Dealing with Inquirer Messages
(Read #5 if you want to know how to get rid of the red notifications!)
A connector spends a great deal of time writing first time responses to inquirers who come into the system in the queues.
However, an even more important responsiblity of the connector is to continue to communicate with an inquirer when he/she responds to our initial message. This is were we can begin the discipleship process.
So, it is a "big deal" when an inquirer writes back. As connectors we must do our best to respond as soon as possible. Answering an inquirer's response is more important than making an initial reply to a new inquirer from the queue. This email conversation is where the discipleship process can take place.
How Does It Work?
The conversation process works like this:
- Your Initial Reply. The discipleship process begins when a connector (you) reviews the queue and determines to write a response to an inquirer showing there. You hit the reply button and compose your reply based on the recommended template which appears. (These templates appear based on the language of the inquirer and the type of decision they make.)
- "Intial Reponses" Folder. When you hit SEND, your reply is sent to the inquirer via email. Your response is filed in a folder titled "Initial Reponses." If an inquirer never replies to your initial communication, this conversation will stay in the folder indefinitely.
- The Inquirer Replies. If the inquirer replies to your message, the conversation will automatically be moved out of the Initial Responses folder into your inbox. The conversation will be highlighted in bold, meaning it is unread. Once you open the conversation, it will no longer be in bold. Also, to the right of the conversation, there will be a tag in red which reads "Unanswered." This means that the inquirer wrote the last message in this conversation.
- You Reply. After you read the message from the inquirer, you determine whether a response is needed. Click the conversation; a dialog opens; write and send your response. The "Unanswered." disappears.
- Completed Conversations. There are times when there is no need to reply to an inquirer. Maybe she just said thanks. If a conversation is completed, but "Unanswered." still shows, you should move that conversation to a different folder. You can create your own folder or move it back to the Archives folder. IMPORTANT! When you move a completed conversation out of your Inbox, you will no longer receive notifications about this conversation.
- The Inquirer Replies Again. If the inquirer replies to a conversation you have moved to a different folder, that conversation will automatically be moved from that folder into your Inbox and the process repeats with #3-5 above.
- Auto Archiving. In order to help keep your Inbox from getting too crowded, the Connector system will automatically move conversations from your Inbox to the Archives folder, if they are not unanswered. If the conversation is "Unanswered." it will remain in your Inbox until you answer it or move it to a different folder.