Archives: Blogs

Communicating with the standard WhatsApp interface is tedious and error prone. We offer a tightly integrated solution through automation. Our customer is delighted with how much time is saved. Get in touch with us now to explore new possibilities!

WhatsApp is everywhere

Many people have adopted WhatsApp. The reason is simple: it allows people to communicate with each other, regardless of the phone they use. Moreover, the WhatsApp interface is very accessible. Generally, everyone has their phone nearby and is reachable. As a business, it is very valuable to have such a direct means to contact you existing customers.

The harsh reality

While it may be easy enough to send an occasional message, imagine the time it will take a business to reach out to their customers. Four days a week is no exaggeration. Case in point: RietBeheer, a Dutch roofing maintenance company, had two people spending two days a week sending out WhatsApp requests for upcoming due roof maintenance. This is merely the request; any replies are processed manually as well. [See his story below] Along with manual data entry and manipulation, there’s the increased chance of making mistakes. You don’t want that.

The solution

Getting in direct contact with your clients can be automated from your CRM solution. With the ‘WhatsApp for Business API’ hundreds of WhatsApp messages can be sent out at once. Obviously, you’ll have to follow up on replies requesting your services. Experts at Lesterius can implement WA for Business in your current FileMaker solution.

Requirements

Before you can leverage WhatsApp for Business, approval is needed. Here CM.com comes in. CM is a Meta business partner (who owns WhatsApp). CM will allow for a more streamlined and therefore speedier approval experience. You need to:

1. identify yourself
2. prove you are te business owner or are allowed to act on its behalf.

Upon approval, you can’t just start sending messages to your customers and possibly ‘abuse’ the platform.

How does it actually work?

The system is based on pre-approved ‘template’ messages. Despite this limitation, it offers many possibilities. Think about:

• an order update
• an appointment change
• a payment confirmation
• a request if maintenance service is needed in the next period
• a yes / no ( /maybe ) question.

Your customers may reply back to you any time they want. When they do, you have a window of 24 hours to respond. 24 Hours after your customer’s last message, your message must be new. It will be based on a pre-approved template message again and thereby start a new conversation.

Personalisation

Don’t think every message has to be the exact same for every customer. By using variables in templates the message wil be personalised towards your specific customer.

Some possibilities are:

• first name
• order number
• dates
• images
• documents
• or whatever is relevant and available in your FileMaker solution.

The Answer and beyond

The kicker is, you have the ability to append up to three ‘quick reply’ buttons to your message. Instead of typing, the customer can click a button without having to leave WhatsApp and react instantly!

To get the answer (or any other messages) you need something called a webhook. Your FileMaker solution “listens” to whatever is send to the webhook and processes it in your database. What happens thereafter, is up to what you need and will be discussed with an expert.

Client story / use case

We have already implemented WhatsApp for RietBeheer. He is delighted! Their story sums it up.

About RietBeheer

At schoonpannendak.nl we provide thatched roof maintenance. We serve about 5.000 clients across the Netherlands. Part of our job, is to inspect the condition of a roof. We take pictures to be able to show and tell the condition of the home owner’s roof. Based on what the client sees, the decision is made whether maintenance is needed or will be held off for another year.

The old way

We easily send out more than 300 WhatsApp messages per month, using our FileMaker solution. Before, we had to click a button to open the WhatsApp desktop application and start a chat with a single customer. We would then need to manually type the message and click send. To send a message to the next customer, we had to return to the FileMaker solution and click that same button again… starting over this laborious process.

The new way

Now, we select the customers we want to notify, set the message contents we want to send and click a button. Done!

Fast and personalised

All of this can be done in a couple of seconds and all outgoing messages are personalised. The roof overview picture is automatically added. So, now it is very easy to reach many of our customers at once and to send yearly reminders.

All done with WhatsApp

Our client, typically the lady of the house, who wants her home well organised and maintained, does not have to leave WhatsApp to answer. WhatsApp is already a familiar tool. Of course, she can message us via WhatsApp just as well!

TAKE ACTION INSTANTLY

As a customer replies, their answer is automatically added and processed in our database. Our planner can take action accordingly.

Huge time saver

This FileMaker solution saves us so much time! – Boelie van de Beek, Schoonpannendak.nl

Get in touch

Are you as excited as our client? If you send lots of messages with WhatsApp and are interested in automating this, we can help you integrate with FileMaker. It will save you lots of time and efforts so you can focus on the more important things.

Claris FileMaker

Since the advent of the Internet and mobile smart phones, people have started to email more and more when in contact with each other: letters have made way for emails, contracts can be signed digitally (see my other blog post about this) and SMS has made way for apps. Customer contact has never been so quick and efficient.

However, there are situations imaginable in which an e-mail address or (mobile) telephone number is not sufficient. What if your company delivers products or services to your home? At that point a correct address is important. This is where the specialists of Lesterius can help.

Together with you, our client, Lesterius builds a customized solution based on the Claris FileMaker platform. In this solution all data that is applicable at that moment will appear on your desktop or tablet, such as a customer address with postcode.

FileMaker integrates

Contrary to popular belief, FileMaker no longer stands alone. Your solution can link to external data sources and retrieve data. The possibilities are endless, addresses are just one example. These can then be nicely displayed within FileMaker, such as in a Google Maps window or even better: start up your favourite Maps app and let it guide your ride!

The computer does the work

Wherever data is entered, mistakes can be made. These can be overcome with validation, but wouldn’t it be nicer if the computer itself did as much of the work for you as possible? Automation allows us to take over part of the input process. This involves making a connection to PostNL, the authority in the Netherlands, which returns the complete address based on what has already been entered. In principle, postcode house number is sufficient.1

In the Netherlands, PostNL has done a good job with the classification of postal codes. Each postcode has a unique street name. Therefore, an address consisting of at least a postcode and house number is sufficient for delivery. This is different in other countries; postcode areas are larger.

