Introduction

A Chime Smart Plan is a robust lead nurturing feature that combines email drip campaigns with tasks to help you communicate with your leads on a continuous basis. If you choose to add a call/text package to your account, you can also build auto-texts into your campaigns.

Because Smart Plans are so feature-rich, it is best to describe how to use them via video feature review. Please watch the video below, but note that it does last 45 minutes as it was pulled from a hands-on training being given to Chime users. This will be a great resource get started with Chime Smart Plans:

 

List of FAQs

• (1) If there are text messages including in a Smart Plan and the user reaches their daily text limit for the day, does the Smart Plan pause or does the text simply fail to send?
• (2) How do I exclude current leads in the database from being added to Smart Plans?
• (3) Is there a way to send the first auto email/text during a specific time range?
• (4) Is there a way to resubscribe leads to Smart Plans if the lead has accidentally unsubscribed?
• (5) Is there a limit to the number of Smart Plan steps that can be created?
• (6) When building a behavior-based Smart Plan using certain triggering behaviors, will the Smart Plan be triggered every time a lead leaves a message, saves a listing, etc.? 
• (7) When editing a Smart Plan, what happens to Smart Plan-generated tasks that have not yet been marked as complete?
• (8) If my Smart Plan is set up to auto apply to leads but this isn't happening, what are some of the reasons this could be the case?
• (9) Why were texts/emails not sent out in the Smart Plan like they should have been?
• (10) Why is the Smart Plan paused with the error "Too many mail rejected"?
• (11) Can I copy/paste variables or do they have to be added via the drop-down menu?
• (12) If the system has auto-paused Smart Plans, is there a way to restart them?
• (13) Can I have one Smart Plan trigger multiple times for closing dates? 
• (14) How do I use email and text variables?
• (15) How to the "Conditional Questions" work?
• (16) Can I use a Smart Plan to send out a monthly email newsletter?
• (17) For application conditions, why can I choose multiple pipeline options for "when specified leads are newly created"?

 

(1) If there are text messages including in a Smart Plan and the user reaches their daily text limit for the day, does the Smart Plan pause or does the text simply fail to send?

The Smart Plan will auto-pause and the plan will then auto-restart the following day at the same time now that there are additional texts that have become available. For more information regarding text packages, see Add Call or Text Packages. 

 

(2) How do I exclude current leads in the database from being added to Smart Plans?

With this setting, the auto apply criteria for “whenever leads meet the specified conditions” has the following options to select from:

• include current applicable leads
• exclude current applicable leads

With the second option, all current leads that match the specified conditions can be skipped on this Smart Plan for situations when you have already been working those leads and do not want to start them on a new Smart Plan.

*Should you want to exclude more leads, the criteria can always be edited.

 

(3) Is there a way to send the first auto email/text during a specific time range?

This option is available for "Immediately" and "Wait ___ hour(s), ___ minute(s)." When selected, if the Smart Plan is triggered before the indicated time range, the auto email/text will be sent at the first available time within that range. If triggered after the indicated range, the auto email/text will be sent the following day at the first available time within the range.

 

(4) Is there a way to resubscribe leads to Smart Plans if the lead has accidentally unsubscribed?

To resubscribe for the lead, go to Lead Profile > Smart Plans > Click on the gear icon at the top right. You can turn on the switch to resubscribe the lead to Smart Plans.

 

(5) Is there a limit to the number of Smart Plan steps that can be created?

No, there is no limit to the number of Smart Plan steps that can be created in a Smart Plans nor the duration of how long the Smart Plan can last.

 

(6) When building a behavior-based Smart Plan using certain triggering behaviors, will the Smart Plan be triggered every time a lead leaves a message, saves a listing, etc.? 

No. The Smart Plan will only trigger one time based off the selected triggering behavior. It would only trigger again if it was deleted from a lead (must be done manually) and then the matching behavior occurred again. Also, keep in mind that the triggering behaviors are an OR relationship which means that if a lead leaves a message OR they request a showing OR they save a listing, the criteria here will be met. They do not have to do ALL of those (AND relationship) in order for the Smart Plan to trigger.

 

(7) When editing a Smart Plan, what happens to Smart Plan-generated tasks that have not yet been marked as complete?

If a Smart Plan is edited (changing the Smart Plan name, editing a step, etc.) while there are still tasks on leads (created by that Smart Plan) that have not yet been marked as complete, the pending task will be deleted and a new task (triggered by the same Smart Plan step) will be created. For example, a lead, Beth, has a Smart Plan applied to her. Step 6 of the Smart Plan has created a task, "Call lead to follow up," but this task has not yet been marked as complete. A Chime user/agent edits the Smart Plan resulting in the task "Call lead to follow up" being deleted but replacing it with Task XYZ (Step 6 of the Smart Plan). 

