Perform a mail merge

Introduction

Starting from version 2.1.0, RealtyWare contains a mail merge wizard that allows you to send the same personalized document to a group of recipients. This article describes what a mail merge is, how to perform a mail merge and things that need to be taken into consideration before doing so.

More Information

When to use mail merges

You use mail merge when you want to create a set of documents that are essentially the same but where each document contains unique elements. For example, in a letter that announces a new product, your company logo and the text about the product will appear in each letter, and the address and greeting line will be different in each letter.

Using mail merge, you can create:

A set of labels or envelopes, each with an unique destination address.

A set of form letters, email messages or reports with the same basic content, but each contains information that is specific to the individual recipient, such as name, address, or some other piece of personal data.

Creating each letter, message, label or envelope individually would take hours. Using mail merge, all you have to do is create one document template that contains the information that is the same in each version. Then you just add some placeholders for the information that is unique to each version. Using the mail merge function. RealtyWare will then combine this document template with the database information for each recipient.

A mail merge can either be printed, creating traditional letters, or be send via email. When sending the mail merge via email, you'll have to provide RealtyWare the SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) details of your email account. The email messages are sent directly through your mail server, you do not need an email program.

It is highly recommended that you first test and familiarize yourself with the mail merge function by sending a few mail merges to yourself and/or the staff at your company.

Step 1: Prepare the templates

The first step is to prepare the information you would like to send out via the mail merge. You'll need at least

one word processor template.

- or -

one property report.

The word processor template or report is called the base template for the mail merge. You can create new word processor templates and property reports by opening the Customize menu and selecting Templates... or Reports..., respectively.

You can optionally append any number of the following to your mail merge (beside the base template):

Any word processor template.

Any property report.

Any file on your computer (only available when sending the mail merge via email).

If you want to attach any additional word processor templates and/or reports, you'll also have to prepare them first.

Step 2: Select the recipients

You'll have to select the contacts that should receive the mail merge. RealtyWare will create a personalized copy of the selected word processor templates and/or report for each of these recipients. You can, of course, also send the mail merge to all contacts in the database.

Open the Contacts menu and select Filter..., then specify the rules that will select the recipients of the mail merge. For example, you can create a rule that selects all contacts that belong to the group Buyers and another one that further narrows down the recipients by their Preferred language. Once you click on OK, the filter rules will be applied, and the program will show you all contacts that match the filter rules.

Step 3: Start the mail merge wizard

Open the Write menu and select Mail Merge to start the mail merge wizard.

Step 4: Select the output type

The personalized documents generated by the mail merge can either be printed or send via email. Select the output type for your mail merge.

If you have selected Email (SMTP) as output type, you'll have to supply a Sender name, Sender address and Subject. The Sender name and Sender address would usually the name and email address of your company, respectively. The Subject field should be set to a meaningful short description, such as "Hot new properties newsletter October 2007".

The first time you send out a mail merge via email, you'll also have to click on the button SMTP Settings... and supply the connection details of your mail server. You can obtain these settings from your network operator or ISP. It is recommended that you consult your ISP or network operator before sending out large number of emails (i.e. a mail merge with more than 1000 recipients).

Click on Next > once you have selected the output type and completed any required fields.

Step 5: Select the base template

Select the type of document (Word processor template or Property report) that should be the base template for your mail merge. Then select the word processor template or property report that you have prepared during step number 1.

If you have selected a property report as your base template, you'll also have to select the properties that should appear on the report.

Click on Next > once you made the required selections.

Step 6: Select any additional documents (optional)

You can optionally attach any number of other (besides the base template) word processor templates, property reports or other files to your mail merge. Simply click on the "+" sign and select the type of document you wish to attach.

Keep in mind that when sending your mail merge via email, you should keep the amount of data reduced. Each message should not exceed a maximum of 5 MB. It is recommended that you first make a trial run of your mail merge and send it only to yourself to see the results and how large the resulting messages are.

Click on Next > to continue.

Step 7: Review and correct the list of recipients (optional)

You can optionally review and manually change the list of recipients. For example, you can remove some contacts and add yourself to the list of recipients.

Click on Next > to continue.

Step 8: Perform the mail merge

The mail merge wizard will display a summary page with the details of the mail merge. Verify that everything is correct and click on Finish to start the actual mail merge process. If there is anything wrong, you can use the < Back and Cancel buttons to make corrections to the mail merge or cancel it altogether.

Step 9: Create the activities

Once the mail merge has been completed, RealtyWare will create two activities:

One for all completed recipients

- and -

One for any failed recipients

You can keep these activities by either clicking on OK, or discard them by clicking on Cancel. If you keep these activities, they will show up in the histories of all recipients of this mail merge.