Creating a new inquiry
An inquiry refers to cases in which a client/customer seeks information on anything from a company’s products and services to billing details and new product launches. You will always have to deal with customer inquiries, no matter what type of business you run. It is critical for a business owner or customer support team to respond to customer inquiries about specific products or services. It is critical to respond to customer inquiries. Potentially positive online reviews boost the company’s ability to attract more customers in the future. It will also assist you in improving your products and services as a business.
For example, if you notice that customers frequently inquire about a specific aspect of your business, this could indicate that the information you are currently providing is not precise enough. Inquiries are a great way for business owners to assess the clarity of the information their customers receive from them. It provides an opportunity for businesses to improve their products and/or services. The better your services and products are, as well as the clarity of your information, the more likely you are to attract new customers and retain existing ones. If customers consistently have the same questions about a product because it is confusing or difficult to use, it indicates that those products may need to be improved. So that inquiries can provide critical feedback, allowing you to improve the services and products that you offer.
OctopusPro enables you to:
- Create an inquiry manually in the system, e.g., if an inquiry is made over the phone, you can also receive an inquiry from the customer that needs to be edited. To learn more about how to edit the inquiry, click here.
- View the customer’s inquiry click here for more information.
- Convert inquiries into bookings and quotes.
- If you have a branded customer-facing app or have set up your customer portal, customers can make inquiries directly through it, which admins can confirm in the system.
Table of contents
- Creating a new inquiry as an admin user manually
- Creating a new inquiry as a customer from the customer portal
- Creating a new inquiry as a customer from the inquiry widget
Creating a new inquiry as an admin user manually
- Click on “+New” at the top left of the page.
- Select “New Inquiry.”
OR
- From the sidebar menu, click on “Inquiries”.
- Select “+Create New.”
You will be directed to the new inquiry form page so you can fill in the information in the required fields.
Adding the customer’s name to the inquiry
- First, search for your existing client’s name in the search field, or click on “Add new customer+” or click on the”+”’ icon to enter the details of the new customer.
Adding the trading name to an inquiry created by the admin
Then select the trading name from the drop-down menu. If your company operates under multiple trading names, you will be required to select one of the trading names for this inquiry. If you don’t select one, the default trading name will be automatically selected.
A trading name can be a name (or names) that a person, partnership, or company may use that is different from the name they have registered with. To learn more about the feature, click here.
Adding a customer property when creating a new inquiry
After selecting your customer, a new field will appear, which is the customer property you have set up for your business. To learn more about setting up customer properties, click here. If your selected customer has already added a customer property to their account, you can select it from the dropdown menu, create a new one by clicking on the + icon, or edit the existing customer properties.
Coping Google Map’s address URL when creating a new inquiry
When creating a new inquiry, you will be required to add a customer, select a trading name, and choose your preferred location, based on the locations you have enabled for your business.
If you have enabled mobile location for your business, then you will be required to add an inquiry address.
To add a Google Map address to the inquiry address field on OctopusPro, simply copy the URL of the Google Map page, and paste it into your address field when creating a new inquiry, and all the location field details will automatically be filled in and you won’t have to manually add it.
First, after detecting the location on Google Maps, click on the page URL and copy it.
After copying the page URL, simply paste it into your address field when creating a new inquiry on your OctopusPro account.
After pasting the URL, all the location details will be filled in automatically in the empty fields.
You can also copy the Google Map address link by clicking on Share, then COPY LINK on the popup window.
After copying the link address, simply paste it into your address field when creating a new inquiry in your OctopusPro account.
After pasting the link address, all the location details will be filled in automatically in the empty fields.
Adding an inquiry address or adding multiple addresses to an inquiry
After selecting a customer, their address details that are saved in their account will be automatically added, and this will be the email delivery address. So you can fill in the inquiry address, location, city, and state.
You can also add or edit the inquiry address since there are bookings that require multiple addresses by allowing you to add up to 3 addresses per inquiry, with the ability to label each address as needed.
After adding your address, you can then add multiple addresses by clicking on +Add Address.
A new section will appear where you can add your second address. Click on Remove to delete it, or click on +Add Address to add multiple other addresses.
Attaching the inquiry source to an inquiry widget
Select the inquiry source from the drop-down menu. It helps you categorize the various communications you have with the customers according to the channel of communication they use. To learn more, click here.
This is where you provide the communication channel that your customers use to submit the inquiry/quote. It helps you categorize your bookings based on the used channel. There are several choices that you can select from, as shown below. For example, if you have received an inquiry through Facebook to create a booking on behalf of a customer, you can select Facebook from the choices.
