Sending Happy Birthday messages with SMS Automation

Let see how we can wish all our customers a happy birthday to make them feel special using the power of SMS automation. 

Setting up the Date of Birth Field

The Modules associated to Burst SMS are: 

• LEAD                           
  
• CONTACT
  
• POTENTIAL 
  

For the purpose of this demonstration we will be using the Contacts module. 

First lets make sure that your CRM has the field to trigger the SMS included in the contacts Module. 

1. Click on Settings in the top right corner. 

3. Click the Contacts module from the list.

4. Under Layouts click the Standard option.

5. You should now be on the module customisation page. Drag a new Date field into your layout and call it 'Upcoming Birthday'  

6. Once you press save your contacts module will now have a 'Upcoming Birthday' field. 

 7. For your Contacts you will need to set the 'Upcoming Birthday' to the Contact's coming birthday date. 

Setting up the Happy Birthday Template

Now that you've have the Date of Birth field we're going to make a SMS template that will wish its recipient a wonderful birthday. Here's how we do it. 

1. Make your way to the SMS Templates module that can be found in the top banner. (Exit from the setting menu if you are on CRM Plus). You may need to click the '...' option to find it if you have a lot of modules. 

 2. Now click on the '+' sign to make a new Template.

3. You will be directed to a place where you can enter your SMS template details. While it is possible to fill things out here we recommend our new Widget system which will guide you through the process and help with filling everything out correctly. Click the Generate Custom SMS Body to access the Widget. 

 6. The last step is to enter the Happy birthday message itself. 

Setting up the Webhook

Alright, now that we have a SMS template we need a way to call it on demand. Webhooks are the simple answer for that. Here's how to set one up.  

Step -1 Go to Setup > Marketplace > All > Burst SMS Extension Setting and copy the Personalized SMS URL And paste it to a notepad; For better understanding, divide the URL as shown below (Picture- 02)

                                                                                                                              Picture - 01


                                                                                                                               Picture - 02


URL to Notify: https://platform.zoho.com/crm/v2/functions/burstsms.sendpersonalizedsms/actions/execute?

URL Parameters
Parameter Name: recordIds
Parameter Type: Leads
Parameter Value: Lead ID

Custom Parameters 
auth_type: apikey
zapikey: 1001.9571e9e00debbd819432dd346edf2f9f.b622444c3dabaf532d38d5eb10f2a1eb
moduleName: Contacts
smsTemplateId: <Your Template ID>

Step -2
Go to CRM Setup > Automation > Actions > Webhooks > Configure Webhook

Put the values in your webhook as the following picture; Please be mindful, you need to change the Module name and SMSTemplateID as per your requirement rest will be the same


                                                                                           Picture - 3

Save the webhook settings.

Please be advised, the Personalized SMS Url can change with Burst SMS version up-gradation, so you required to reconfigure after the version up-gradation.

Please make sure -

1. The record is owned by an activated user
2. The "Modified By" field is not missing from the module

The record is owned by a activate user -

Check that the 'Modified By' field has not been removed. This field is needed for Burst SMS to run. 

If the field is indeed missing, here's how to add it back in. 

1. Click on CRM settings.

2. Under 'Customization', click 'Modules and Fields'

3. From the list, pick the module that requires the 'Modified By' field. We'll use the Contact Module as an example here. 

4. Pick a layout that will contain the 'Modified By' field. Burst SMS requires that at least one layout has the field.

5. In the layout editing field, find the 'Modified By' field under the 'Unused Items' section in the sidebar. 

6. Drag the 'Modified By' field into the layout. Click save once this is done. 

Once the 'Modified By' field restores the 'Send SMS' widget should operate as usual. You need to add the 'Modified By' to the Lead and contact module both to send SMS successfully.  

7. Just like that, you've setup a webhook that when called will tell Burst SMS to send an SMS to the contact using your selected SMS template.

Now, how do we call this Happy birthday webhook and how do we tell it which contact to send to? 

Setting up the Workflow

In Zoho CRM, workflow is how your can easily trigger actions and tasks when certain criteria are met. Doesn't this sound like the perfect way to call our webhook? So how exactly do we set up a workflow?

1. Head over to the settings page once more and click the 'Workflow Rules' under Automation. 

2. In this section click the 'Create Rule' button 

3. Select 'Contacts' for module and fill in a rule name. If you wish, you may fill in a description so you can make a note of what the workflow rule does for future reference. When you're done hit 'Next'. 

4. The first thing to be done is to setup how this workflow is triggered. Select the execution time to be 'On a Date/Time'. 

5. Choose 'Upcoming Birthday' for the Execution field section and then set choose 'On' for the execution date. 

6. Choose an 'Execute at' time. This time will determine when the SMS is sent out. 

7. Choose Recur as 'Every Year' then click 'Next' 

8. Select the 'All Contacts' option as the condition and press next. 

 

9. Under 'Instant Actions' select the 'Webhook' option.

10. Select the webhook that you made earlier and click Associate. 

11. Now click Save to save your workflow.

The End?

Congratulations, you've successfully setup a Happy Birthday SMS that will automatically trigger on an Upcoming Birthday field and repeat each year. 

While doing this you might have thought up of certain scenarios that SMS automation could help with. As long as you're selecting the right Modules along the way the setup should be roughly the same. Go out and give it your own shot.