Bulk mailing from patterns can save you a lot of work in situations,
when you need to send out documents in bulk for signatures and
where the document contains "his" details for each recipient.
You can also send out documents for signature to literally thousands of recipients with just a few clicks.
And then just keep track of who has already signed and urge, again electronically, the stragglers.
- Principle
- Preparation
- Import contact data
- Sending a bulk mailing
- Signing process for the bulk mailing
- After sending
- What are the next steps?
Principle
The principle of bulk mailing is simple:
You prepare data about your contacts - customers, employees, suppliers, etc. - in an import file.
You import its content into Contacts in Signi, and the import will create user fields corresponding to the names of the columns in the file..
When you call up a bulk mailing, the data from Contacts is added to the appropriate places in the document template to prepare the document for signature for a specific person.
The trick is to name each piece of data the same in all 3 places.
Preparation
Information on the proposers
If identifying details of the proposer's organisation are to be included in the template, the correct organisation details must be entered in the workspace settings from which the template will be populated. This can be done by the workspace administrator.
Similarly, the identifying information of the signatory for the proponent who will be listed in the signature script, typically the managing director, must be entered. This is done by the appropriate user in their account settings.
Automatic insertion of the proposer's signature
If the document is to be signed by a representative of the proposer, typically the managing director, he or she will not be the happiest if he or she has to sign dozens or hundreds of them at once.
The workspace can therefore be set to automatically insert the signature of the petitioner. Just keep in mind that for the time being, he must sign first in the signature scenario, he cannot sign after the counterparties have signed. Thus, it is not possible to send a "blank" document.
Import contact data
Loading data
On the Contacts tab, enter all the counterparties to be contacted - customers, employees, partners, suppliers, etc. or upload them in bulk using the Upload Contacts function.
First click on the file name field to select the file, then click on the upload button.
The import file contains 2 sets of data:
Identification data of the contact's "header" - first name last name etc.
User fields - any other data about the person
Uživatelská pole na detailu Kontaktu
Import file format
The import file format is still CSV, which has some strict requirements:
The import file must be in UTF-8. When exporting with Google Sheet this is automatic, when exporting from Excel you need to select the right option to save the file to CSV fromat, there are several options to choose from.
There must be no comma anywhere in the import data. It can be verified via Ctrl+F e.g. in Excel or Google Sheet.
The first column in the CSV must be "extra" e.g. with the ID name, no values need to be filled in. Alternatively, just verify that there is no initial character set code in the created CSV file, the first character must be the first letter of the first column name. Can be verified in a HEX editor e.g. https://hexed.it/.
In the import data there must be no line breaks created by the Alt+Enter key combination. It can be verified visually, e.g. by opening a CSV in Notepad, that each contact record is on one line and not on two or more..
There must be no quotation marks anywhere in the created CSV file. It can be verified e.g. in Notepad via Ctrl+F.
Care must be taken with the format of the phone numbers. They should be really valid phone numbers. If no international prefix is given, the Czech number is assumed.
The last column of the import can be called "groups". The text in them will then be the name of the label assigned to all imported records.
Do the conditions look too complicated? Contact us at help@signi.com, we can help you with the import. And yes, we are preparing the import from XLSX.
Import files ready for download
Adding data in the correct places in the document templates assumes that the data is named the same in the template, on the contact and in the import file. Also, the contact identification data has exactly the prescribed column names.
The target import file for each pattern will be downloadable directly from Signi. Temporarily, import files for selected patterns are available in the Signi - Import Data - PUBLIC folder.
Sending a bulk mailing
Selecting contacts
Select and mark the contacts to be mailed in the Contacts section and invoke the Send Document to Contacts function. The selection can be made using the labels that appear in the left panel of Signi. Labels can also be assigned to records when importing into Signi, see import file format for more information.
Alternatively, you can select only one record for mailing by selecting the mailing pattern using the Send Document button on the Contact Detail.
Electronic company employee card - All the necessary information about the employee, the documents he/she has signed and the groups he/she has been assigned to. Click on Send Document to select a template to send.
Template selection
A page will appear with a section to upload a file in the template selector. Ignore the file upload menu, it is for bulk file distribution. In the Favorite template section, select Create for your template. If it is not listed, select Show Document templates at the bottom of the page.
Templates custom created for you can be found under Your Templates, general purpose templates can be found under All Templates. For these too, confirm the selected pattern by pressing Create.
As a next step we have the possibility to check or edit the signature scenario.
Checking the signature scenario
On the signature scenario page, everything is ready to be sent out. If you need to modify the scenario, edit it - for example, add the people who should be notified to sign the document.
Examples of signing scenarios for different areas, e.g. Business or HR, can be found in our Signature Scenario Library.
The signing scenario cannot be completely arbitrary, the signatories for the petitioner and the number of counterparties must correspond to the numbers in the selected template. If the pattern provides for a representative of the claimant to sign, the signature scenario should include at least one representative of the claimant with an action to sign. Likewise for the first or other counterparties.
Check the document before sending and sending
This will open the final page of the draft document.
Here, the template will display the details of the drafter and the first selected signatory for the counterparty, drafter only, counterparty only, and so on, according to the template selected.
Click on Send document to contacts and the template will be sent to all selected contacts for signature.
Final summary of the bulk mailing
As a final step after you have sent documents for signature, you will see a summary of the documents that have been sent. From here you can click through to the detail of each document.
The final page with the list of those who have been contacted.
Signing process for the bulk mailing
1. The counterparty only signs
The simplest case is when each of the recipients of a mass mailing receives a document with "their" data added and signs or just approves it.
2. Before signing, the counterparty updates his/her identification information
You can disable or enable counterparties to edit their identifying information in Workspace Settings > View > Header cannot be edited. If enabled, a page will appear for users to change their identifying information before viewing the actual document. The Signature Document already contains the updated information.
3. Counterparty updates its user fields
Document templates may be designed so that some fields are marked as editable by the counterparty. In this case, before signing, the document is displayed in template completion mode, where the data is pre-populated from the contact's record, but can be changed or added.
A typical example
An order where the counterparty can specify quantities or even items before sending.
An Income Taxpayer's Declaration, known as the Pink Sheet, where an employee can change details about themselves e.g. the number of children for whom they get a tax rebate.
Delivery slip where details of returnable packaging, damaged goods etc. are written.
Before signing, the counterparty may change the data in some fields.
After sending
Tracking signing status and urging late signatories
You can track the status of signing in the Documents section. Documents move Pending counterparty to Closed documents.
A reminder can be sent to those who have not yet signed. So far only from the details of the document, a mass mailing is being prepared.
Download the control sheet for control authorities
In case of an audit, download the checklist, where there is a complete audit trail of acknowledgement of the document, via the Checklist on the document detail.
What are the next steps?
The prerequisite for a mass mailing according to a pattern is the activation of the Signi Patterns function and, if necessary, a custom pattern created for you. For more information, please contact us at sales@signi.com. If you have any questions or need help with a bulk mailing, please contact us at help@signi.com.
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