Objective:
In this article we will be take the final step in our walk through creating a Core iQ schedule. This is the third article in the series, and we will be exploring the following:
- How to create cross-sell touch points within an automated schedule in Core iQ
- How to set up your cross-sell priority list with Product Offer templates
- What you need to be aware of when it comes to the triggering of templates at each cross-sell touch point.
How to create cross-sell touch points in a Core iQ Schedule
If you already have a Core iQ audience created, then adding cross-sell touch points is just as simple as adding any other touch point. To add another touch point to your schedule, simply click the Add Scheduled Communication icon. This will bring you into the touch point creation screen where you can add the details relating to your communication event. In each case, the following items should be filled out:
- Regarding - This field allows you to name the touch point, making it easier to know that you are looking at the '30 Day Cross-Sell', for example. Also, a best practice is to include the name of the schedule on which your touch point is located. This will help you remember why a template queued for a given customer when looking at communications months after you created this schedule. So a "best practice" touch point would be titled something like "30 Day Cross-Sell - New Checking Onboarding".
- Trigger Event - This dropdown allows you to select the event that will be triggering this cross-sell offer. In the above example, we have used Open Date for each cross-sell touch point.
- Wait Time - This fields allows you to input the number of days either before or after the trigger event in which to queue the communication.
- Generate 1 Regardless of Accounts Opened Concurrently - Toggling this to YES means that Core iQ will only generate 1 cross-sell offer per communication touch point, regardless of the number of qualifying accounts the customer/member has. It is always best practice to toggle this to YES for cross-sell touch points.
- Is This a Cross-Sell Offer - We would, of course, want to say YES for this toggle. This will remove the assigned template area and allow us to create a cross-sell matrix to decide which template to send to the customer at this event.
Once you have all of your cross-sell touch points created, it is time to create the priority list that Core iQ will use to determine what template to send after each trigger event occurs.
How to create a cross-sell priority list
Below the Communication Plan tab on the left side of the Target Audience and Communication Plan screen, you will see the option labeled Cross-Sell Priorities. This is where you can define the Product Offer templates that are options to be sent to customers/members at each cross-sell touch point. Creating enough cross-sell priorities to meet the needs of your schedule is important. You always want to have enough offers within your priority list to your customers regardless of whether they already have certain products.
When you arrive at this page, you will see the current list of cross-sell priorities that you have established. To create a new cross-sell priority, click the Add Cross-Sell Priority button in the top righthand corner. This will take you to a screen that allows you to set the following for your cross-sell priority:
- Priority to Assign - This is the priority for this cross-sell offer. If it is the most important offer in your list, give it a priority of 1. From there, you will want to rank the rest of your cross-sell offers from most important to least important in order to assign their priority in this dropdown. Core iQ will always start its check at the highest priority item.
- Selected Promotional Template - This is where you will select the Active Product Offer template that you would like to assign to this cross-sell priority. It's best practice to ensure that these items are Active before assigning them, that way your priority list is accurate for what is able to be queued in Core iQ. If you assign your #1 priority to an Inactive template, Core iQ will be unable to send this Product Offer. Also, always try to be as descriptive in the naming of your templates as possible, but understand that certain cross-sell templates might not queue on day 30, so including 'Day 30' in the name of a template will only cause you confusion.
- Maximum Attempts - Put simply, this is the maximum number of times that Core iQ will try to send this template to a customer/member before moving on to the next priority. If you assign a Maximum Attempts of 1, then Core iQ will only send this Product Offer once before moving on to the next priority. In the above example, this Mobile Banking offer could only ever be sent twice before Core iQ moves on to the next priority.
How does the cross-sell priority list work?
When Core iQ looks at these priorities, it starts with the highest priority item and asks the following questions:
1. Does the customer/member already have a product in the grouping assigned to this Product Offer?
If so, then move on to the next priority. If not, ask the next question.
2. How many times has this template been sent to this customer/member from a cross-sell priority and does that number exceed the Maximum Attempts set at this particular priority?
If this maximum has been reached, move on to the next priority. If not, attempt to queue the template.
From there, Core iQ will check (as normal) the template and core-level exclusions that might be present for this customer. This can include things like the Customer Receives No More Than Once Within setting for the Product Offer, and any contact preferences for this template type. These checks are done outside of the schedule, and therefore don't count into the priority list that we create here.
If the customer ever gets to the very last priority and either already has that product, or has reach the Maximum Attempts threshold, Core iQ will no longer send this customer cross-sell Product Offers in this schedule. It is possible for this to occur at the very beginning of the cross-sell schedule as well, if the customer already has every product listed in your priority list. This is done so that customers/members only receive the most relevant offers and never receive a communication from a cross-sell touch point for something that they already have.