ClientBase Help

CRM and marketing tips for the travel professional

Posts Tagged Set Up Tips

Email Blasts From ClientBase Part 1

Jan 2

Posted by John Frenaye in Set Up Tips | No Comments

OK, so the DSM of your preferred vendor just hooked you up with a fantastic rate and you want to get the new out to all of your interested prospects.  Before you can do that, you need to set up ClientBase to send emails.  Remember, at this point, ClientBase only sends emails and does not receive them!

Before we start, make sure you have the following info:

  • your email address
  • your password
  • your outgoing mail server (from your ISP)

STEP 1:

Log in using an appropriate permissioned user name

UTILITIES–>MY LOGIN

Click on the EMAIL SETTINGS tab

In most cases you will want to select the following

  • SMTP Client
  • DEFAULT MODE–I like Formatted Text, you can select templates, HTML, or Text
  • FROM EMAIL ADDRESS: This is the address you want it to LOOK like it came from. This is also the reply to address. You can put in your email address alone and it will look like address@domain.com in the from box when your clients receive it. Otherwise you can format it like this YOUR TRAVEL AGENCY <email@domain.com> there is a space between YOUR TRAVEL AGENCY and the first bracket OUTGOINGMAIL SERVER: provided by your ISP
  • PORT 25
  • AUTHENTICATION: Default
  • EMAIL ACCOUNT LOGIN: This is the email address that you are going to be sending from.
  • PASSWORD: is the password associated with your email address.
  • Click OK

STEP 2:

From the main screen

WORKSTATION DEFAULTS–>ENVIRONMENT–>EMAIL SETTINGS TAB
Most should be filled in for you and it should match the settings done above. Set the last option RESET EVERY X to a fairly low number like 20. This tells the program to only send 20 emails at a time.The reason we suggest a low number is that many ISPs prevent you from sending emails to a lot of people. If ClientBase is sending the same email to 500 people, it likely might not make it out of your ISP and you might be blacklisted. This sends them out in batches of 20 (or whatever number you selected) and is a workaround of the restriction. It is automatic–you do not need to resend after each 20 are sent.

The next post will be about actually sending the emails once you have it all set up!

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Saving Your Butt With An Invoice Disclaimer

Dec 24

Posted by John Frenaye in General Tip, Set Up Tips | No Comments

I was reading an interesting article in Travel Weekly today by Mark Pestronk, their legal expert. They were discussing the liabilities of an agency when a tour operator goes belly up.

So the first thing you need to do is to be sure to disclose the identity of the tour operator at the time you make the sale. Add the name to the itinerary that you produce and send to the client, and make clear that the named operator is providing the service.

Even better, add the name to the bottom of a signed disclaimer that says you are not liable for the operator’s acts or omissions. This step is especially important when you use a consolidator, as clients often have no idea that such a middleman is involved.

I know that some agencies do not like to disclose the particular vendor (and not disclosing it is an option in ClientBase) to prevent people from “shopping” them. but in today’s economic times, I recommend that you disclose, disclose, disclose!

And certainly, you need to have the disclaimer on the bottom of your invoices.  The disclaimers are set up on a branch level.

UTILITIES–>BRANCH–>(Select the proper branch)–>MODIFY–>(Click on the Invoice Remarks)–>(Compose your disclaimer)–>CHECK THE BOX THAT SAYS ALWAYS PRINT–>(Select either INSERT, UPDATE, or NEW)–>OK. Using the arrows on the side of the remarks summary window, you can change the order in which the remarks appear on the invoice.

Here is a sample of my disclaimer:

Single Parent Travel (SPT) acts as a sales agent for any airline, hotel, car rental company, tour operator, cruise line, or other service provider named in your itinerary. SPT is not responsible for acts or omissions of the suppliers, their failure to provide services or adhere to their own schedules, their failure to pay any refund, or for any personal injury, property damage, or other loss, accident, delay, inconvenience, or irregularity which may be caused by any party not under SPT’s control. By accepting this invoice or itinerary, you hereby agree to release SPT from all claims arising out of any problem covered in this paragraph.

And when practical, we have the client sign the invoice. In today’s electronic environment this is not possible a lot of times!

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Customizing Document Templates

Dec 23

Posted by John Frenaye in Set Up Tips | No Comments

Face it, the stock templates for letters and so forth in ClientBase are boring. They are designed that way and are begging for you to modify them to add your own look and feel.

The world is your oyster and on my own, I have my logo up top, a very cool “from the desk of John” below it, the standard mail merge Dear_____  and then a scanned image of my real signature. I think it adds a bit of personalization to it.  Play around with it and see what you like.  Then when you send emails, set your preference to DOCUMENT TEMPLATE and you are all set.

To add a graphic, signature, or logo,:

GLOBAL DEFAULTS—>DOCUMENT TEMPLATE–> FILE–>LOAD–>load the appropriate document.

You should see the template and the stock signature. Click in the area where you want to place the logo or other graphic.

Click on the teal/yellow icon of a dude walking (stupid I know),  navigate to your logo on your computer and then click OPEN.

It should place the logo.  Click and hold INSIDE the logo to drag it someplace else if needed. Click and hold the squares surrounding it to re size it if needed. The corner squares will maintain the logo’s aspect. Dragging the squares on the sides or top will distort it.

When you are happy, do a FILE–>PRINT PREVIEW to see if you are cool with it. If so, then FILE–>SAVE (if you want to replace the existing document) or FILE–>SAVE AS if you want to give it a new name.

My suggestion is a new name and if you are using it a lot, preceed it with a few AAAs so it alphabetizes and it is always on the top when you go to use it.

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