Mail Merge

What is Mail Merge?

Mail Merge allows you to choose a group of addresses (or other data) and merge it into a letter. For each address selected, a letter is printed. In this way, Mail Merge automates the creation of customized letters.  This is an ideal way to create response letters for applicants' resumes or thank-you notes to clients.  Feel free to create your own Mail Merge letters or modify the samples in the RTS databases

askSam's mail merge feature provides a simple way to use askSam's powerful selection capabilities to merge data with a letter.

Sample Mail Merge Letters

We've included sample Mail Merge letters in the the following files:

Applicant Profiles and Resume (resumes.ask)

     Ÿ Position Filled - sample letter to inform applicants the position applied for has been filled.  You will need to modify the letter to include the correct job position, your company name, your name, and your position.

     Ÿ Resume Thank You Letter - a sample Thank You letter to send to applicants.  You will need to modify  the letter to include your company name, your name, and your position.

Clients Database (clients.ask)

     Ÿ Sample Mail Merge Letter - a sample that allows you to enter your own text to clients.

Creating a Mail Merge Letter

To create a new Mail Merge letter in any file.

1.     Open the database containing the addresses you want to merge.

2.     Choose TOOLS ® MAIL MERGE.

The Mail Merge Dialog Box will appear.

3.     Enter a name for your Mail Merge Report and choose CREATE.

     The askSam Mail Merge Layout Editor will appear.

4.     Type your Letter. Drag fields from the Field List and place them in the appropriate      positions in your letter. (Field names can also be typed directly into the Letter).

NOTE: You can also use the Windows' Clipboard to paste a Letter from another askSam file or another application.

Example:

5.  After completing your letter, choose MAIL MERGE -> SELECT DOCUMENTS to determine which Documents (addresses) are merged into your Mail Merge Document. You can choose either:

COMMAND     DESCRIPTION

All     All Documents are merged with your letter.

Search     Lets you select which Documents are merged with the letter      by entering a search request.

Stored     Lets you select which Documents are merged with the letter Search     by choosing a stored search request. The Mail Merge      Document uses this stored request to select the Documents      that are merged.

6.     Choose MAIL MERGE -> SORT to set how the Mail Merge Documents will be sorted

7.     When your letter is complete, you can either preview it or print it by choosing: MAIL MERGE -> PREVEIW or MAIL MERGE -> PRINT.

8.     Choose MAIL MERGE -> CLOSE to exit the Mail Merge Editor.

Previewing a Mail Merge Letter

To view your Mail Merge letters before you print them:

1. Choose TOOLS -> MAIL MERGE

The Mail Merge Dialog Box will appear.

2. Select the name of the letter you wish to preview.

3. Choose the PREVIEW button to view the letters.

NOTE: It may take a considerable amount of time to output all the letters to your screen. Often, it makes more sense to enter a temporary search and preview only several letters. You can modify the search, by editing the Mail Merge letter and choosing MAIL MERGE -> SELECT DOCUMENTS.

Printing a Mail Merge Letter

Once you have created a Mail Merge letter, you can print it. To Print a Mail Merge letter:

1. Choose TOOLS -> MAIL MERGE.

The Mail Merge Dialog Box will appear.

2. Choose the name of the letter you wish to print.

3. Choose the PRINT button to print the letters.

Editing a Mail Merge Letter

To modify either the content of your Mail Merge letter, the Sort order, or the Documents (addresses) that are merged into the letter:

1. Choose TOOLS -> MAIL MERGE

The Mail Merge Dialog Box will appear.

2. Choose the name of the letter you wish to edit.

3. Choose the EDIT button.

You switch to the Mail Merge Editor, and the Mail Merge letter you selected is opened.

NOTES:

1. If you only have a few letters that you repeatedly send to various customers, you will want to have a Mail Merge Report for each letter.

2. If you have many different letters that you only occasionally merge with addresses, it may be better to store these letters in a separate askSam database of letters and paste them into a Merge Report in your address database when needed.

3.     There is no function to remember a subset of addresses to merge with a letter. You can, however, insert a code into each address you want to receive a letter (for example LTR-05/18/2001 ). When you print your merged letters, you can use this code as your selection criteria.

For more information on Mail Merge see chapter 12 of the askSam Users Guide.