Basic Communication and Marketing
One of the most powerful ways Spectra can enhance your business is by helping you communicate with your clients. Spectra not only provides you with a variety of ways to communicate, but also tracks every communication you make, recording exactly what was communicated and when. Spectra's communication tools include:
Phone Calls - Use phone calls to record what you said to a client and to remind you to follow up. Schedule new phone calls to remind you or a staff member to contact a client in the future.
Email - Send emails to your clients, receive incoming email, and even copy and paste external emails into Spectra in order to keep your client's communication history all in one place.
SMS Text Messages - Send SMS text messages and receive replies.
Letters - Sometimes a printed letter is still just what you need! You can create form letters and then print them from Spectra, either individually or in bulk.
Messages Hub - This is your "inbox" for email and SMS text messages. You can sort the messages by user, department, due date, and more.
Communication Wizard - Use this built-in tool to send bulk emails and text messages, create multiple call records, or print a whole group of letters. You can select a specific group of clients or build a sophisticated filter to find just the right set of clients.
Triggers - Triggers are powerful tools that automate your client communications. For example, set them up to automatically send an email or text message to remind your clients of their session or to follow-up with a thank you.
Form Letter and HTML Email Builders - The Form Letter Builder gives you the power to create your own form letters to print or send as an email or text message. Design letters and contracts that include your text and branding and then merge fields from your Spectra data to personalize each one with specific client information, session information, etc.! The HTML Email Builder helps you to create a library of HTML emails that you can use for marketing and newsletters.
In this section we'll get you started with some of Spectra's basic communication features. We'll cover phone calls, basic email, and SMS text messages, showing you how to set these features up in Spectra and then how to use them.
Use Spectra's phone call records to keep track of your communication history with your clients. You can use phone calls to "take notes," either during or following a conversation with a client. Then you can set a date to remind you (or another staff member) to follow up. Or, you can schedule new phone calls to remind you to contact a client in the future. You can easily view a client's phone call history by opening up the client and looking at their Communication tab.
Open a client.
Open the Communication tab on the ribbon.
Click New Call to schedule a call that needs to be made. Enter a description, choose the due date for the call, and use the Notes tab to type in any additional notes. You can even assign the call to another user if you want! Click Save & Close when done. The call will appear on the Calls hub, the assigned user's home page, and the client's Communication tab.
Or click Completed Call to enter your notes from a conversation that has taken place. Open the Notes tab and type in your notes. This call will already be marked as "complete." It will appear on the client's Communication tab but not on any call lists. Tip: To easily create a follow-up call, click Save & New on the call ribbon to schedule a new call for the same client.
You can find phone calls in the following places in Spectra:
Home Page - The Phone Calls panel displays calls for the currently logged in user that are scheduled for the next several days, along with any that are overdue.
Calls Hub - The hub displays all calls that have not been completed. Calls can be filtered by user, department, or a custom filter.
Communication Tab - On individual clients, sessions, invoices, and production orders, the Communication tab displays the entire communication history associated with that record.
There are a variety of ways to use the emailing features in Spectra. You can send emails to your clients directly through Spectra, receive incoming email into your Spectra inbox, and even copy and paste external emails into Spectra in order to keep a client's communication history all in one place.
To keep things simple, at this point we'll set up just outgoing email in Spectra. In order to send email, your email settings must be entered in your Company Preferences. When you're ready to set up incoming email, refer to Setting up Email in the Spectra Online Help.
Go to Maintenance > Preferences > Company Preferences and open the Email tab.
Enter your SMTP settings, Gmail account name and password, or sign up for the StudioPlus Mail service. SMTP settings are the same settings you would use in another software, such as Outlook. If you're not sure about these settings, ask your Internet service provider. Find out more about StudioPlus Mail on our website.
If you would like to use unique email settings for a specific user, go to Maintenance > Preferences > User Preferences and enter the appropriate settings on the Email Override tab. Note: For this specific user, Spectra will use these settings instead of the email settings in Company Preferences.
Open the Communication tab on the ribbon (up at the top).
Click New Email to create a new blank email. Note: If you click the little arrow instead, you'll see a list of any form letters, HTML emails, and custom reports that may be available. All the common email editing tools are available in Spectra. When the email is ready, click Send on the ribbon. The sent email will be displayed on the client's Communication tab, as well as on the Messages hub.
Or click Completed Email to create a blank email for you to copy and paste an email from another program. This will help you consolidate the client's communication history in Spectra.
Wondering if text messaging is right for your business? The "Getting Started with SMS Text Messaging" knowledge base article will give you a great overview of the powerful SMS text messaging features in Spectra. You can find it in the Knowledge Base section of our website.
Before you can use the SMS text messaging features in Spectra, you need to enroll in an SMS text messaging plan with StudioPlus. Find out more at www.StudioPlusSoftware.com/Products/SMSmessages.aspx. You'll receive an email from StudioPlus with the information you'll need to set up the text messaging features in Spectra.
Just like with the email setup, we'll get you started by setting up just outgoing text messaging at this point. When you're ready to set up incoming text messaging, refer to Setting up SMS Text Messaging in the Spectra Online Help.
Go to Maintenance > Preferences > Company Preferences and open the General Info page at the top.
In the StudioPlus Account Information section, enter the Account Name and Account Password you received from StudioPlus.
Click OK to save your preferences.
Click New SMS to create a new text message. Text messages are limited to 160 characters. As you type your message, the counter on the left will let you know how many characters you have remaining. When the text is ready, click Send on the ribbon. The sent text message will be displayed on the client's Communication tab, as well as on the Messages hub.
Spectra's Communication Wizard makes it easy to send bulk emails and text messages, create multiple call records, and print a whole group of letters. When combined with the Form Letter Builder, you have a powerful way to connect with your clients regularly and professionally. We highly recommend taking a look at these features as soon as you feel comfortable using Spectra! Refer to Communication Wizard and Form Letter Builder in the Spectra Online Help.