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Enhancing Customer Engagement with Automated Follow-Ups Using CV Outlook Add-In
One of our clients, a renowned leader in the Australian automotive transmission industry specializing in automatic transmission servicing, repairs, and custom upgrades, faced growing challenges in managing customer communications effectively.
As demand for their services increased, manually handling follow-ups and scheduling emails became inefficient, resulting in delays, missed opportunities, and a suboptimal customer experience. To address these challenges, they sought a solution to automate email scheduling and follow-up. Their goal was to enhance response times, reduce errors, and improve customer engagement—ultimately streamlining operations and elevating service quality.
- Technology : Office Add-ins
- Country : Australia
Challenges
Our client faced multiple challenges with their Outlook email system used for managing follow-up emails. The lack of advanced functionality and integration resulted in various operational inefficiencies, such as:
- Missed and Untimely Follow-Ups: Without automation, follow-up emails were often overlooked, resulting in delays and missed opportunities that affected key communications.
- Inefficient Workflow: The email scheduling and follow-up processes were fragmented, making it difficult to maintain a smooth and efficient workflow within Outlook.
- Time-Consuming Email Customization: The client found manually editing email content for each recipient to be labor-intensive and inconsistent, especially when follow-up emails were similar. This increased workload and caused errors.
- Lack of Control Over Scheduling: There was limited flexibility and control over when and how emails were scheduled, with reliance on manual intervention or external tools.
- Lack of Seamless Integration: The absence of seamless integration for scheduling follow-up emails within Outlook led to dependence on external tools or manual processes, reducing overall efficiency.
Solution
To address the challenges our client faced with managing follow-up emails in Outlook, we developed the CV Outlook Add-In. The solution focuses on streamlining email scheduling, automating follow-ups, and providing content customization—all within Outlook.
We leveraged Graph API to enable seamless scheduling of follow-up emails directly from Outlook, allowing users to set specific send times and automate the process. When the “Send Email” button is clicked, a popup appears asking if the user wants to schedule the email. If the user selects “Yes,” a panel with three options is displayed: “Not This Time” sends the email immediately without scheduling, while “Never for this person” ensures that the user will not see the popup for scheduling emails when sending messages to this person in the future. The third option, “Schedule follow-up email”, allows the user to set message options, modify the email body, and choose a specific time using the “Hours” control. Once the user sets the desired time and clicks “Send Email,” the manually drafted email is sent immediately, while a “follow-up email” with the selected body is scheduled for the chosen time.
Additionally, we utilized Azure to host the template panel, providing users with secure and easy access to predefined email templates. This enables quick customization of email content to suit various follow-up scenarios, enhancing personalization and communication efficiency. The solution ultimately reduces manual effort, improves scheduling accuracy, and simplifies managing follow-up emails in Outlook.
Result
CV Outlook Add-In solution significantly transformed the client’s email management process, enhancing operational efficiency and communication effectiveness. By automating follow-up emails and streamlining email scheduling directly within Outlook, the solution eliminated the risk of missed or delayed follow-ups, ensuring timely and consistent communications. The integration of the Graph API enabled seamless scheduling and gave users greater control over when and how emails were sent, removing reliance on external tools and reducing manual interventions.
The ability to easily customize email content through predefined templates saved considerable time and effort, while also increasing consistency and personalization in communications. The intuitive interface, with the scheduling panel and clear options, made it simple for users to manage follow-up emails without disrupting their workflow. As a result, the client experienced a significant reduction in time spent on email customization, fewer errors, and a more efficient, streamlined process for managing follow-up communications. This not only improved internal efficiency but also enhanced the overall effectiveness of their email follow-up strategy.
Key Features of CV Outlooks Add-Ins
Automated Email Follow-ups
Facilitates automated scheduling of follow-up emails, reducing the need for manual tracking and ensuring timely communication with recipients at the designated times.
Flexible Scheduling Options
The CV Outlook Add-In offers flexible scheduling, allowing users to send emails normally, disable future scheduling prompts for a specific recipient, or schedule emails for a later time with customization options.
Customizable Email Content
Provides the option to choose from predefined templates and modify the email body, ensuring that communication is personalized and relevant to the recipient and context.
Scheduled Follow-Up Timing
Allows you to choose specific times for sending follow-up emails, ensuring messages are sent at the most appropriate time.
Seamless Integration with Outlook
The add-in works directly within the Outlook environment, providing a seamless experience for users without the need for external tools or complex integrations.
Enhanced Productivity
Streamlines email scheduling and follow-up processes, reducing the manual effort required for managing communications and improving overall efficiency.
