How do I write a response letter to a contact (Quick Letter)?

If you need to write a unique letter for one contact, or if you need to take an existing letter and make a few edits for one contact, you will write a Quick letter. Quick letters are assigned and edited on the specific contact's correspondence activity.

To assign a quick response, start by viewing the incoming message. Select the row to see the message appear on the right.

1. To assign and edit a letter, click the Assign link just below the message text to expand the "Assign" window.
   
2. You will see all of the information pertaining to the activity such as interest code, in type, description, and assigned staff member. You can change any of this information if desired. To begin setting up your quick letter, select Quick as the letter type.
3. If you plan to draft a letter form scratch, then don't select a letter. If you want to start with an existing letter and make edits to it, then click Add a letter to type in the letter code. (You can also select Search for letter to search all of your existing form letters by code or description.)
   Selecting a form letter to edit as a quick letter will not affect the original form letter stored in the Letters module. If the form letter has fill-in fields, they will display just below the letter code. Fill in the fields before going to the next step.
4. Click Edit Letter button at the top of the panel to open Microsoft Word.
5. Edit your document.
6. When you've made your edits, close Word, and click Yes to save.
7. You will be returned to the activity details where you will see several buttons at the top of the right panel. 
   To publish your changes, you will need to click Update Letter.
   NOTE: Only one user can edit a letter at a time. If you attempt to edit a letter someone else is currently editing, you will not be able to unless you click the Cancel Edit Letter button, which will cancel any changes they may have made.
   Every time you edit the letter, you will need to click Update Letter so that every version will be tracked and published.
8. At this point, if your office uses workflow, you could assign the letter to another staff member or initiate workflow. If you're ready to print or email the response letter, click Send. If your out type is set to "Print," your letter will print out. If your out type is set to "Email," the email will be sent to the contact.
   NOTE: There is a dropdown menu next to the Send button that will provide additional options such as Print Letter and Envelope or Send Email with Attachment.