Chasing documents
Proposals, contracts and questionnaires all suffer the same way: you send them, the client means to deal with it, and nothing happens.
CoreHue chases for you.
Where it's set up
Settings → Reminders, under Document reminders, alongside your booking and invoice reminders.
Proposals, Contracts and Questionnaires each have their own switch and their own schedule, so you can chase contracts harder than questionnaires.
When reminders go out
Two columns per document type.
After sending. 3, 7, 14, 21 or 30 days after the document went out. Tick as many as you want.
Before expiry, on proposals and contracts, or Before close date on questionnaires. 7, 3 or 1 day before.
That second column only does anything when the document has a date on it. The page says so under each one. Set no expiry and only the after-sending reminders run.
Turning a section on with nothing ticked selects a sensible starting set: 3 days after sending, 7 days after sending, and 1 day before the deadline.
When chasing starts
Only once the document has actually gone out. A draft is never chased, and neither is a proposal or contract that's still sitting unsent.
Any reminder whose moment has already passed is skipped rather than sent late.
They stop on their own
As soon as the client acts, chasing stops. Nobody who has signed gets asked to sign.
They also stop when the document is cancelled, declined, voided or expired, when the contact has no email address, and when you turn that document type's reminders off.
Pausing one document
Every sent document shows a small Reminders control in its header. Open it and you can Pause chasing for that one document, then Resume later. Your settings for everything else don't change.
Pausing asks you to confirm, and tells you that your reminder settings for everything else stay as they are. Resuming is immediate.
Pause when you've had the conversation another way. If a client has told you they're signing on Monday, you don't want an automatic nudge on Sunday.
The control also tells you where things stand. It says when the next reminder goes out and who it goes to. It also says if automatic reminders are off for this type, if there's no contact email on file, if every reminder time has already passed, or if the last one couldn't be sent. A cog in the same panel jumps to Reminder settings.
Sending one yourself
Send reminder, in the same control, opens a composer with a subject and message already written. Everything is editable before you send, and Use template drops in a saved email template.
A long-overdue contract on a big job is usually better handled with a real message than a scheduled one.
Two things worth knowing:
- A manual reminder silences the automatic ones for 48 hours, so you won't accidentally send two in a day
- If you sent one within the last hour, CoreHue asks Send reminder again? and tells you who got the last one and when
Send reminder only appears when the document can actually take one. It's hidden on anything signed, answered, cancelled or expired, and on anything with no email address to send to.
Why bother automating it
It happens. Manual chasing is the first thing to go in a busy week, and it's the week you most need the deposit.
It's less awkward. A scheduled reminder doesn't feel personal to either side.
It's faster. Most unsigned documents aren't objections, they're forgetfulness. A nudge at the right moment resolves the majority.
Suggested schedules
Contracts: 3 days after sending, then 7, plus 1 day before expiry. Contracts hold up bookings, so chase them properly.
Proposals: 3 and 7 days after sending, plus 3 days before expiry. Beyond that you're pestering. Pick up the phone instead.
Questionnaires: 7 days after sending, plus 3 days before the close date. Less urgent unless you need the answers to work.