Sales Assist
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why should I participate in the Sales Assist email marketing campaign?
A: Herff Jones is providing a cohesive digital marketing campaign at no cost to you. You can decide when to start and when to stop the campaign to complement your school’s individual yearbook sales strategies.
Q: How much does Sales Assist cost?
A: Participation is free of charge. (Yes, free!)
Q: How will this campaign affect my ability to collect in-school orders?
A: It won’t! You can still collect in-school orders like you always have. Simply record those sales in eBusiness on a regular basis to keep your non-buyers list current. This will ensure each email is deployed with an updated and accurate non-buyers list.
Q: Most of my sales happen at school. How can Sales Assist benefit me?
A: Email campaigns keep your message on a parent’s radar. Even if parents choose to make purchases through the school, the email campaign will remind them to do so. And, soon after you enter their sale in eBusiness, their name will come off the email list.
Q: How do I enroll?
A: Your sales representative will complete a quick form to get you started in the program.
Q: What do I have to provide in order to enroll?
A: You need to have a student roster and parent email list uploaded into eBusiness. (We’re happy to help you get it uploaded.) We also have a quick resource here to help you get started.
Q: Can I customize my emails?
A: Yes! Each email includes your school’s name, and you can add a logo or a mascot, if you wish. Some emails include the student’s first name. (Such as: “Don’t forget to buy John’s yearbook.) The messaging of the emails is set ahead of time and matches the time of year or the call to action.
Q: What are the advantages of using Sales Assist?
A: Sales Assist takes a major burden off of you and your school. Sales from the email run through our online Yearbook Order Center, so if you choose, you can sell all of your yearbooks online. The messages will include your school’s name, so parents know it’s coming from your school. All you have to do is choose start and end dates and make sure your in-school sales are entered on a timely basis (if you choose to accept payments directly from parents). Participating schools have seen their book sales increase with each send, and once a parent purchases a yearbook, they will no longer receive messages.
Q: When are emails sent?
A: Once you choose your start date, emails will follow the email send calendar. Please note, enrollment may take approximately a week, and then your campaign will begin on the next scheduled send date. All of the emails send readers to the Yearbook Order Center to make a purchase. If you do in-school sales, please note that your eBusiness records need to be updated two days before each email send date to ensure that recent purchasers are not getting emails.
Q: Can I choose how many emails are sent?
A: You can select which deployment will be your first in the campaign and which will be your last. You are not able to pick and choose deployment dates at this time. Herff Jones has scheduled the email sends using digital marketing best practices. The frequency of sends is conservative compared to other retailers that use email marketing campaigns. Additionally, parents who wish to stop receiving future emails about the yearbook can opt out of the campaign.
Q: What are re-sends?
A: Approximately four emails will be re-sent to your non-buyers, but only to those who did not open the original email. This is a common and effective way to remind potential buyers of the initial interest in purchasing. Remember that parents can opt out at any time.
Q: Do the emails have purchase-by dates associated with them?
A: Because life is complicated enough, emails don’t include a specific date. Their call-to-action is simply “buy now” or something similar. The button at the bottom of each email takes parents to the Yearbook Order Center.
Q: How was the email schedule selected?
A: Email scheduling and dates were carefully selected based on holidays, school sales calendars, and the most common pricing trends we see in our schools nationwide. We follow digital marketing best practices to ensure that your yearbook sales are successful.
Q: When is the best time for me to join the campaign?
A: If your book delivers in the spring, it’s best to join as soon as you can get a student list from your administration and once students are all registered to start the year. If your book delivers in the summer or fall, consider joining by November to take advantage of the holiday sends.
Q: What if we sell more books than we ordered.
A: Sales Assist customers have their own deadline to set the number of books they order in mid-January That’s why we set a date for the January series of emails. Talk to your rep if this is a concern and definitely check your sales in January.
Q: What if parents say they are not getting our messages?
A: Our email delivery system uses send-time optimization. This helps ensure that parents will receive the email when they are most likely to read it. It also means that emails are delivered at different times over a 48-hour period. If a parent’s email is in your list correctly and they are not receiving the message, they can check their spam or junk filter and make sure to select Herff Jones as an approved sender.
Q: How can I convince my school administration to provide me with parent emails?
A: There are so many advantages to your school, and the most obvious is ensuring you sell as many yearbooks as possible. This is just one way Herff Jones helps ensure your yearbook program is profitable for your school. Sales Assist is provided at no cost to you. If your school administration is worried about privacy issues, we have that covered as well. Provide them with our FERPA information sheet (or PIPEDA sheet if you’re in Canada.) Download them at herff.ly/FERPA or herff.ly/PIPEDA.
Q: How do I stop my Sales Assist campaign?
A: Contact your sales representative or customer service associate (CSA) and they’ll take care of it for you.
