Objective
In this article, we will be continuing our walk through creating a Core iQ schedule. This is the second article in the series, and we will be exploring the following:
- How to create a communication touch point
- How cross-sell touch points work and how to set them up
- General naming conventions and common misconceptions
How to begin to create your first touch point
In order to begin creating our automated schedule, we need to create the required communication touch points. Each touch point within a schedule represents a single communication which will automatically be sent to a customer/member. We will want to program each of these touch points for the different items that we plan on sending to the individuals who qualify for our audience.
To begin creating our touch point, we will click the Add Scheduled Communication button. This will open up the first of two tabs that we need to fill out for this touch point. The first thing that we will want to do is name our touch point using the Regarding field. Just like when naming our audience, we want to be as descriptive as possible. This name will display in several other places within the platform when the item queues and can give context to someone else as to why the item queued in the first place. In the above example, we are naming our item 'New Core Deposit Customer Welcome Letter'. This gives context as to what should be queueing (a letter) and why it is queueing (for new Core Deposit customers).
Next, we can fill in the Full Description/Instructions for our touch point in order to provide info for others. This description will only display within this touch point, but it can be used to provide any relevant instructions for later changes that need to be made. We see this area filled out most often when our customers are required to go in to change templates on a quarterly or annual basis.
Choosing a trigger event
The next step will be to choose a Trigger Event for our touch point. This is the reason that the item sends in the first place, and you have the following options when it comes to trigger events:
- Open Date - This option looks at the date on which a particular account was opened. Whether the customer is brand new to your banking institution, or has been with you for over 50 years, this option will send out a communication if their opening date matches your criteria. This option is most frequently used by those looking to send communications to customers regardless of the time they have been a customer/member.
- Close Date - This option allows you to send communications once a particular account within your audience has been closed. Core iQ will only look at the Service Groups set within the audience, and will send the communication a set number of days after the account closure date. This option is very useful when you are regulated to send a letter directly after the closure of a particular account type.
- Original Customer/Member Date - This option keys off the date that the qualifying individual officially became a customer/member at your banking institution. We define Original Customer/Member Date as the date on which the person opened their first account, according to your core. Original Customer Date is the most relevant choice for those looking to start an onboarding program for only brand new customers/members through Core iQ. This is because it will only send the scheduled message to customers/members who join after you launch your schedule.
- Charge Off Date - This option will look at the charge-off date for the qualifying account and will send a communication a certain number of days from that particular date. We most commonly see this trigger event used for automating the communications directly following the charge-off of a loan account.
- Birth or Startup Date - This option will key off of the birth date for any non-business accounts or the startup date for any business accounts. This is most frequently used for Happy Birthday postcards and/or emails from the institution.
- Maturity Date - This option is used most frequently with loans, CD, and IRA accounts, and will send the scheduled communication a set number of days out from the account’s maturity date. This is extremely useful for those looking to send out communications leading up to the maturity of a loan in order to recapture a customer’s business.
- Renewal Date - With this option, Core iQ simply keys off of the last time an account or timed deposit was renewed. This is great for automatically sending a follow-up communication to a customer after they have renewed a line of credit or core deposit account.
- Last Activity Date - This option will allow you to send a communication a certain number of days after the date of last activity. This can be used to send out reminder emails to users who haven’t logged into their Online Banking account for a certain number of days, or those that haven’t sent a mortgage payment in a certain number of days.
- Schedule Effective Date - This option is best when you want to set a very particular date for a communication to be sent. There is no other trigger point outside of the exact date, so this is the best option if you are looking to send out a message right before a fixed date every year. One use could be to automate your bank closure notices throughout the year by sending custom emails a few days before every relevant federal holiday.
Setting up a delay after or before our trigger event
After you have selected your trigger event, you need to determine the Wait Time for that event. You are able to select a number of days before or after that event to trigger the connected communication. In most cases, you will want to select a minimum of 2 days AFTER your chosen trigger event. This gives enough time for your core to provide updated information to Core iQ in order to trigger this communication. In cases where you choose 1 day AFTER, please be aware that if there is any delay from your core (which is common with certain providers), this event may not trigger.
The only case in which you should use the Days Before option on the Wait Time section is when you are working with a predetermined date. We see this mostly with the Maturity Date and Renewal Date triggers, as those are determined at account opening. If you choose to use the Days Before option, Core iQ will begin evaluating for qualifying accounts directly after this trigger event is made active.