 

(8) If my Smart Plan is set up to auto apply to leads but this isn't happening, what are some of the reasons this could be the case?

There could be multiple reasons that could cause this. Consider the following:

(a) Lead Type. Make sure to review the auto apply criteria and that the lead type matches the lead that you expected the plan to apply to. If it does not matter, choose "All."

(b) Auto Apply Button. Make sure that the auto apply button is turned on. This will indicate that the Smart Plan is set up to automatically apply to a lead. If it's not turned on, the plan will not automatically apply.

(c) Application Conditions. Review the application conditions

- "when specified leads are newly created" = When the lead is brand new and created within Chime, this will trigger. You can use this to set up in combination with source/tag, etc. as well.

- "when specified leads have certain behaviors" = The plan will trigger when the lead has matched certain behaviors on your Chime IDX website.

- "when specified leads are reassigned" = When the lead is reassigned to another individual on the team. Manually assigning/reassigning to any role of the lead will trigger the application of this condition.

- "whenever leads meet the specified conditions" = The plan will trigger when the lead matches the conditions that are selected. This feature is mainly designed for existing leads.

(d) Time. Be sure to wait some time to see if the Smart Plan applies to a lead--especially if it is triggering based off of site behaviors. The system might need a few minutes to catch up and match the website activity with a Smart Plan trigger.

 

(9) Why were texts/emails not sent out in the Smart Plan like they should have been?

Consider the following potential reasons:

(a) Check the text package. In most cases, the agent/user has reached the daily text limit so the auto texts failed to send. Normally, if this happens, the auto-texts will be sent during the following day to continue the Smart Plan.

(b) Check subscription status (see Email Subscription Status). If the lead is unsubscribed from Smart Plans, the emails will not be sent out.

(c) Email status. If the lead does not have an email address or the email address is marked as "bounced" or "invalid," the auto email will be skipped in the Smart Plan and it will continue to the next step automatically.

(d) Phone status. If the lead does not have a phone number or the phone number is marked as "invalid," the auto text will be skipped in the Smart Plan and the next step will continue automatically. 

 

(10) Why is the Smart Plan paused with the error "Too many mail rejected"?

This error would appear on a lead profile, under Smart Plans, and directly below the Smart Plan name.

This pause reason is because the agent/user has too many bounced emails (see Bounced Emails). This agent/user will have their status marked as "bounced" and then the Smart Plans will pause automatically.

• This Smart Plan will need to be enabled manually when paused
• Wait two hours before reactivating
• We also recommend checking the lead's email address because if it's not valid, it will likely cause the same issue to happen again.

 

(11) Can I copy/paste variables or do they have to be added via the drop-down menu?

Yes, you can copy the variables as long as they are in the exact same format as those from the drop-down menu. For example, "#lead_name#" is the right format while "Lead_Name#" and "#lead-name#" and "{lead_name}" are all wrong. Use the drop-down and copy/paste directly from that example to be sure they will still work.

 

(12) If the system has auto-paused Smart Plans, is there a way to restart them?

Yes, the Smart Plans can be resumed (a) using a built-in mass-resume feature or (b) manually resuming from a lead profile. Both cases are outlined in-detail below.

(a) Situations where Smart Plans can be Mass-Resumed

• The assignee is inactive: "Auto paused due to the assignee's account being inactive"
• Auto-paused due to lack of variable data, especially when using auto email or auto text tasks
• Auto-paused due to an inactive website or lack of website if there are website-specific variables being used
• Auto-paused due to system reasons: "Auto paused due to system exceptions. Please contact customer support and provide the lead's name for diagnosis" or "Auto paused due to delivery service exceptions. Please complete the task manually to continue the smart plan."
• Auto-paused due ti invalid email address or phone number
• Too many emails have bounced, the service will stop working for a two hour period and the Smart Plans will pause with the reason: "Too many mail rejected" (see above)

In these situations, you can resume the Smart Plans by navigating to Settings > Features > Smart Plans > Resume:

You would then have the option to see how many plans are paused and how many leads they were applied to. You can then resume the plans by clicking the "Resume" button:

You can also reference the "Log" to see a history of plans that have been resumed:

 

(b) Situations where Smart Plans can be Manually Resumed

• Manually-paused: "This plan was paused manually."
• Paused due to Smart Plan setting:
• "Auto paused since the lead replied to emails"
• "Auto paused since the lead texts a Chime number"
• "Auto paused because an outbound call was logged as 'Talked'"
• "Auto paused since the lead calls"
• "Auto paused due to pipeline change"
• The daily text limit has been reached: "You have exceeded the daily limit. This auto text is scheduled to be sent out at the same time tomorrow."
• Too many emails have bounced, the service will stop working for a two hour period and the Smart Plans will pause with the reason: "Too many mail rejected" (see above)
• The assignee is inactive: "Auto paused due to the assignee's account being inactive"
• Auto-paused due to lack of variable data, especially when using auto email or auto text tasks
• Auto-paused due to an inactive website or lack of website if there are website-specific variables being used
• Auto-paused due to system reasons: "Auto paused due to system exceptions. Please contact customer support and provide the lead's name for diagnosis" or "Auto paused due to delivery service exceptions. Please complete the task manually to continue the smart plan."

