The new Flexmail contact management will soon be available

Hello everybody,

Allow me to introduce myself: I am Michelle, Product Manager at Flexmail. The Flexmail team can hardly wait to show you what we have been working on in the past few months: our long-awaited new contact management.

Why is it interesting for you? All of your data will be centralised at one place for a better overview, more focus on what you use most, settings that are less exotic, processes that are streamlined better, and no unnecessary clutter but only the data you need.

These adjustments will be rolled out gradually. We will keep you up to date about the latest developments. We will let you know when your account is next. Further details on what you can expect from the conversion and the timeline used are provided below.

But let us begin at the beginning.

What have we been up to?

In the past two years, we have been doing a lot of work. We have examined what users often do and don’t do in Flexmail. We conducted user interviews and looked over the users’ shoulder to see how they performed certain steps. We are grateful to the more than 100 customers who have given us feedback at the various stages of the process. Without them this project would never have succeeded.

Additionally, we examined the support feedback and results from analytics tools in the application. We wanted to know what Flexmail is good at, and what could do with some improvement. We also wanted to find out which urgent issues needed to be addressed first.

Next, we built wireframes and prototypes, and we had them tested by actual users. This is how we kept on tuning and fine-tuning to create the best solution possible. Our developers have been working hard on getting the foundations of Flexmail right. The result is a major release, which we are about to roll out.

What is going to change?

The new navigation

The navigation (and Flexmail as a whole, in fact) is going to look different. We created a new layout which gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on the screens you use most often.

• The menu has been restructured on the basis of our key features: Campaigns, Forms, Contacts and Automation.
• The Reports feature is no longer part of the main menu. Every item has everything you need within this context, from managing to reporting.
• As the Forms feature is widely used by all of you, it has been included in the new main menu.
• Automation features now also have the place they deserve and will not hamper any novice users. Here, you can find your workflows and landing pages easily.
• The app URL will also change. This may be important if you use whitelisting. All references to https://www.flexmail.eu will change into https://app.flexmail.eu

User-friendliness

In 2018, we strongly focused on the GDPR, something which has earned us an excellent reputation. With this new release we fully concentrate on user-friendliness

• We focus on converting multiple mailing lists into a single database. It is the same with this release: everybody will have to make the transition.
• In the new situation, a contact appears only once in an account. As a result, it will be easier for you to manage preferences, needs and unsubscribed contacts.
• Next, you can use segmentation to set up new target groups for personalisation.

As the mailing lists have been replaced by a single database, a new overview will be more useful. Your active contacts, unsubscribed contacts and contacts for which an opt-in has not been provided yet can now be found on three tabs.

An individual contact in more detail

You could always use 32 standard fields, whether these were relevant to you or not. We have reduced this number to E-Mail Address, Name, First Name, Language and Source. For everybody we will convert the other fields already used in an account into user-specific fields. This means that no information will be lost. You can change the name of these fields, you can delete them, and you can create your own fields, including the free fields 1 to 6. No unnecessary clutter but only the data you need!

New import feature

By restricting the feature to CSV files exclusively, the chance of import errors is minimised. We opt for a standardised import flow without any hidden or exotic settings. In the new situation, we assume that the most recent information is the right information. Fields will be supplemented rather than emptied by this import. Preferences and interests are supplemented too, instead of deleted.

Brand-new manual

Throughout the introductions and pages, there are links that help you find the information you are looking for. These links refer to the corresponding pages in our brand-new manual. The manual is fully up to date, with tips, how-tos, and a search feature that comes in very handy. It consists of three parts: what you need to know before using a feature, how to use it, and one chapter specifically devoted to inspiration!

What you can expect

All improvements will be rolled out across the various accounts in the next few weeks. We will collect your feedback as we go along. We have started with the accounts that took part in our user testing.

You may have noticed some e-mails about the release with some further information. This is an indication that your account will be next soon. If not, you will receive these e-mails before long.

Once your account gets access to the new features, an onboarding screen will be opened first. On this screen, you have to enter the communication languages you want to use for your e-mails. After you have selected these languages, your account will be converted automatically.

Frequently asked questions

I am the admin for my account and have to communicate with my colleagues about these changes. Where can I get more information?

A summary of all adjustments is provided above. If your account has already been converted into a single central database, you will find that the conversion will take place very smoothly.

If you still use multiple mailing lists, it is essential that you, as an admin, go through the conversion process first to make a selection from the various mailing lists. You will also need to explain a bit more to your team: working with segmentation will open up many new possibilities for you.

Links on the new screens will take you to the new help documentation. We have done our utmost to make the interfaces as intuitive as possible. Information you do not need will not be displayed, and more complex tasks will be split into smaller tasks that are easy to manage. Everything that happens on your screen should be predictable.

If you have any questions or if you need someone to go through the adjustments or the converter with you, please let us know.

When does my account get the new features?

We release the new solution gradually, to ensure that customers of various sizes have sufficient time to get prepared.
We start with the customers that participated in the user testing. Their additional feedback will help us provide guidance for any future batches even better.

You will receive an announcement from us by the time your account is next.

If you want to be on the test panel for any further releases,
please register here.

How can I remain up to date on the progress of this release?

You will receive an announcement from us by the time your batch is next. Update information is provided on this page. If you have any specific questions about this, do not hesitate to contact our support team. They will be pleased to help you.

I am the admin of my account, and I need more time to communicate with my team about the adjustments. Can I be excluded from the initial roll-out?

If you still do not use a single database and you have to send an urgent campaign, we understand that this action has priority over the conversion of your account. Therefore, you will certainly not be held to go through the onboarding process at that moment.

Contact us, if you are concerned about the release or if you need help with the communication. Together with you we will look at the possibilities and at how we can find a solution together.

What is the purpose of the language settings in the onboarding process?

What is the purpose of the language settings in the onboarding process?

If you send e-mails in multiple languages, the selection menus will only include the languages that are relevant for you. If you create new fields, you will also be able to translate them for your communication languages as from now. When building new features, we will extend the translation options accordingly.

Additional questions and feedback

If you have any feedback, concerns or questions, please let us know.