Serving your customers

The advantage of filling in the form is not only for you (the administrator), but also for your customers! They have less work on your web page; after all, some street names are quite long. Moreover, you are assured of a correct address. PostNL offers various services, depending on the size of the search area and the data required.

What to choose?

PostNL offers the following API services:

• Address check Benelux
• National address check
• Address Check International
• Geo address check National

The product “Addresscheck Basic National” will be discontinued in the near future.

Which service is most suitable for your situation, will become clear in the preliminary process with Lesterius. For example, it may be useful to get coordinates for a precise location on a map. As an example I would like to mention Riet Beheer; they provide maintenance of thatched roofs. This company is actively seeking opportunities to support their primary business operations with the possibilities of modern technology. For example, they not only have drones in operation to track down problem areas and point them out to the customer, but also their administration in FileMaker. Typically, work is carried out on farms in the more remote areas of the Netherlands. The customer does not always provide complete address details required for invoicing. Entering the postcode is experienced as tedious. Through a link to PostNL, data are supplemented and, if necessary, corrected in the format that PostNL likes: “1234 AB GEMEENTE”. (Note: a space in the postcode for readability and then two spaces between postcode and city). In addition, PostNL returns detailed coordinates that can be used to locate it in Google Maps and then mark it.

How does it work?

You decide on an API subscription with PostNL, we can arrange this for you. Lesterius is not tied to PostNL, the most suitable solution from any third party will be discussed with you. We put the necessary code in the solution. This can be a button that sends the address request, but also more automated. It may be that PostNL cannot find a suitable address, in which case the result differs too much from the address details entered. How certain the result is, is indicated in a percentage. Based on this, further action can be taken, for example a Google search. A 100% result is of course entered immediately. If a “loose” search is carried out in Belgium, there is a good chance that several results will be found. An appropriate interface can be created for this.

Interested?

Are you interested in taking the next step on the path of digital transformation? Ensure correct addressing and be sure to reach your customers. Your job will be easier, too. Lesterius consultants in BeneLux and across Europe will be happy to assist you.

With AI-enhanced automations, small businesses can identify new opportunities, reduce costs, and improve productivity. Our profession is helping you orchestrate all moving pieces of AI, enabling you to instantly apply the limitless cognitive power of AI to your Claris FileMaker solution.

This whitepaper covers 5 real-world examples of how businesses are transforming the way they work by integrating AI into their workflows.

The Use-cases we’ll cover:

• Image Classification
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
• Tone & Sentiment Analysis
• Transcribing Audio to Text
• Automate object counting

Download your copy here.

Since the early days of computer automation, less paper would be used. Lesterius delivers on this promise, by building solutions that empower clients with the right information at the right time. We figure out together, how to get the job done more easily and with less errors. Piles of paper or letters to be scanned (or faxed) are not the answer. It takes too long and taxes the environment. Instead, we are experts in leveraging the Claris FileMaker platform. This way, we transform your business into the digital age.

But what if there are legal contracts to be signed, you might ask? Can the Claris FileMaker platform do that?

Contrary to popular believe, FileMaker is not a system by itself anymore. It will integrate with other computer systems online, which can make your solution so much more meaningful. Today, Lesterius has partnered with Evidos, to allow our customers to further eliminate paper work from their workflow. Evidos allows to digitally sign legally binding contracts with confidence. Lesterius makes this work seamlessly from FileMaker.

Who is Evidos?

The name Evidos is derived from “Evidence in Online Services”. Based in The Netherlands,  they are rolling out their product throughout Europe. This not only means localised software, but a local team is ready to assist and further develop the product based on local opportunities. Evidos has agreements with local authorities like government agencies, banks etc. to enable identification of the signer. Have your contracts signed with confidence of who signs what, where and when.

Why Evidos?

There are other services that enable to sign a document digitally. Adobe PDFSign and DocuSign are such examples. The latter will integrate with FileMaker through both API and Claris Connect. Claris Connect allows for integration with internet services with minimal scripting. Lesterius can do this for you, if you wish. However, both lack signer identification like Evidos has and DocuSign might require a FM Connect subscription. This is mainly economical when using multiple integrations. Moreover, Evidos offers different pricing plans based on your needs. The entry-level pricing is much lower. Depending on your business rules, a Lesterius digital transformation consultant will propose the right service for your needs and make signing work.

How does it generally work?

Evidos provides a great introduction video which you can watch here.

Based on information already present in your FileMaker solution, the administrator can generate one or a set of documents to be signed. These will have special “moustache”-tags, to designate where will be signed by the contractor and/or your representative(s). Lesterius can help create these documents any way they have to look. Files already present outside FileMaker can be made to work, also.

With the document in place, the FileMaker interface allows to set all relevant options. When set, the file is then uploaded to the Evidos server by the click of a button. Evidos sends the file / contract / agreement to be signed. The signer will be guided through the entire process and can see his / her progress. After proof reading, the user is presented with selected verification methods. Signing in the box as one would do normally with a pen is possible, but not required. In this case, a tabled or iPhone would be convenient. After successful completion, you are notified and the signed document is placed in FileMaker. Evidos will retain your documents no longer than required.

Branding is part of the options and is done in the Evidos web interface. Passport verification is a separate product.

Interested?

Interested to take the next step of the digital transformation of your work flow? You will work more environmentally friendly and work will become easier. Lesterius consultants throughout Europe will be happy to help.