17.9.1. Sending Announcements to Clients

*THE BIG WHAT
If your clinic needs to notify clients of upcoming changes or important news you can use E-Lobby texts, VC Chat, and export email addresses to accomplish this.

Here are three different options for getting important news out or notices of closure for inclement weather.

Text Clients via the E-Lobby

You can initiate texts with clients via the e-Lobby chat bubble.
Ensure your clients are notified of short-notice closure by sending a text message. Chat directly with clients from the e-Lobby. Text messaging costs are $0.05 per message.

Here is how to text the client:

1. Open the e-Lobby at the top of HQ.
2. By default, the page will open to “today.” Use the arrows in the upper right corner to view clients scheduled in the future. Each animal will have its own card. On the card is a chat bubble icon.
3. Click the chat bubble to start a message with the client. Type in a brief message notice and send.
   You can ask the client to respond that they received the message. There is no charge for incoming messages. Only outgoing messages are billed to the clinic.
4. Repeat this process for each client. Closing the text window and starting a new message for the next client. Copy and paste the same message in a new text.
   

TIP: Include as much detail in one message without going over the character count. The character count will track your message length. Keep texts under 160 characters for the message fee of $0.05. for every 160 characters, there will be an additional 5 cents. If your message is 180 characters the cost is $0.10.

Send a Blast Chat to Volume Clients

Open Chat at the top of HQ.
Click on Blast (megaphone icon) to create and send a message to all Volume Clients at one time.

Blast Icon

Choose your font size by selecting the header size of H1, H2, or H3. Type your message in the message bar and send. You can also send the client a link or picture through the message bar.

Text box

*NOTE
All of your active Volume Clients will receive the same message at one time. The message will be sent to them via email recaps if they turned this setting on in user permissions. The blast message will also appear in their Portal chat.

Send An Email Notice

You may need to query out clients’ emails or phone numbers for various purposes, including closing for a snow day or doing an email blast about your annual fundraiser.

You can accomplish this by querying out contact information from a custom report.

1. Navigate to Reports.
2. Select Custom Reports in the lower left corner.
3. Select the date range for the day you’d like to alert your clients about. For example, if you plan on being closed tomorrow, select tomorrow’s date in the Date From and Date To fields.
4. Leave “All Animals” selected and scroll down the Appointment Type filter. Click on the header and tick for “Pending” appointments.
5. Scroll down to the owner’s filter, click on the header to expand the menu, and make the selections indicated here below.
6. Next, click the Run Report button. Take a look at the data on the screen to make sure it looks good.
7. Click Run to Excel to export all the data to Excel. From Excel, you can copy and paste the emails into your normal email programs like Gmail or Outlook and send an email blast. You can also use the phone numbers to call each person and let them know. Or you can sign up with a service where you can do text blasts. In HQ, we offer daily Email, text, and phone blasts to remind your clients about their appointments.

TIP: If your Excel report contains duplicate clients, select the email column. Then, in the Excel toolbar, go to “Data” and locate the action “Remove Duplicates.” You will then be prompted to expand the selection- continue with this option.