Using Auto-Responders to Save Time....

 

If you have never used an auto responder before you are in for a treat. An auto responder is an automated email response and they can be as simple as an "out of office" reply to all emails, right through to auto responder series which sent out a whole series of emails at set times or in response to certain events.

We will start with something basic but useful, which is an auto response to those checkout emails you get from ebay when a buyer has completed checkout.

When selling on eBay I like to pride myself on my communication skills, and so I found that everytime I received a checkout email, I would be sending the same basic type of email over and over again - thanks for letting my know that you have paid, etc - it was a nicety, but one that my customers really appreciated, it let them know I was there and acknowledged that they had contacted me.

I use Outlook Express, but this particular method will work with Outlook and the principal of it should work on any email client, though if you use a different one - like Eudora - then you will need to look up their help pages to find out how to set it up.

1) Write out the text of the email for example (and you can pinch my text if you like);

"Hi,

Thanks for letting me know when you will be paying for your purchase. I will email you as soon as I have received your payment and will post out your parcel the same day.

If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Amanda

http://www.stores.ebay.com.au/yourstorenamehere"

I suggest you use a program like "notepad", which most PC's will have already installed, to write your email. You can locate notepad by clicking on the start menu -> all programs -> Accessories ->notepad.

Save this as a .txt file and save it somewhere you will easily find it like your "My Documents" folder. Give it a name you will remember.

2) Now open Outlook express and go to Tools -> Mail Rules -> Mail.

3) Click on "new". We are now going to set conditions for this auto responder You will have several choices, we are going to pick "Where the subject line contains specific words". As soon as you check that box you will notice this text appears in step number 3 "Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains specific words". you will notice that the words "contains specific words" is a link. Click on this now and it will open up a new box. Into this box add the subject words you want the auto responder to react to. The checkout emails normally have a subject line such as - "I will be sending payment of AU $xx.xx shortly for eBay item #26xxxxxxxxxxx". You don't want to put the whole title in as you need to keep it general, but still have enough info that you don't send the wrong thing to the wrong person.

I suggest using "I will be sending payment shortly for eBay item". Put this sentence into the top section and click on add, and then when you can see that sentence in the lower section click on "ok"

4) The second section is where you select an action for your auto responder, in this case when an email arrives that has those words in the subject line we want our action to be that it sends out the email response we have already written and saved in step 1.

In this section you need to select "reply with message", in this case you will need to scroll down the list of options a little to find it. When you tick it, it will display this in section 3 - "Reply with message ". Click on the word 'message' and again you will get a pop up window, but this time it is to locate the email you saved in step 1 (remember I told you to save it somewhere you would remember, like "My documents"). It will default to looking for just .eml files, so open up the drop down box in the "file of type" section and select "text (*.txt)". You will then be able to see your file, single click on it.

5) In section 4, you need to give the message a name - for example "Reply to checkout email"

6) Click "ok" at the bottom of the box and your done.

 

There is only one downside to using this sort of auto responder and that is if someone then replies to your reply, then they will get your reply sent to them again. Generally they will only reply if they have a question or concern and as long as you answer that email manually then they will not be bothered by your double reply (or chances are they wouldn't even realise).

This is a basic sort of auto responder. From here you can graduate to paid software that will send out email series for you or will allow you to create very advanced and specific rules (so you won't encounter the doubled up email problem). Some of this sort of software can track customers for purchases of several products and will respond with a series of emails for example;

Buyer purchases item - triggers email, thanking them for their purchase and letting them know of another complimentary product that would go perfectly with their new purchase, at a special discount price.

Buyer then purchases next item - triggers second email after say one month asking how they are getting on with the first two items and offering your help, can could them offer them to join your newsletter in case of updates, etc, and so on and so forth.

Really the possibilities are endless and if you can get the time frame for emails to automatically be sent out, you will really tap into a huge pool of back end sales. It's all up to you.

There is a range of programs on the market, try Googling auto responders and you will see what I mean. They all vary wildly on price and features, make sure before you take the plunge that you really need and will use the functions it provides. Allot of them have fairly steep learning curves, but if you can stick with it, they will save you a load of time and will truly make you a 24/7 operation. Most will charge you for each email you send out, the more you send the cheaper the rate.

The auto responder program I use is called, Mailloop. It is expensive, but it really is worth the money, as it a stand alone program at a one off cost, so now I have it I can send emails for free forever. It has paid for itself after 2 years of low usage (by industry standards - I am small fry).