FAQ

1. Free Trial

• How does it work? Our trial last 30 days and is absolutely free. You won’t be asked for a credit card to sign up for the trial and you can cancel at any time no questions asked. During the trial, you’ll be able to try out all of the advanced features in our Unleashed package. At the end of the trial we’ll be in touch to see if you would like to upgrade to a Free or Paid account, but you can walk away at any time if you decide it’s not for you
• b. Can I upgrade part way through the trial? Be our guest. And if you do we’ll give you an extra 10,000 email credits to welcome you onboard. That’s in addition to your standard monthly email credit allowance and is worth £25.
• Will I automatically be billed at the end of the trial? Absolutely not. We respect that you have a choice after your free trial ends. Since we don’t ask for any card or bank details at the start of the trial, we would be physically unable to bill you anyway. But that’s not the point, we want you to actively choose to become an intouchcrm customer because it’s right for you and your business.
• Do I need to provide a credit card to qualify for the trial? Nope. You only need provide us with some basic information such as name and email address. The trial lasts for 30 days and is completely obligation and payment free.
• How long does the trial last? You will have access to our Unleashed account and all its features for a full 30 days.
• Can I extend my free trial? Whilst we can’t run trials indefinitely, we are always open to extending your trial if it will help, so the best thing is to contact us and we’ll see what we can do.
• Is there a limit to the number of users that can have a free trial? Nope. Fill your boots.
• Are all features and functionality available as part of the free trial? Yes, you’ll get full access to our Unleashed package which means you can try out the full range of features available.
• Can I send email campaigns during my free trial? Yes you can. You’ll automatically get 5,000 email credits to use as part of your trial.
• What happens when the free trial ends? We’ll be in touch shortly before the end of your trial to remind you that its nearly over. You can then decide whether to upgrade to either a free or paid account.

2. Subscription & Users

• Can I upgrade or downgrade my subscription? Yes, we want you to have the right account package for your business. If you wish to upgrade, you can do so at any time, just let us know by contacting our Customer Support team. If you wish to downgrade, you can do so but we just ask for 30 days notice for the changes to take effect. Please note that any upgrades or downgrades apply to all users within an organisation, it’s not possible to have some users on one account, eg Free, and others on another, eg Premium.
• Can I have different users on different subscriptions? We try to be as flexible as possible but currently all users must be on the same level of account subscription.
• Are there a minimum and maximum number of users? This varies depending on the account package you choose. Unleashed account holders enjoy unlimited users, our Premium account has a maximum of 20 users and our Free for Life account a maximum of 2. There is no minimum number of users.
• Can I stay on a free account forever? If you’d like to yes! But the really good stuff including features such as autoresponders, webforms and Google Analytics integration are only available with either a Premium or Unleashed account.
• How and when will I be billed? You can pay via a debit or credit card that will be billed on the same day each month or via monthly direct debit. When you first subscribe, we will arrange everything for you.
• How do I cancel my subscription? We’ll be sorry to see you go and if there is anything we can do that will help to change your mind, please let us know here. Otherwise you can cancel your account and subscription at any time, we just ask for 30 days notice.
• Is there a minimum term contract? No we don’t believe in tying people into something they don’t want. There are no contracts to sign. Guaranteed. All we ask is that if you decide to close your account, you let us know 30 days before hand so that we can cancel your subscription and do all the usual administrative tasks involved. Hopefully you’ll agree we couldn’t be fairer than that.
• How many users can I have? Unleashed account holders can have an unlimited number of users. Premium account holders can have a maximum of 20 and our Free for Life account has a maximum of 2.

3. Features & Functionality

• Can I import contacts & information from Outlook and Excel? Yep very easily! With intouchcrm you can import contacts from a CSV file (a version of an Excel spreadsheet).
• Can I import data from other crm systems? Most CRM systems will allow you to download your data into a CSV file so that you can take a backup, or upload into a different system/programme. Once you’ve done this you can very easily upload the information into intouchcrm and you’re ready to go.
• Can I export data from the system or take it with me if I decide to close my account? Yes and yes. Your data belongs to you, not us. Think of us as a bank that looks after the data all the time you have an account with us. But any time you want to withdraw that data or take it elsewhere, it is absolutely free for you to do so, instantly.
• Can I access intouchcrm on my iphone, smartphone or from my laptop at home? Yes, since you don’t have to download or install expensive software with intouchcrm, you can access it from any device that has an internet connection – your laptop, your office pc, your smartphone or ipad. The choice is yours.
• Can I access intouchcrm when I’m abroad? Yes, you can access intouchcrm from anywhere there is an internet connection, so in the airport, on your holidays (if you want to!) or if you’re on a business trip.
• Do I need to download any software? None at all. Intouchcrm is available over any internet connection saving you time, hassle and money as there is no software to purchase or download.
• Can I store documents in the system? Yes, you can upload and store documents and link them to a particular contact or organisation so they are instantly accessible to you or any member of your team each time you access that contact record. Click here to find out more.
• Can I include attachments with email campaigns We’re asked this all the time. And until now we’ve had to say no due to the high risk of your email being caught in spam filters as they tend to be suspicious of high volumes of emails and attachments sent from one source. But happily we now have a solution.
  