To manually resume a Smart Plan, navigate to a lead profile > Smart Plans > Paused Plans > Resume:

 

(13) Can I have one Smart Plan trigger multiple times for closing dates? 

Yes, this is possible but only when using "Recurring Plans" and selecting "Closed Date" and then adding a transaction for each time you want it to repeat. 

Here is where the closed date would appear on a transaction as displayed on a lead profile:

If set up correctly, every time a transaction has a "Closed Date" that is added and the other criteria is met, the Smart Plan will trigger (potentially multiple times if there are multiple transactions). 

If you want to have this plan applied to leads that currently have transactions that match the criteria, you will you will want to turn this option on. However, in most scenarios, you will want the opposite so be sure to exclude current applicable leads.

 

(14) How do I use email and text variables?

There are two important variables that need to be defined here:

• buyer_inquired_listing_addr. The address of the property that is associated with the lead's initial inquiry.
• trigger_behavior_listing_addr. The address of the related listing when the Smart Plan is triggered by leads requesting showings, saving listings or viewing a listing multiple times. Please note that this will only work when a Smart Plan is set to "auto apply" based on criteria. This will not work if manually added to a lead.

Lead Variables can be found here when building an email template directly in a Smart Plan:

More information regarding lead and agent variables can be found in this article: Email and Text Variables. 

 

(15) How to the "Conditional Questions" work?

With conditional questions, you can choose two different actions depending on whether the answer to the question is YES or NO. You choose the "Yes" action at the left and the "No" action to the right. 

In the example above, you might be asking how we know whether the lead is a first time home buyer or not. If they completed the questionnaire on your website, this is likely a question that they have answered. If provided via a third party source, we can also bring that in on occasion (but not always). If you ever want to manually add this info on a lead, navigate to a Lead Profile and click on option to Edit Details:

Then, scroll down and you will find the fields that respond to most of these questions:

*IMPORTANT: If the field is blank and therefore the answer to the conditional question is "Unknown," the Smart Plan will simply go down the NO path.

 

(16) Can I use a Smart Plan to send out a monthly email newsletter?

Though the product is not designed for this as the main purpose, it is possible. Typically, a newsletter is related to the month that you are currently in so there is really only one way within Chime to make sure the most current content is being sent out. 

Add a new Smart Plan and double-click on Specific Date:

Add your plan name, target lead type, etc. and then make sure to choose the Recurring option and change to monthly. You can choose when you want it to end or leave the box blank if you want this to be ongoing. You will also want to choose Application Conditions so that you can automate the addition of your leads to this newsletter--maybe consider triggering the Smart Plan based off of a group so as soon as a lead is added to that group they are now in the Smart Plan.

You will only create one step to this Smart Plan and then you will need to come in and manually edit that step with the new content you want to send out every month. So, choose Auto Email and then put together the content that you want to send out. 

Once you turn this on and have it applied to leads, it will trigger on the indicated day of the month. If you do not edit the content, it will send the same content out every single month. So, you will need to create a reminder to yourself (we recommend pre-defining some time on your calendar on a regular basis) to come in and edit the email content. As long as you have edited the email content, it will send out the new stuff that you have put together once the trigger day comes around.

 

Alternative Option

An alternative to using Chime for newsletters is to consider setting up a newsletter campaign at MailChimp and then creating a trigger within Chime so that as soon as you add a lead to a group it sends them to the mailing list for MailChimp. For more information, see Connecting MailChimp to Chime. Keep in mind that requires a setup via Zapier.

 

(17) For application conditions, why can I choose multiple pipeline options for "when specified leads are newly created"?

Most every lead that enters the Chime CRM database will start in the "New Leads" pipeline stage. However, the ability to choose other pipeline stages for new leads is available because some sources could direct a lead to a different stage other than the "New Leads" one. Examples include leads sent to a specific stage via Chime's Open API or leads that are brought in via a CSV import (see Lead Import (via CSV/Spreadsheet)) and have a specific pipeline stage they are sent to. In those examples, they will be new leads, but may not be sent to the "New Leads" pipeline stage.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@chimeinc.com> or by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557.