Adding the property type to inquiries
You can select the property type from the drop-down menu. If you don’t want the dropdown field to appear in your form, you can disable it from your inquiry widget settings form. To learn more about inquiry, click here.
Attaching the period required is required for the inquiry
You can select the period required to manage inquiries more efficiently, knowing the timeframe when a customer would like to receive a service by adding the ‘Service Required’ field to your inquiry form, e.g., ‘ASAP’, ‘Next 2-5 Days’, ‘Next Week‘, etc. To learn more about the period required and how to configure it, click here.
If you don’t want the period-required dropdown field to appear in your form, you can disable it from your inquiry widget settings form. To learn more about the inquiry widget, click here.
Adding a follow-up and setting a reminder for inquires
It enables you to send SMS/Email reminders to follow up with the customers for future inquiries. Click on the “Yes” toggle to activate the follow-up option, and a calendar will appear where you can pick a follow-up date to send the SMS/Email.
Follow-up with customers on a regular or periodic basis regarding inquiries will keep the lines of communication open. To learn more about adding or removing a follow-up click here.
To set the reminder date, click the “Calendar” icon and select the desired date, then click on the “Clock” icon to set the preferred time.
Adding a service to inquiries or multiple services to an inquiry
Your next step is to add a service or several services to the inquiry. To do this, click on “Add Service”.
A popup window will appear, displaying all the services that your business provides. If your services are put into categories, you can search by category or search through all services. Then select a service by clicking on it. Also, you can add a new service by clicking on “Create a new service.” You will be redirected to the Create a new service settings page to create a new service and add all its details. To learn more about the feature, click here. Or add a custom service for this booking by clicking on “+Add Custom Service”.
If you need to replicate or delete the service from the inquiry, click on “Replicate” or “Delete” on the right side of the service.
Adding a private comment to an inquiry
You have private notes that include the editing tools that assist you in writing. For example, the font, the text format, bullet points, etc. Inserted photos may also be included in the message body. Add any necessary private notes in the text box field. It allows you to share additional notes with your admin users and fieldworkers. This field is not visible to your customers and will not be added to the emails or attachments sent to your customers.
Then click “Save Changes.”
Converting an inquiry into a quote
From the inquiries list page, select the inquiry you wish to convert to a quote. Click on the “Actions” button, and select “Convert to Quote”.
Or
From the actions button, select “View inquiry”.
You will be redirected to the inquiry view page, on the top right side of the page, from the actions button, select “Convert To Quote”.
Converting an inquiry into a booking
From the inquiries list page, select the inquiry you wish to convert to a booking. Click on the “Actions” button, and select “Convert to Booking”.
Or
From the actions button, select “View inquiry”.
You will be redirected to the inquiry view page, on the top right side of the page, from the actions button, select “Covert To Booking”.
Creating a new inquiry as a customer from the customer portal
Activating the inquiry widget as an admin user so it appears in the customer portal
“Contact us” enables your customers to send you an inquiry about any service you provide. Customers can submit inquiries using the customer portal, which is sent to you as an admin so that you can access it. To activate the toggle of “Display link to” Contact us “page in the menu”, go to Settings >Customer Portal > Permissions and for more info about the flag, click here.
Can admin users set what kinds of fields appear in the widget for the customer, and from where can admin users set up and control those fields?
You can customize your inquiry form and you can decide whether these fields should be optional or mandatory for your customers from Settings > Communication > Inquiry Form.
For example, you can select the fields you want to be shown, like address, state/ region, or comment, to be “Visible” for fields you want to appear or “Hidden” for fields you don’t want to appear. To learn more about customizing the inquiry form, click here.
Where does the inquiry widget appear in the customer portal, and from where can the customer add a new inquiry by navigating through the customer portal?
Your customers can submit their inquiries through the customer portal. Go to the main menu, then click on “ Contact us.” Your customer will be sent to the quick inquiry page, where they can fill in the information, so this inquiry is similar to the one below.
- They should begin by filling in the blanks with the customer’s name.
- Enter their email address to contact them via email.
- They should enter their mobile number by clicking “add country code” and then entering their number so you can contact them via their mobile number.
- Their address for this inquiry should be added.
- Then they can add any comment they want to the container.
Then your customer can select a property type from the drop-down menu that you have already added to the system. If you don’t want the dropdown field to appear in your form, you can disable it from your inquiry widget settings form. To learn more about inquiry, click here.
Then your customer can select the period from the drop-down menu, knowing the timeframe when they would like to receive a service by adding the service required field to your inquiry form, e.g., ‘ASAP’, ‘Next 2-5 Days’, ‘Next Week‘, etc.
If you don’t want the period-required dropdown field to appear in your form, you can disable it from your inquiry widget settings form. To learn more about the inquiry widget, click here.
