In an effort to provide a single "channel" for all communications to many clients, we use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and client 'ticket' system. In other words, to help us effectively manage multiple email enquiries, customer orders, billing cycles, payments and project workflow simultaneously, it's necessary to "tame the beast" (the beast in this case, being the Inbox - not the client!!).
As with any system, there are 'pros and cons'. We believe the pros outweigh the cons - because in a nutshell, the objective is that, you the client - shall receive timely reminders, communications and efficient service, all adding up to happiness :-).
One downside is the use of the "robot" or automated emails - some love it and some hate it - in the end, it simply comes down to not wanting to miss or forget important communications. We have done our best to keep these kind of automated notifications to a minimum, however, on occasion, you may receive automated system emails from our accounts or support departments. It's up to you if and how you'd like to respond to these, or simply archive / delete or ignore them.
We also find the CRM system invaluable when it comes to Project Management. All emails, information and associated conversations, invoices, log in details, file attachments, timelines and tasks that are related with any project / enquiry can be easily tracked and stored securely to your associated client account. Your account is only accessible to us and of course to all / any staff you have given access to.
Inevitably, we realise that "our system" may not suit everyone and that while some may find it easy and practical, others may find it difficult and cumbersome! We will do our best to help iron out any issues you may encounter as we work together. For your convenience, find below some useful tips and FAQ to help you get started.
Best Practice When Working With Us
Our overall objective is to ensure easy and efficient communications. We've tried to keep things as simple as possible with just a few "automated emails", however some clients prefer to use our client portal instead of sending emails. You can access your account portal at any time by logging in here. When you log in, you can see your products, services, billing information, projects, email history and opened / closed tickets.
If you prefer to send emails - follow these tips:
- Whenever you send us a "new" email enquiry (e.g. an email with a new subject), you'll receive an initial "automated" response that confirms our receipt.
- To avoid receiving multiple automated responses - try to keep conversations within the same original ticket ID and subject. In other words, if you send multiple emails with different subjects, you're going to receive multiple automated responses, which may lead to frustration and confusion.
- To send an update to us or provide additional information on an already open ticket, simply reply to the already opened ticket, keeping the ticket ID and subject header intact.
- If you continue to use the same ticket ID / subject for all future communications relating to that specific enquiry / subject matter, you should not receive any further automated emails, until the ticket gets closed.
- When a ticket enquiry has not had a response after a certain amount of time, it will automatically close and an auto-closure email will be sent informing you of this. If there is nothing further to add on the matter, then you can ignore the automated closure notification email. However, if you wish to continue the conversation with us on that subject, you can simply reply to re-open the ticket.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
1) When should I open a new ticket?
It's fine to open new tickets for distinctive, separate subjects, e.g. an account query should not be in the same ticket as your project ticket.
2) Can I reply inline or underneath the text, like in a traditional email?
When replying to a ticket, please do NOT write inline - your response should be above the indicated line: "reply above this line". This is because our ticket system strips out previous replies to prevent emails becoming overly long (which often happens with a lot of back and forth!). The full email history can always be viewed by clicking on the link at the footer of the ticket, and is also accessible through your client account on our website client portal.
3) Forwarding emails?
Please Do NOT forward emails to us because our ticket system may strip out the forwarded parts for security purposes. If you need to forward information to us, please do so by copying and pasting it from the other email, and into your ticket reply (above the line) - or by taking a screen shot.
4) Sharing files / Folders ?
We suggest that you use a "cloud based" shared folder for sharing multiple files with us. For example, Dropbox or Google Drive are inexpensive - often free. One or two files in an email should be fine, but if you try to attach multiple files to an email - it will likely fail due to restrictions. Instead, simply add your folder or multiple files to your chosen shared cloud folder and then send us the link via email.
5) Stop receiving automated emails?
Unfortunately we are not able to turn off automated emails for individual clients. Please try to work within the guidelines above and that should reduce any excessive emails coming from the Purple Dog robot. If you are experiencing an unusual amount of "automated emails" please get in touch so that we can investigate.
If you have any questions, or there's anything too complicated for email - just get in touch!
IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTES:
1) We will NEVER ask you for your Purple Dog client area login password. Never give this information to any third party.
2) AVOID sending us passwords via email if at all possible. Email is NOT secure and it's possible the passwords may become unsecured and the information seen by others. Instead, please login to your Purple Dog client account and submit the information using our secure form: https://www.purpledogdesign.com/clients/knowledgebase/89/Send-Us-Secure-Information.html When you use this method to send passwords, they are not sent over email and are secured and protected using encryption.
Thank you for your understanding. Please let us know if you have any questions.