  Now intouchcrm users can add a link (exactly like a hyperlink) to the body of their email copy, that when clicked on takes the reader through to the saved document in a new pop up window, thus bypassing the whole spam filter/ISP issue. It’s a very simple solution but one that is giving intouchcrm users more flexibility in their marketing campaigns.
• Can I link a particular contact with an organisation or group? Yes you can. So each time you or a member of your team accesses that contact or organisation’s record, the latest documents are instantly available. Click here for more information.
• Can the system send me reminders about tasks, meetings & appointments? The intouchcrm Shared Calendar takes care of scheduling and organising your meetings and appointments, including email reminders sent direct to your email inbox. You can also link your calendar with the Taskpad.
• Can I view a contact’s Twitter feed within intouchcrm? You can. Within the contact’s profile on intouchcrm, you can add that person’s Twitter id and then the system will pull through their last five tweets.
• Can I upload information from web forms? Absolutely. Once you have an intouchcrm account you simply use the system to create the webform that goes onto your website. When a contact fills in the form, for example when they sign up to your monthly email newsletter, all of their information is automatically recorded into intouchcrm as a new contact record.
• Can I preview an email campaign before hitting send? Yes, once you’ve created your email you can email yourself or a nominated email address to check out how it will look to your contacts. You can then edit until you are happy with it.
• Can I add a Forward to a Friend link with my email marketing campaigns? Yes you can. Intouchcrm helps our users to spread the word about their company and brand a little further with our Forward to a Friend feature. With the addition of a simple tag into the body of the email, users can now invite recipients to forward the message to their circle of contacts and friends increasing the number of people who see your email newsletter, promotions or announcements. Intouchcrm also tracks who forwards the communication in the campaign reporting area so you can see exactly how many times it has been forwarded on and by whom. Another great feature in intouchcrm that helps users to promote their own business.
• Can I purchase additional email & SMS credits? Yes if you find you need additional credits you can easily purchase more by topping up via your homepage. We also offer discounts for larger volume purchases. Click here to see more information.
• Do you offer additional services such as webinars and integration with other software? Yes we run regular webinars for Premium and Unleashed account holders across a variety of topics that will help you get the best out of intouchcrm, CRM in general and of course email marketing. Intouchcrm integrates fully with Kashflow and Google Analytics. Click here for more information.
• Can I upload my own email template? You can upload your own email template, choose one of the pre-loaded designs already in intouchcrm or ask us to create one for you. Our designers will create a design bespoke to your brand and business. Click here for more information.
• Can you create a personalised email template design for me? We can! Our designers can create an email template to your requirements on the provision of a brief. You can add your own logo, colours and layout before adding the necessary coding and then optimising it for sending to a variety of email clients. Prices start at just £75 plus VAT. Click here to see the full range of options.

4. Security

• Can I export all my data to create a back up? Of course. We understand peace of mind is essential when it comes to valuable customer data and because of that intouchcrm and all the information within it is stored securely on dedicated servers hosted by Rackspace, the world’s leader in hosting and storing secure data. But if you wish to also hold your own back up data, you can easily export information at any time.
• How do I know my data is safe and secure? intouchcrm and all the information within it, including your valuable customer information is securely stored on dedicated servers hosted by Rackspace, the world’s leader in hosting and storing secure data.
• How do you back up my data, where and when? We have several servers around the UK hosted by the world’s leading hosting company, Rackspace (who also look after HSBC amongst many other organisations). At Rackspace we have main servers as well as several test and backup servers so rest assured your data is in very safe hands and backed up regularly.
• What do you do with my personal information, such as credit card & personal details? The good news is we don’t do anything with them. Your personal information is only, and we mean only, used to manage your account with us. So for instance we retain your card details to take payment for your monthly subscription. We use your email address to contact you with important information and updates. But that is it. We never give or sell your personal information or data to third parties. That is a cast iron guarantee.

