Table of Contents
Inbound Support: Identify Contacts by Email and Phone Number
Identifying an existing customer gives support agents more context on the customer. With a better understanding of a customer, agents can provide better assistance. On respond.io, Contact identifiers can be collected using Workflows and Website Chat Widget.
Benefits of Collecting Emails and Phone Numbers
Use the email address or phone number collected to:
- merge Contacts when a Contact messages you from a different Channel.
- be able to sync Contacts and contact properties with another CRM.
Methods to Collect Contact Identification
Here are four methods that you can use to collect Contact identifiers:
- Automatically obtained from Channel's Metadata.
- Ask for a Phone Number or Email using Workflows.
- Pre-Chat Form on Website Chat Widget.
- Identify logged-in Contacts via Website Chat Widget.
Automatically obtained from Channel's Metadata
respond.io platform automatically receives Contact's phone number or email address for the following channels:
For channels that do not provide Contact's phone number or email to respond.io platform, use the other three methods to collect Contact identifiers.
Ask for a Phone Number or Email using Workflows
Method Objectives
- Select a Workflow Template and customize steps if needed
- Continue the Workflow when the question is skipped
Workflow Setup
There are Workflow templates set up by our team that you can use immediately. These templates can be edited to fit your business needs.
Select Workflow Template and customize steps if needed
On the respond.io platform, click Workflows > + Add Workflow and choose your template.
To collect emails, click Welcome Message & Ask For Email > Use Template.
To collect phone numbers, click Welcome Message & Ask For Phone Number > Use Template.
Then, customize the Welcome Message & Ask a Question Step as desired.
Ask a Question Step Configuration for Email
Ask a Question Step configuration for Phone Number
Continue the Workflow when the Question is Skipped
These Workflow templates are set up with a Branch Step to check if the Contact Field already contains the email address or phone number.
Condition | Outcome |
Contact identifier does not exist | Ask the question |
Contact identifier exists | Skip the question |
Add a Jump Step to define the next step in the Workflow when the question is skipped. Often, you will choose the Step after the Ask a Question Step.
Pre-Chat Form on Website Chat Widget
Unlike instant messaging channels which will provide the name of the Contact, when Contacts message from the Website Chat Widget, you’ll also need to get their name in addition to the phone number or email address.
Method Objective
- To ask for Contact’s Name, Phone Number or Email Address using the Pre-Chat Form.
Feature Setup
Here’s how to set up the Contact information you want to collect from the Pre-Chat Form.
Navigate to Settings module > Channels > Website Chat Channel > Customize.
Pre-Chat Form Configuration for Name & Email
2. Add First Name and Email Address field to the form.
3. Make the fields Mandatory so Contacts must fill them out.
Pre-Chat Form Configuration for Name & Phone Number
2. Add First Name and Phone Number field to the form.
3. Make the fields Mandatory so Contacts must fill them out.
Identify logged-in Contacts via Website Chat Widget
If Contacts are logged in, you can get the name, email, phone number and more automatically.
Method Objective
- To have the Website Chat Widget identify logged-in Contacts on your website.
Feature Setup
Follow the instructions to add JavaScript code to your website here.
