New Letter

G-E has a powerful letter system used for maintaining contact with clients, reminder letters for vehicle services etc. or for just quickly generating a letter for any business purpose not necessarily to do with clients at all. The letter system has ties with the vehicle service reminder system and the two functions can work together seamlessly.

The letter function can be as simple as typing a letter in the editor and printing it to as comprehensive as having G-E open a letter from the database then collect and insert client and vehicle information automatically for the times when several reminder letters need to be written.

To create a basic letter to a recipient who is not a client:
Select Workshop from the Main Menu. Select New Letter from the drop down menu. The New Letter dialogue opens. At the top of the editor window, there are two fields; Code and Desc. If this is a "one off" letter and you do not wish to save it to the database on completion, leave the fields blank and click in the editor window to start typing the letter. If you wish to save the letter for future use, enter a code in the Code field. This is the code you will use to find this letter in future should the database become large. Enter a description of the letter in the Desc field. This description should briefly state the contents of the letter.

Type the letter in the editor window. When you have completed typing the letter, simply click Print to print the letter. The Date dialogue is presented and a new date for the letter can be entered.

Tips:
The letter will be automatically dated with the current date. The date can be altered in the Date dialogue.
You do not need to space the text down from the top of the editor window, spacing is automatically applied when the letter is printed.
The letter will print using the same letterhead as the rest of the system's printouts.
G-E applies "text justification" to the printed letter.
If you prefer to use your own letterhead, ensure the 'Do not print Company Header' check box is checked in the Workshop > Company Logo menu option.

Variables:
Variables are text characters entered into a letter as "place holders" which G-E looks for and detects, if present, when the Print control is selected. The available variables are shown at the bottom of the letter editor as a reminder to their functions. A variable consists of the " % " (percentage sign) and a character. The available variables are:
%n = Client Name. %f = friendly. %a = Address. %v = Vehicle Make. %m = Model. %r = Rego.

%n	Refers to the client "name". This variable will be replaced with the names found in the client file's "First Name" and "Surname / Company" fields. eg. "Peter Rubble" or, for a business client, "Trinity Computer Services".
%f	Refers to the client's "friendly name". This variable will be replaced with the name in the client file's "First Name" field. eg. "Dear %f" may print as "Dear Peter". When the %f variable is included in a letter, G-E searches for names in the client file fields in the following order: "First Name" then "Contact". The name found in the first field found containing a name will be used as the Friendly Name. If the First Name and Contact fields are empty, G-E will use "Sir, Madam" as the Friendly Name.
%a	Refers to the client's address. This variable will be replaced with the address information found in the client file's address fields.
%v	Refers to a vehicle "Make". This variable will be replaced with the name found in the vehicle file's "Make" field. eg. "Your vehicle, %v", may print as "Your vehicle, Toyota".
%m	Refers to a vehicle "Model". This variable will be replaced with the name found in the vehicle file's "Model" field. eg. "Your vehicle, %v %m", may print as "Your vehicle, Toyota Camry".
%r	Refers to a vehicle "Rego Number". This variable will be replaced with the rego number of the selected vehicle eg. "Your vehicle, %v %m, %r", may print as "Your vehicle, Toyota Camry, ABC123".

Any of the listed variables, when present in a letter, is a "marker" for text to be substituted when the letter is printed. If no variables are present in the letter when the Print control is selected, the letter is simply sent directly to the printer after the Date dialogue is dealt with. If variables are present in the letter when the Print control is selected, G-E presents the Substitute Text dialogue.

Substitute Text Dialogue:
The Substitute Text dialogue displays the text which will replace any variables present in the body of the letter. The text in the Substitute Text dialogue may be changed as needed.
The system is able to display two Substitute Text dialogues. Which dialogue is displayed is dependant on the variables used in the body of the letter.
If a variable is used which applies to a name and or address (%n, %f, %a) but not to a vehicle, the Substitute Text dialogue which contains the Load Client control is displayed. Selecting the Load Client control displays the client search list from which any client on file may be selected and their details automatically used to fill the fields of the Substitute Text dialogue. Alternatively, the fields may be manually filled with the details of a person who has no file information in the system. These details will then be used to substitute the variables in the letter.

If a variable is used which applies to vehicle details (%v, %m, or %r), the Substitute Text dialogue which contains the Load Vehicle control is displayed. Selecting the Load Vehicle control presents the vehicle search list from which any vehicle in the system may be selected. Once a vehicle is selected from the list, G-E determines all the information about the vehicle and the owner and fills the appropriate fields in the Substitute Text dialogue.
As mentioned previously, the fields in the Substitute Text dialogue can be filled manually if the vehicle you wish to refer to in the letter is not in the system.

When the Substitute Text dialogue is presented, although all fields of the dialogue are visible, only those fields pertaining to variables actually used in the letter are editable and the text in these fields only is substituted when the letter is printed.

So what is the advantage of using variables?
Typing up letters is a rather time consuming job as we are probably not the world's most advanced typists nor can most of us afford secretaries to do it for us.
Thankfully, the majority of our letter communication with our clients is of a repetitive nature, for example, service reminders for their vehicles, or maybe overdue payment letters. The context of these letters is suitable for all clients, only the client and vehicle we refer to in the letters need be specific to the client receiving the letter.
Using variables, you can create for example, a service reminder letter and enter variables in the places you would normally enter the client and vehicle information. You can then save the letter to the library for future use.
When you wish to send the letter to any client in the system, you no longer need to enter the client and vehicle information in the letter. Simply choose the letter from the library list, select the client or vehicle from the appropriate list and G-E inserts the information in the letter.

Maybe you wish to promote a new piece of equipment you have purchased, a wheel alignment machine. You now wish to let your client's know you have it and as a promotion you are offering half price wheel alignments for the following month.
Create the promotional letter as you require and use variables in the appropriate places. Save your "Promo letter" to the library.
Select Client from the Main Menu. Select Print Letters from the drop down menu. G-E displays a list of all clients on file. Select Change All on the list window. All clients in the list are now selected to receive a letter. Click Ok on the list window. G-E presents the letter library listing. Select your "Promo Letter" and click print.

The "Promo Letter" will be printed for every client in the list. The variables in the letter will be replaced with the specific client information in each and every letter. You can then select to have the envelopes printed for each letter.