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Manage reminders

Create reminders

Preventative and maintenance reminders

Creating reminders

When an estimate is showing onscreen, follow the steps below to add preventive or maintenance reminders.

  1. From the Point of sale, click on the Reminder button at the left extremity.
  2. Double-click on the blank field in the Message column and enter a message.
  3. If the reminder is only a note, leave the box in the Note column checked and the Reminder date and KM/MLG fields blank.
  4. For reminders based on a date or mileage, click on the blank field in the Reminder date column and select a date on the calendar and/or double-click on the blank field in the KM/MLG column and enter the mileage. The box in the Note column will automatically uncheck.
  5. Click on the Exit button to return to the Point of sales.

Alternatively, at step 2, you can click on the magnifying glass button to show the Message Management window onscreen, select predefined messages and click on the Select and exit button.

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Saving predefined reminders

From the Message Management window, you can create and save new predefined reminders by following the steps below.

  1. Click on the + button.
  2. Enter the message.
  3. If you want this predefined reminder to be associated with a job code, enter the code in the Associated Job field or retrieve it by clicking on the magnifying glass button. When a job code is associated with a predefined reminder, each time you include this job code on an estimate, the reminder will be automatically added.
  4. Click on the diskette button to save.

Keywords: #quote # proposal #estimation

Estimate reminders

When an estimate is showing onscreen, follow the steps below to convert a part of it into a new proposed and rescheduled estimate and create a reminder.

  1. From the Point of sales, select the jobs and all related items to be converted into a proposed and rescheduled estimate.
  2. Right-click on them and select Proposed and rescheduled with reminder.

When the current estimate is invoiced, the selected items will be converted into a proposed and rescheduled estimate and a reminder will be added. Starting with GEM-CAR version 13.0.3, we added the option to create the reminder before the estimate is invoiced. This can be done by selecting Create reminder instead of the Proposed and rescheduled with reminder option.

Keywords: #quote # proposal #estimation

Oil change reminder

You can create oil change reminders when you print oil change labels. To do so, follow the steps below.

  1. From the Point of sale, click on the Oil change label button.
  2. In the Oil change window, enter all the relevant information regarding the oil change.
  3. Enter the job code corresponding to oil change in the Reminder job field or retrieve it using the adjacent magnifying glass button.
  4. Print the oil change label by clicking on the Print button.
  5. A validation message will pop informing you whether there is an oil change maintenance job configured or not. In both cases, click on Yes to either create a new one or overwrite the existing one.
  6. Back to the Point of sale, click on the Reminders button.
  7. In the Vehicle’s reminder window, click on the Schedule preventative reminders button.
  8. Answer Yes to the validation message to add the reminder to the list for the vehicle.

Reminder status

When reminders are due, the Vehicle’s reminders window will pop up when loading the customer profile in the Point of sale. This will occur for as long as the reminder status remains On hold. Once you change the status of a reminder, the pop-ups will stop. If the status is change before the due date, no reminder will be sent to the customer.

To change the status of a reminder, follow the steps below.

  1. Load a customer profile with an On hold reminder in the Point of sale or click on the Reminders button. POS-reminders-button
  2. From the Vehicle’s reminders window, select the reminder on the list.
  3. Change the status using the drop-down menu.
  4. Click on the diskette button to save.

You will also notice that reminders show in different colors on the list. Here is a legend:

  • black: reminders for upcoming jobs or for estimations in the proposed and rescheduled status;
  • blue: preventative or maintenance reminders by date or mileage;
  • red: reminders for which the due date is past, whatever the type or status; and
  • green: reminders that have been completed.

While an estimate or an invoice for a client is showing onscreen in the Point of sale, follow the steps below to print reminders.

  1. From the Point of sale, click on the Reminders button. POS-reminders-button
  2. From the Vehicle’s reminders window, select the reminders.
  3. Click on the print button.
  4. The print preview window will appear. Click on the print button on the top left corner to print the reminders.