You can add additional custom fields to your inquiry form by creating them in your service settings and adding them to your inquiry form from under the custom fields tab in your inquiry form settings. If you want to add a custom field to your inquiry, click here for more information.
Click on “ Add Service” and select the service you want from the drop-down menu. You can also click on ” Add Another Service” to add more services to your inquiry, or you can delete it from the “ Trash or Delete” icon.
Then finally, after entering the necessary details for your inquiry, click “Get Quote.”
The system will display a popup window requesting confirmation of the action. When you click on “ Add Photos,” customers have the option to edit their contact details, and their booking address or add photos after submitting their inquiries.
Customers will be redirected to the inquiry details page so they can click on “Add Photos.”
They can add an image attachment to the service to let them have a full image of the job requirements before starting the actual work.
- Then a popup window will appear so they can add one or more attached files by clicking on “Drop files to upload”.
- Select “Service name” from the drop-down menu, then fill in the blanks with the comment you want.
- Click on “Save Photos”
After the customer completes their inquiries and submits them, they’ll receive an email.
How do admin users get notified about newly added inquiries from their customers?
When your customer submits their inquiry through the customer portal, it directly reflects your inquiries as an admin and sends a notification about the issue done by the identified consumer.
When a customer submits a new inquiry, you will be notified immediately. Then click on the “Notification” icon on the page’s right side.
Then you’ll be redirected to the all notification page, where the new notification will be highlighted, and you’ll receive a new inquiry with the inquiry number, exact date, and time.
Click on “New inquiry ( No.) has been received” to view the inquiry details page.
You can view/ access the new inquiries submitted by the customers from “All inquiries.”
Creating a new inquiry as a customer from the inquiry widget
As explained before, customers are able to submit inquiries through the customer portal. Admin users can also create inquiries by themselves. If you are not using the customer portal, you can embed the inquiry widget on your business website, or you can embed it on any desired landing page.
Setting up the inquiry widget and embedding it on the website and landing pages
You can customize, set up, and embed the inquiry widget by navigating to Setting > Communications > Inquiry Forms; For further information, please visit the Inquiry widget user guide page, where you will find a step-by-step guide regarding the setup of the inquiry widget.
Can admin users set what kinds of fields appear for the customer, and from where can admin users set up and control those fields?
Admin users can customize the appearance and the fields of the inquiry widget by using the custom fields feature. They can add new custom fields, and then attach them to the widget by navigating to Settings > Communications > Inquiry Forms > Custom fields.
Also, admin users can control the appearance of the default widget fields (required to create an inquiry) by enabling and disabling the visible toggle button found in Settings > Communications > Inquiry Forms.
You may find the following user guide pages useful in the matter previously mentioned:
Customizing the look and feel of your form
Setting up custom fields in the inquiry widgets
How to link the trading name so you can recognize from what website the inquiry was received?
If you are running multiple marketing campaigns on different websites and landing pages, how can you tell the difference between inquiries received for those landing pages; OctopusPro helps you in that matter by using the Trading Names feature. So each website is under a trading name, and you use the same inquiry widget on all of the websites.
While setting up trading names, you will see that each trading name is linked to a website. Check out how to add a new trading name.
So, the system knows the URL of the received inquiry and it will label it under the right trading name after setting all of the trading names correctly.
Conclusion
Each different website addressing a trading name should be correctly set up with its URL in order for OctopusPro to mark it under the right trading name.
Customers submitting a new inquiry using a website inquiry widget
After setting up the inquiry widget and trading name, customers can use the inquiry widget to submit inquiries. The inquiry widget will appear as follows on the website:
Customers can fill out and submit this form.
And the inquiry will be sent to OctopusPro. Admin users can review the inquiry under Inquiries > New Inquiries.
The newly added inquiry will appear in the system for the admin users as follows:
How do admin users get notified about newly added inquiries?
Admin users will receive a new notification about the newly added inquiry. They can see it by navigating to the Notifications page located at the top right of the admin dashboard.
The notification about the newly created inquiry or the newly received inquiry by the system will appear as follows
In case the admin user is logged in using the mobile app, a push notification will be received on his phone as
How can admin users review newly added inquiries?
Admin users can check all of the newly added/received inquiries by navigating to Inquiries > New Inquiries.
The newly added inquiry will appear in the system for the admin users as follows.
Also, admin users can see a more detailed interface for each inquiry received by clicking on the inquiry reference number (INQ-XXXX) or by clicking on the action button, which is the three dots found on the left side of each inquiry in the list.
For more information, please visit the Octopuspro user guide and subscribe to our youtube channel.