Existing sites that have upgraded from network systems to Linux notice a significant increase in the speed of reports and day end processes although the screen refreshing at a workstation can be slightly slower. Excellent Systems Ltd has taken the hassle and expense out of direct marketing by providing a program that can automatically send follow up letters and makes selecting customers based on their prior purchases a breeze. This program can also be used to create labels, lists and merge with MS Word. The letters and labels that you create are saved as text files so that you can save many different formats to suit your changing needs. It is important to train staff to find previous customers by address or surname and to take full customer details by 'selling' the benefits of being on the 'special offers mailing list'.
Most databases require a little customer maintenance before using the follow-up letters feature.
For example, you might not want to send a letter advertising a stereo promotion to customers who had recently purchased a stereo. Such customers could be excluded by selecting all departments and groups except for stereo. Prior months sales follow-up letters can be produced automatically overnight so that they are ready for signing and posting the next day. It's a well known fact that customers appreciate follow-up service, so imagine their delight when they receive a personalised letter from you thanking them for making their recent purchase and inviting them back in to your store. If you want to exclude businesses or certain customers from your marketing programs you can give them a customer category which will exclude them from further letters.