Finalizing the Action and Timing tab
To finish off the items in this tab, we will want to make sure to turn the Generate 1 Regardless of Accounts Opened Concurrently toggle to YES, and we will want to connect a template if we have already created one. You have the option of setting a start and/or expiration date for your trigger event as well, however these are less commonly used. We mostly see expirations set for limited time offer templates which need to be removed from circulation on a certain date.
As for the Generate 1 Regardless of Accounts Opened Concurrently toggle, we want to turn this to YES in order to keep from queueing too many templates. Core iQ has several ways in which it prevents over communicating with a customer/member, and this is one of them. This option means that Core iQ will evaluate all the qualifying accounts that trigger based on our chosen trigger event. Then, it will only queue 1 communication, regardless of the number of qualifying accounts. So if my chosen trigger event is Open Date and I opened 4 Core Deposit accounts on a certain date, Core iQ will only queue 1 template from this trigger event. If I kept that toggle at NO, then it would attempt to queue 4 instances of the same template. It is best to leave this toggle turned to YES, unless you need to send a communication per account that qualifies on that date.
I also have the option of making this touch point a Cross-Sell Offer. In this case, the option to assign a dedicated template will be removed, and we will need to set up a cross-sell priority matrix. You can learn more about cross-sell touch points and the cross-sell priority matrix in our next article in this series.
Setting up the Accountability tab
The final thing that we need to do is set up the Accountability tab. This tab has two options that we need to check to ensure that they are correct. The first is the Responsible Banker dropdown, which assigns who we will be sending this communication on behalf of. The other is the Default Status dropdown, which determines the starting status for our communication. Let's explore each option.
The Responsible Banker is the person tied to this template who will be merged into any 'banker' related merge fields. If my template calls upon anything like the banker's name, contact information, or uses the banker's email address as the sending address, this is who will be merged in. In most cases, communications from touch points will either be coming from a single person, or they will be coming from the assigned banker for the qualifying account. Core iQ will determine who to merge into the template fields based on what option is selected here. If you do not use any merge fields in your template and have the item coming from a generic email address, this option will only come into effect if NEW is selected as the Default Status.
The Default Status can be one of three things: NEW, PENDING APPROVAL, or REVIEWED & APPROVED. Each of these statuses determines the workflow for the item, and if you are just starting out in Core iQ, we recommend using either NEW or PENDING APPROVAL. Here is what each status does:
- New - With this option, Core iQ will assign the communication to be approved by the Responsible Banker. This will require them to log in to Core iQ and approve it from their dashboard. No communications from this schedule point will be sent until they are approved by the Responsible Banker. This option is best used for queuing up phone calls within Core iQ and assigning them to the responsible individuals.
- Pending Approval - With this option, Core iQ will queue all of the communications to be approved by a Core iQ Admin. Once an item is queued from the touch point, it will be displayed on the dashboard of the Administrator(s). None of the communications will be sent until they are approved by an Administrator. This gives you an added level of oversight when testing new schedules, but is not recommended long term.
- Reviewed & Approved - With this option, Core iQ will automate this communication and send it on behalf of the Responsible Banker. This option requires little Administrator oversight and is best for banking institutions looking to fully automate their communications using Core iQ. It is always best to test a touch point for at least a week or two before switching it to Reviewed & Approved. This will remove any worry that it is queueing on behalf of the wrong person, or that it is queueing at the wrong time.
There are two other toggles in this area, which are not recommended for use at the beginning of your time in Core iQ. These advanced options allow for additional workflow choices for institutions with numerous users in the platform. They allow you to queue items first for whoever is assigned from the Default Status and then again for another party once that item has been approved by the first party. This set of double checks is not commonly used, and we do not recommend it for those just starting out in Core iQ.
Touch point colors & next steps
When you save your touch point, you should see either a grey, green, or outlined circle displayed in your schedule. If you have a completely prepared touch point, then you will see that the circle is completely green. This means that there is an Active template tied to that touch point, and that it is ready to begin queueing after the next import of data. If you see a green outline for your touch point, that typically means that you have an Inactive template tied to it. This means that you have tied a communication to the trigger event, but you need to approve your template to be sent out of Core iQ before it can queue. If you see a grey circle, that means that you do not have any template tied to this touch point, and you need to go back to your Action & Timing tab to connect an active template.
If you have any cross-sell touch points within this schedule, then it is time to move on to our next article. The next article will show you how to set up your cross-sell templates and prioritize them based on which is most important to you. You can find the next article HERE.
If you do NOT have any cross-sell touch points, then congratulations, you are done with your schedule! Make sure that all of your touch points are completely green by activating every connected template. Then you can begin to monitor your queued items which will show up after the next import of core data into Core iQ.