Question
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Last activity: 26 May 2021 9:37 EDT
Resend email if no open within defined time period?
I am working with a customer that wants to know if the below is possible. Ideally, they would use adaptive analytics to target the right customers for their emails, so such a sequence would not be needed. However, they may be reluctant to give up this practice without evidence of lift from adaptive. I'd like to understand how this could work so I can provide the right guidance.
"For all emails, if a customer does not open an email within 72 hours, resend the email. If they still do not open the email after two weeks, send it again."
I thought this could be managed within an action flow, but there doesn't seem to be a way to query Interaction History within an action flow and make subsequent email sends dependent upon IH.
Could this be managed by creating separate actions for each send, with the eligibility criteria for each action including any IH data? This would triple the number of actions needed in the system for the email channel. This would also complicate adaptive results, with multiple adaptive models being created for what is essentially a single action.
I'd like to know if there's a better way, especially if I missed some functionality in the action flow that allows an IH query.
Accepted Solution
Updated: 6 Dec 2020 14:28 EST
Pegasystems Inc.
US
If you are using NBA Designer and trying to be customer centric, I would suggest the use of contact policies. Essentially suppress the action for 3 in Pending outcome. After the 3 days the action will become eligible again. Adding a second suppression for Opens that suppresses the action for the required number of days will ensure it will not be presented after 3 days, should the customer have actually opened it. This way, even if the customer has not opened the email, but there is something more important to discuss with the customer, the other action will win, instead of being very prescriptive about sending the email (via action flow semantics) again on day 3, even if from a consumer centric side of things, its not the best thing to do.
If you really must to it in a prescriptive approach within the action flow, it's a little harder to accomplish, but still possible. You would create a wait shape (or configure the email shape to wait) to sleep for 3 days. On expiry of the wait, call a function that calls a strategy which simply loads an IH Summary for the action with count of opens. If count is zero then follow up with another email, otherwise end the flow. Again, not a best practice as its not customer centric.
Intersystems Corporation
US
I have the same question and tried accomplishing it by adding a wait steps on the first email and then if no interaction send email again.
But doesn't seem to be working that way either.
Accepted Solution
Updated: 6 Dec 2020 14:28 EST
Pegasystems Inc.
US
If you are using NBA Designer and trying to be customer centric, I would suggest the use of contact policies. Essentially suppress the action for 3 in Pending outcome. After the 3 days the action will become eligible again. Adding a second suppression for Opens that suppresses the action for the required number of days will ensure it will not be presented after 3 days, should the customer have actually opened it. This way, even if the customer has not opened the email, but there is something more important to discuss with the customer, the other action will win, instead of being very prescriptive about sending the email (via action flow semantics) again on day 3, even if from a consumer centric side of things, its not the best thing to do.
If you really must to it in a prescriptive approach within the action flow, it's a little harder to accomplish, but still possible. You would create a wait shape (or configure the email shape to wait) to sleep for 3 days. On expiry of the wait, call a function that calls a strategy which simply loads an IH Summary for the action with count of opens. If count is zero then follow up with another email, otherwise end the flow. Again, not a best practice as its not customer centric.
Intersystems Corporation
US
@gaudc I was able to do this same scenario using the "response received" connector. I built multiple email flow with a wait in the first "send email" shape. I then set the connector from the first "send email" shape to "end" shape as "response received." the connector between the two email shapes is simply "wait expired"
