Blast Email for Data Collection

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When using Data Collection via PlanSponsorLink, a notification must be sent to the Plan Contact to make them aware that their input is needed. PensionPro offers Blast Email as a means to send this notification. This article discusses the ways that Blast Email can be used to complement Data Collection, and how these features interact with each other.

 

Tier Availability: Team, Business

 

Note: Some items may not be available in all tiers.

 

Article Contents

 

 

 

Data Collection in PensionPro

 

Data Collection is the process through which a Plan Contact provides Plan information via PlanSponsorLink. For more details, refer to the article Overview of Web Data Collection.

 

To better visualize how Blast Email can be integrated into the Data Collection process, it is helpful to have a good understanding of Data Collection as a whole and what steps are involved. Although Data Collection can vary slightly based on its type, it always follows the same basic process:

 

  1. The Data Collection is launched by the TPA. If needed, the TPA has time to prepare the Data Collection before the next step.
  2. The TPA notifies the Plan Sponsor that Data Collection needs to be performed.
  3. The first step of Data Collection is completed and locked. Data Collection becomes active on PlanSponsorLink at this time.
  4. If necessary, the TPA sends a reminder notification to the Plan Sponsor.
  5. The Plan Sponsor performs and approves Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink.
  6. The TPA continues their workflow based on the received information.

 

As can be seen, two steps of the above process involve sending notifications to the Plan Sponsor. This is commonly performed using Blast Email, which will be discussed in the remainder of this article.

 

 

Sending a Data Collection Request

 

As outlined in the above section (see Data Collection in PensionPro), the first step of any Data Collection is to notify the Plan Sponsor that they should sign in to PlanSponsorLink and perform any relevant Data Collection activities. Although this can be done by any method, PensionPro recommends the use of Blast Email, which allows customizable emails to be sent to Contacts over multiple Plans at the same time.

 

To get started with sending a Blast Email for Data Collection Requests, refer to the article Blast Email. The following notes will assist in the creation and usage of an appropriate Blast Email Template:

 

  • Refer to the article Blast Email - Mailing Types and ensure that the correct Mailing Type is selected for the Blast Email Template based on the type of Data Collection. Mailing Type should be set to one of the following:
    • Census Request
    • Distribution Request
    • General Web Collection Request
  • Setting From Type to Employee Plan Role will make the email appear to be sent from an Employee relevant to the Plan (such as an Administrator), rather than using a single email address across every Plan.
  • Merge Fields may be added to the Subject and Body of the Blast Email to automatically insert text customized to the recipient.
  • The list of potential recipients is limited to Contact Roles for Plans with an active Data Collection of the relevant Type. Additionally, the first step of Data Collection must still be open. This means that PensionPro is ensuring that this type of Blast Email can only be sent in situations where a Plan Sponsor has Data Collection ready to be performed.
    • Additional filters may be applied to further narrow down the list of recipients. PensionPro will require at least one filter be applied before recipients are shown; a common solution is filtering based on the Project or Plan Cycle's Period End date.

 

Once the Blast Email is sent, the first Task within the Data Collection Task Grouping will be marked as complete. Data Collection will only become available for the Plan Sponsor after this Task is completed.

 

 

Sending a Data Collection Reminder

 

Despite one's best efforts, Data Collection is still reliant on the Plan Sponsor, and therefore may not always be completed in the timeliest of manners. Fortunately, Blast Email can also be used to quickly send a follow-up to any Plan Sponsor who may be in need of a reminder.

 

Much of the information presented in the section Sending a Data Collection Request applies similarly to sending Data Collection Reminders as well, with the following exceptions:

 

  • Mailing Type should be set to one of the following:
    • Census Reminder
    • Distribution Reminder
    • General Web Collection Reminder
  • The list of potential recipients is limited to Contact Roles for Plans with an active Data Collection of the relevant Type. Additionally, the first step of this Data Collection must be completed, but at least one other Data Collection step must be incomplete. In other words, this type of Blast Email can only be sent in situations where a Census Request email has been sent to Plan Sponsors, but Data Collection has not been fully completed.
  • Unlike the Request email, a Reminder email does not automatically complete any steps or provide any extra functionality upon sending that is not already provided by the Blast Email feature.

 

 

Sample Blast Email Messages

 

Firms seeking example messaging for Data Collection emails can refer to the attached files found in the sidebar of this article (or at the bottom of the page on mobile devices). These samples include a communication for initially introducing users to PlanSponsorLink as well as messaging for Census Request and Census Reminder Blast Emails.

 

 

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