Reminder status

One a reminder has been printed, its status will change to Printed

Keywords: #quote # proposal #estimation

E-mail reminders

E-mailing reminders is not automatic and must be executed manually. Before sending e-mails to a customer, an e-mail address must be configured in the customer’s profile and GEM-CAR must be properly configured to send e-mails. Once this is done, while an estimate or an invoice for a client is showing onscreen in the Point of sale, follow the steps below to e-mail reminders.

  1. From the Point of sale, click on the Reminders button. POS-reminders-button
  2. From the Vehicle’s reminders window, select the reminders to be sent by e-mail.
  3. Click on the @ button.
  4. From the Print options window, select the contacts on the list. You can add new contacts by checking the empty contact box and double-clicking in the fields to add a name and an address. New contacts will be saved in the client profile.
  5. Click on the @ button to send the e-mails. reminders-send-email

Automatic e-mail reminders

The rate for which e-mail reminders transfer in appointments is lower than 10% while it can reach 83% with signed letter reminders with phone follow-ups. This is the reason why GEM-CAR does not offer this option.

Keywords: #quote # proposal #estimation

Send reminders for all customers

You can print or send by e-mail all the reminders for all customers. If you wish to send e-mails, GEM-CAR must have been properly configured to send e-mails. It will e-mail all the reminders to customers for whom an e-mail address is configured in the customer’s profile. Follow the steps below to proceed with this operation.

  1. From the GEM-CAR Main menu, go to Reports > Customer management.
  2. From the Reports window, select Reminder reports on the list of the Available reports section.
  3. Chose a period using the Reminders for the month, Date from and Date to fields.
  4. Select a sorting option in the Sort by section.
  5. Select the reminder statuses to be part of the list by checking options in the Display reminders section.
  6. If you want the reminders to fit in double-window envelopes, select the Two windows option in the Print section.
  7. In the Clients with section, select With e-mail, Without e-mail or All.
  8. Click on the print button.

Reminder status

One a reminder has been printed, its status will change to Printed.

Here are the descriptions of the effects of the options in the Client with section:

  • With e-mail: GEM-CAR will send the reminders to the e-mail address configured in the customers’ profiles. The default e-mail in the profile will be used. No reminder will be printed.
  • Without e-mail: GEM-CAR will print all the reminders for clients for whom there is no e-mail address configured in the customer’s profile. No e-mail will be sent.
  • All: GEM-CAR will send the reminders to the e-mail address configured in the customers’ profiles. The default e-mail in the profile will be used. It will also print all the reminders for clients for whom there is no e-mail address configured in the customer’s profile.

E-mail all the reminders

After having clicked on the print button from the Reports window, if you selected With e-mail in the Client with section, a window will appear in which you can enter the title and the message for the e-mails to be sent. Then, click on the Confirm sending reminders by e-mail button to send the e-mails. The reminders will be attached to the e-mails as PDF files.

After having clicked on the print button from the Reports window, if you selected Without e-mail or All, the print preview window will appear. Click on the print button on the top left corner to print the reminders.

Generate a list of upcoming reminders

You can generate a list of all the upcoming reminders for all customers. Follow the steps above from the Send reminders for all customers section to proceed with this operation. However, at step 8, instead of clicking on the print button, click on the Reminder list button. This will generate a list that you can print or save on the computer.

Some reminders are not showing on the list of upcoming reminders

If some reminders are not showing on the list of upcoming reminders, it could be because the date was not set properly for those reminders or that the end-of-day procedure has not yet been completed.

Reminders statistics

You can generate a list of statistics for the reminders you send to your customers. This can be useful to measure the efficiency on the reminders. To do so, follow the steps below.

  1. From the GEM-CAR Main menu, go to Reports > Customer management.
  2. From the Reports window, select Reminder reports on the list of the Available reports section.
  3. Select Print reminders statistics.
  4. Chose a period using the From and To fields.
  5. Click on the print button.

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