5. Training, Support & Best Practice

• Do you provide online training, webinars etc? All account holders have access to our comprehensive Knowledgebase providing lots of information on different aspects of the system including how-to videos, best practice and technical advice. If you’d like more specific training that is tailored to suit your needs we can provide one on one online training at a cost of £40 per hour. And if you feel you need something more face to face we can also come to you for either a full or half day of training. Contact us for more information and to discuss your requirements.
• What technical support do you provide? Your first port of call is our Knowledgebase that includes lots of information on the system including how-to videos, best practice and technical advice. If you still require additional technical help, all account holders have access to an online ticketing system that allows you to raise issues and ask questions to our UK based support team. We can also arrange to have phone support added to your account for as little as £5 per user, per month.
• Do I have to pay for support? All account holders can access our online Knowledgebase for free. We also have an online ticketing system that you can use to raise issues and ask questions of our UK based support team. The online ticketing system is available free of charge to all Premium and Unleashed account holders. Premium and Unleashed users can also opt for additional phone support, for as little as £5 per user per month.
• Where are your support teams based? The intouchcrm team is based in sunny Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset. If you call us or contact us, rest assured you are calling us in our offices in the UK and not an outsourced call centre somewhere. We work with customers all over the UK and in many countries across the world including China, Poland and Germany.
• What is double opt in and why should I worry about it? Double opt in is a term used to describe the degree of permission you have to contact someone. Single opt in means that a contact may at some point have given you their details and agreed for you to contact them with news or information. Double opt in usually involves that same contact confirming for a second time that they agreed to hear from you. Typically double opt in works as follows:
  1. Contact signs up to receive emails via your website, at a tradeshow etc.
  2. You then send a confirmation email to contact asking them to click on a link that confirms they have opted to subscribe to your communications.
  3. You now have double opt in permission and are legitimately able to add them to your future communications.
  4. Every communication you send must have the option for the contact to unsubscribe at any time.
  
  Double opt in ensures that you are legitimately contacting prospective and existing customers and therefore you’re significantly reducing the risk of being identified as a spammer or your communications ending up in junk folders. It shows your contacts that you are a credible, genuine and trustworthy company who respects the privacy of its customers.
• How do I avoid the spam or junk folder? There are a number of things you can do to avoid the dreaded junk or spam folder. Avoiding the use of certain words and symbols in email subject lines, not creating the text in Word and then copying and pasting it into the email editor are examples of what you should pay attention to. Our Guide to Avoiding the Spam Folder is available to all intouchcrm account holders.
• Can I purchase email lists to create campaigns? You can but we beg you not to. We certainly don’t ever purchase lists and we advise our customers very strongly to do the same. The problem with purchased lists is that the contacts on those lists have not given their specific permission to be contacted by you. And you therefore increase the risk of your emails hitting their junk folders, or even worse they will actively unsubscribe from your communications and report you as spam to their ISP. It doesn’t take long for an ISP to start blacklisting email addresses that they feel are actively spamming contacts and once that has happened you are unable to communicate with anyone, including your active customers who do actually want to hear from you. There are many ways you can build up your contact list to make sure you get your message out there, but purchased lists is not one of them.
• Why do I need to include a plain text version? Many of your contacts may not have enabled their email client to accept HTML emails and especially from a company they may be hearing from for the first time. In order for us to get the best delivery rate for you, we have to jump through a few hoops with the ISPs (internet service providers), and one of their requirements is to add a plain text version of your email campaign. This means that you can be sure that your email will be delivered whatever settings the contact has enabled.

6. General

• Does intouchcrm offer a white label version? We do have a white version of intouchcrm which we offer to selected partners to resell to their customer base. Please contact us for more information.
• Do you have an affiliate programme? Yes we do and we have a number of people earning great monthly income from just recommending intouchcrm to colleagues and friends. All you need to do is register here for an Affiliate code. Once you start to drive sign ups, you will receive 20% of the monthly fee they sign up for which will be sent to you each month. A great way to earn income and drive traffic to and from your site.
• Do you have an API? We are in the process of finalising our API and as soon as it is available we will add information to our website.
• I want to personalise the look and feel of my intouchcrm It’s very simple to upload your own company logo onto intouchcrm. In addition you can customise your homepage and Contacts page to include the information you want to see regularly.

If you can't find the answer to your question feel free to contact us here.