Interactions and Segments
The Segment window is a type of worksheet where you can:
Create segments in How to: Create Segments.
Save the segmentation criteria you have used to select contacts in How to: Save Segment Criteria.
Log the segment and record interactions involving the contacts within the segment in How to: Create Interactions for Segments.
From this window, you can also create to-dos and opportunities involving the contacts within the segment.
Segmenting
There are several ways to create segments:
You can manually enter the contacts you want to include in the segment in the segment lines.
You can select contacts. For more information, see How to: Add Contacts to Segments, How to: Reduce Segments, or How to: Refine Segments.
You can reuse a logged segment as the basis to create a new one in How to: Create Segments by Reusing Logged Segments.
You can reuse saved segmentation criteria in How to: Create Segments by Reusing Segment Criteria.
Interactions
In the Segment window, you can create interactions for several contacts simultaneously in How to: Create Interactions for Segments. For example, you can merge a segment with a Microsoft Word document, so that you can send a letter to all the contacts in the segment.
You can specify information about the interaction for the segment on the Segment header. For example, you can decide which interaction template you want to use for all the contacts, modify the attachment, specify a description, a correspondence type, and so on. However, you can modify this information in the segment line for each particular contact, for example, by specifying another description, or personalizing the attachment for one contact. If you are merging a segment with a Microsoft Word document, you can personalize the document to be sent for one or several of the contacts within the segment, for example, by adding individualized comments to the document.
Logging
In the Segment window, when you click Log, the program records the interactions in the Interaction Log Entry table, and logs the segment. After you have logged the segment, you can only find it in the Logged Segments window.
In the Logged Segments window, you can also decide to have the program send the attachments (by e-mail or fax, or printing them), and you can also decide to create a follow-up segment containing the same contacts as the segment you have logged. You can only select Hardcopy as the correspondence type if the attachment is a Microsoft Word document. You can also have the program send the attachments from the Logged Segment window.
Sending Attachments by E-Mail
When you send attachments by e-mail, the program uses the contents of the Description field in the Segment window as the subject for the e-mail.
You can choose the way you want your contacts to receive these attachments: as an attachment to the e-mail (selecting the Send Word Docs. as Attmt field in the Segment window), or as e-mail text (only for Microsoft Word documents). However, if you choose to send the attachment as e-mail text, you will loose all formatting. Documents that include merge fields can only be sent as attachments to the e-mail.
If you have decided to send a Microsoft Word document to the contacts in the segment by e-mail, and one of the contacts does not have an e-mail address, you can change the correspondence type for this contact in the segment line to specify that this attachment should be printed or faxed instead.
Resending Attachments
If an error occurs and the attachments have not been sent when you log the segment, you can resend them from the Logged Segments window.
See Also
Concepts
Working with Microsoft Word Documents