Why we fell in love with FrontApp - Email Collaboration
As described in a previous post the team were struggling with managing a shared IMAP Inbox. Emails were going missing or getting incorrectly marked up as Junk. We needed a solution we chose FrontApp.
Easy to apply inbox rules to carry out specific actions depending on the type of email. We have over 62 rules in place that manage a wide variety of scenarios from. These can be triggered on the body of an message, subject, from address and many more. Further that this you can use a combination of all of them to achieve the correct workflow rules. There are over 30 conditions that you can filter from, 17 Actions that can take place such as automatically pushing a leas to Salesforce or any other CRM you may have. If you want to read more about these rules it would be best to read FrontApps Documentation for it.
FrontApp is not just for processing and dealing with emails it can deal with messages from pretty much any channel you can think of. Including Phone, Twitter, Facebook, SMS, Intercom, Google Play and there is even an API so you can send in pretty much any message into FrontApp.
So at Intergral due to our rapidly expanding team we over the past year we have had to change and take many new tools to better cope at volume. So it was important that we could have direct integration of FrontApp into all the tools we use such as; AirCall, SalesForce, Smooch, Intercom and all our other message channels. With FrontApp we can have direct access to our phones and CRM directly from inside our message client.
The integration panel allows a place that integrations can be interacted with directly inside FrontApp. Here is a quick rundown of some of the most interesting.
SalesForce - Is the CRM that we use, and as you can see, on the right hand side panel all fields and many more are updatable directly inside the App integration panel. All Available fields including your custom fields are all displayable inside the FrontApp integration.
Just in the same way the SalesForce Integration is displayed inside FrontApp - the same is for AirCall or any other integration. Allowing you to Dial, receive and listen to voicemail inside FrontApp. The integration is fantastic and much better than a traditional phone system. The AirCall integration will be reviewed in another blog post soon.
FrontApp as many high quality integrations whenever we are looking at a new product we try to make sure that it integrates into FrontApp. The less products that you have to individually open the better. This is another reason why we love FrontApp.
To view a list of all FrontApp integrations please see FrontApp’s website : https://frontapp.com/integrations as it is constantly being updated with new integrations.
So beyond just being a shared inbox for multiple team members, FrontApp allows for internal conversations. For example if an SDR has a technical question the team can join in and discuss. The amount of times that we use this is rather amazing we probably use it over 100 times day this is probably the biggest productivity increase we have had outside of the automatic rules.
If a member of the team is slightly unsure how to respond to a customer you can share the draft with the rest of the team. Get feedback or even collaborate and edit the draft - maybe so a response is more technically correct.
Having new team members enter an organisation especially in a customer facing role an initial training can only go so far. Beyond the initial training a new team member really needs on the job training. With FrontApp using the Team Collaboration and Sharing drafts functions a lot can be accomplished these two tools have new become a cornerstone of our employee training and continued training for the sales and support teams.
Canned responses inside FrontApp are fantastic, they allow standard answers for questions that regularly and also questions that are complicated but do not regularly come up. Better than that it is possible to set Macro’s up inside the canned response so all you really have todo is select the canned response and sent the email off. This allows more senior members/ specialists in particular areas of the team to set up the best response so that a consistent message can be delivered from all team members.
FrontApp has native apps for Windows, macOS, Android, IOS and even inside the web browser. The web browser is my prefered way to access FrontApp. No matter what computer I am at if I can login via the webapp then I am ready to role along with all the integrations needed such as AirCall, SalesForce etc. The mobile Android App has come a long way since they first introduced it where it worked more as a prompt to log in via a proper computer. You can access all emails, comments canned responses. In a pinch I could deal with all emails and interact with my team from inside FrontApp.
Reminders on emails should really be much higher up this list. Just because it is so useful.
You can respond to a customer and then have it pop right back up as the exact time you need.
This is another feature that is really useful but is only used occasionally.
FrontApp is packed with many fantastic features. Features and updates are rolled out on a regular basis improving an already fantastic product. Soon they will be rolling out their new web messenger. This will mean it is possible to deal live with customers directly in FrontApp.
Written by David Thacker if you have any questions do not hesitate to leave a comment or get in touch.
