Enter the sender’s name field, enter the name of the employee who is sending this letter.
   2. Click the arrow in the Select a Store field and choose the store from which the letter will be sent.
   3. Click Next.
8. Review the information you have just entered in the Finish window. If you need to change any information, you may click the Back button to go back to any previous screen(s) and change information. If the information is correct, click Finish.
9. At Would you like to create mailing labels?, click Yes to create matching labels for letter recipients, or click No to print the letters only. If you chose No, skip to step 14 below.
10. When the Labels document opens displaying the completed labels, load your Avery 8160 Standard labels and select File, Print.
11. When the label printing is complete, select File, Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.
12. When the Form Letters document reappears, load the paper in the printer and select File, Print.
13. When the letter printing is complete, select File, Close. When prompted, indicate if you want to save the document.

Delinquency Letter Example

October 1, 2001


John Smith
123 Main Street
Lisle, IL 60532

Dear John Smith:

Our records indicate that your account with us is now more than 60 days past due.
According to our records, the total unpaid amount as of the date of this letter is
$64.48. Total past due is $64.48.

We value your business and want to continue to provide you with quality products and
timely service. However, good business practices require us to insist on payment of
your balance due today.

If our records are incorrect, please contact our shop immediately. If you want an
itemized list of the products and services provided to you, we would be more than
happy to provide you with that information.

Your prompt attention to this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Leslie’s Flowers and Gifts

P.S. Invoices 90 days past due are sent to a credit collection agency, which may
affect your good credit standing. Please don’t delay in sending in your payment
today!

Modifying Letter Templates

Marketing letters have been created for you so that you can merge customer information into the letter and have custom letters printed to send to your customers. However, you may want to customize the letters by changing the wording on the letters BEFORE you merge customer information. This way the letter appears exactly as you want, and you will not have to manually change the letters before printing.

You can modify all of the following letters:

• Florist Thank You Letter
• Recipient Discount Letter
• Delinquency Letter
• Occasion Code Letter

To change a marketing letter template before you merge FTD Mercury data into the letter:

1. On the Windows Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, and select Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word opens.
2. On the File menu, click Open. The Open window appears.
3. From the Files of type list at the bottom of the window, select Document Templates.
4. On the left side of the window, click Desktop.
5. Click My Computer, Local Disk, Wings, Office Templates, Mercury Forms.
6. Select the template you want to change and click Open.
   NOTE: If you selected to edit the Customer Letter template, a popup window displays asking you if you wish to edit the letter or generate letters. Click Edit Letter.
7. Edit the letter as you wish. Be careful not to change the fields that are marked with brackets (<< >>).
8. When you are finished editing the letter, on the File menu, click Save As.
9. Type a unique file name in the File name text box in the Save As window (for example CustomerLetterMarch2003). Make sure that you type a unique file name. If you do not type a unique file name then you will replace the original file.
10. Click Save.
11. Exit out of Microsoft Word. To do this, on the File menu, click Exit.
12. Open Microsoft Word again. On the Windows Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, and select Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word opens.
13. Click General Templates in the New Workbook on the right side of the screen (if you do not see the New Workbook on the right side of the screen, click the File menu then click New to display it).
14. Click the Mercury Forms tab.
15. Double-click on the name of your new custom letter that you just created.

NOTE: If you are opening a Customer Letter template, a popup window displays asking you if you wish to edit the letter or generate letters. Click Generate Letters.

At this point the wizard appears and you should complete the wizard as you would normally. The data will merge into your new letters. Then save or print the letters as desired.