How can I separate Quotes and Orders after they have been emailed to my business?
This is very simple to do using different folders within your email inbox. You can do this whether you have a separate email address just for Once quotes/orders, or if you receive Once emails to another address that you use for other things as well. (This article mostly refers to Outlook and Gmail, for other email systems, simply search their help for how to set up folders and rules/filters, or get in touch with us at Once Support)
Here is an example of how you might use this:
A Customer named Mrs Jones calls your shop to say that you quoted for blinds 6 months ago. They didn't go ahead at the time, but they would like to now. You go to your email system and search your 'Quotes' folder for 'Mrs Jones'. The quote that you sent her 6 months ago comes up in your search. You can then look at exactly what was quoted for and how much. As you will also have the window measurements, there is no need to re-visit the customer to measure again. If the quote was originally taken using Once Mobile v2.0 or later, the email you found will also have a .once file attached, which you can open in Once Mobile on a Windows PC or Mac to instantly re-open the quote and complete a new quote/order for the current time.
Below are the steps to create the quote and order folders and put the right emails into them.
Step 1 - Create the email folders/labels
Firstly, you need to create 2 new email folders - "Orders" and "Quotes" (or whatever you choose to call them). Note that some email systems (such as Gmail) use the term 'labels' instead of folders to describe how they store different types of email.
For example, in Outlook, you need to create the new folders under the Inbox. In Gmail, you need to click the More link at the bottom of the Inbox list on the left, and choose Create New Label.
Step 2 - Create a rule/filter to send the quotes and orders to the new folders
This is what will send any incoming Quotes and Orders straight into the folders that you just created.
In Outlook, it is called a rule, and can can be created by choosing Create Rule after pressing the Rules button. In Gmail, it is called a filter, and you can create a new filter from the Filters and blocked addresses tab under Settings.
You will need 2 rules/filters:
- The first rule/filter should look for the words "Once Order" in the Subject field, and move it to the "Orders" folder that you created
- The second rule/filter should look for the words "Once Quote" in the Subject field, and move it to the "Quotes" folder that you created
If you then set these 2 rules/filters to run on all incoming email, your quotes and orders will be moved to separate folders to make it easier for you to keep track of them separately.