Getting to know FrontApp
Automatic Rules
Easy to apply inbox rules to carry out specific actions depending on the type of email. We have over 62 rules in place that manage a wide variety of scenarios from. These can be triggered on the body of an message, subject, from address and many more. Further that this you can use a combination of all of them to achieve the correct workflow rules. There are over 30 conditions that you can filter from, 17 Actions that can take place such as automatically pushing a leas to Salesforce or any other CRM you may have. If you want to read more about these rules it would be best to read FrontApps Documentation for it.
Not just for Email
FrontApp is not just for processing and dealing with emails it can deal with messages from pretty much any channel you can think of. Including Phone, Twitter, Facebook, SMS, Intercom, Google Play and there is even an API so you can send in pretty much any message into FrontApp.
Integration into our Favourite apps
So at Intergral due to our rapidly expanding team we over the past year we have had to change and take many new tools to better cope at volume. So it was important that we could have direct integration of FrontApp into all the tools we use such as; AirCall, SalesForce, Smooch, Intercom and all our other message channels. With FrontApp we can have direct access to our phones and CRM directly from inside our message client.
The Integration Panel
The integration panel allows a place that integrations can be interacted with directly inside FrontApp. Here is a quick rundown of some of the most interesting.
SalesForce Integration
SalesForce - Is the CRM that we use, and as you can see, on the right hand side panel all fields and many more are updatable directly inside the App integration panel. All Available fields including your custom fields are all displayable inside the FrontApp integration.
AirCall Integration
Just in the same way the SalesForce Integration is displayed inside FrontApp - the same is for AirCall or any other integration. Allowing you to Dial, receive and listen to voicemail inside FrontApp. The integration is fantastic and much better than a traditional phone system. The AirCall integration will be reviewed in another blog post soon.
Many Other Integrations
FrontApp as many high quality integrations whenever we are looking at a new product we try to make sure that it integrates into FrontApp. The less products that you have to individually open the better. This is another reason why we love FrontApp.
To view a list of all FrontApp integrations please see FrontApp’s website : https://frontapp.com/integrations as it is constantly being updated with new integrations.
Team Collaboration
So beyond just being a shared inbox for multiple team members, FrontApp allows for internal conversations. For example if an SDR has a technical question the team can join in and discuss. The amount of times that we use this is rather amazing we probably use it over 100 times day this is probably the biggest productivity increase we have had outside of the automatic rules.
Sharing drafts
If a member of the team is slightly unsure how to respond to a customer you can share the draft with the rest of the team. Get feedback or even collaborate and edit the draft - maybe so a response is more technically correct.
Training
Having new team members enter an organisation especially in a customer facing role an initial training can only go so far. Beyond the initial training a new team member really needs on the job training. With FrontApp using the Team Collaboration and Sharing drafts functions a lot can be accomplished these two tools have new become a cornerstone of our employee training and continued training for the sales and support teams.
Canned Responses
Canned responses inside FrontApp are fantastic, they allow standard answers for questions that regularly and also questions that are complicated but do not regularly come up. Better than that it is possible to set Macro’s up inside the canned response so all you really have todo is select the canned response and sent the email off. This allows more senior members/ specialists in particular areas of the team to set up the best response so that a consistent message can be delivered from all team members.
Apps for every user and platform
FrontApp has native apps for Windows, macOS, Android, IOS and even inside the web browser. The web browser is my prefered way to access FrontApp. No matter what computer I am at if I can login via the webapp then I am ready to role along with all the integrations needed such as AirCall, SalesForce etc. The mobile Android App has come a long way since they first introduced it where it worked more as a prompt to log in via a proper computer. You can access all emails, comments canned responses. In a pinch I could deal with all emails and interact with my team from inside FrontApp.
Automatic Reminders on Email
Reminders on emails should really be much higher up this list. Just because it is so useful.
You can respond to a customer and then have it pop right back up as the exact time you need.
Send Email Later
This is another feature that is really useful but is only used occasionally.
Summary
FrontApp is packed with many fantastic features. Features and updates are rolled out on a regular basis improving an already fantastic product. Soon they will be rolling out their new web messenger. This will mean it is possible to deal live with customers directly in FrontApp.
Written by David Thacker if you have any questions do not hesitate to leave a comment or get in touch.
Comments
Post a Comment