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We received a query from a client the other day that touched on two separate but related issues. After a bit of internal discussion, we concluded that there are undoubtedly other clients that would benefit from an explanation of the issues involved. So that is the focus of this newsletter.
The query pertained to attaching a scanned document to an outgoing email message. And of course the client uses GoldMine for sending and receiving email. But even those few of our clients that use Outlook for email instead of GoldMine may find this explanation helpful.
Specifically, the client was proceeding as follows:
- scan the document
- compose the email message
- attach the scanned document
- delete the scanned document from the hard drive
- send the email
For those of you that can immediately spot the problem in this process, feel free to jump ahead to the section labeled Issue #2.
In the above scenario, the underlying assumption is that the act of "attaching" the file caused the file to instantly become part of the email message. And as such, it was assumed that if at some point in the future that email message was opened in History, the message would provide access to the attached file. It's not hard to understand why someone might assume this to be the case. In fact, this all seems logical. But unfortunately that's not how attached files work.
Issue #1 - Attachments vs Embedding
When composing an email message, you have the ability to "embed" (i.e. insert) certain types of files into the body of the message. For example, GoldMine allows you to insert an image (meaning a photo or drawing) into the body of a message. The recipient can see the image in the message but can't separate it from the message to (for example) file it with other images (except by using a snipping tool).
You can't embed a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet in the body of an email message but you could for example paste the contents of a Word document into it instead. But that is of course very different from embedding the Word file itself because it doesn't allow the recipient to directly process the document, they would need to create a clone of the document by copying the embedded text and pasting it into a blank Word document.
Alternatively, you can ATTACH many types of files to an email message (this applies to not just GoldMine but virtually all email clients, including Outlook and Gmail). The only types of files that can't be sent as attachments are those that are either too large or can potentially pose a security threat.
And of course in the example of a scanned document, you would indeed attach the scanned document rather than trying to embed it because you want the recipient to be able to easily process it separately (open it, print it, etc.).
But when you attach a document, what you are actually doing is instructing your email client (in this case GoldMine) to send both the body of the message and the attached file to the recipient as a single package (a paper analogy would be sending a cover letter and the document fastened together with a paper clip and slipped into a single envelope). In other words, you are telling GoldMine that when the message is sent, please also include the file located at the address you pointed to when you "attached" the file to the message. The scanned document is not attached to the message at this point, all you've done is provide GoldMine with some instructions. The actual "attaching" takes place at the instant when GoldMine SENDS the message.
So deleting the scanned document prior to sending the message will result in sending the message to the recipient without the attachment (since GoldMine can't find the attachment because it no longer exists).
So the moral of this part of the story is to NEVER delete an attachment prior to sending the message that it is attached to. However this raises a separate but related issue.
Issue #2 - GoldMine is Your Filing System
GoldMine has the potential to provide your business with a long list of very significant benefits. Right up at the top of that list would be empowering your team to access EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF INFORMATION about an investor in a matter of seconds. This is central to the entire philosophy of the product. When a client calls, you take the call, open the client's contact record on your computer and have immediate, direct access to literally every piece of information your team has gathered over the years about that investor.
Some of that information is "embedded" in GoldMine's database, meaning that you enter it into the various fields in a contact record, or create an activity record regarding an appointment or phone call, or file an email message. But other pieces of information such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, scanned forms, financial plans, etc. are not stored in GoldMine's database. Instead, the address of (for example) a letter (e.g. g:\shared\John Smith\2023 Market Outlook letter.docx) gets "embedded" in GoldMine's database instead and the actual letter is stored elsewhere on the server in a folder where all team members can access it. This is necessary because embedding the actual files would cause GoldMine's database to get huge and thus slow.
So circling back to the original enquiry, the revised process should be as follows:
- scan the document to a location on the server that is accessible to all members of the team via exactly the same path (which includes the same shared mapped drive letter, such as g:\)
- compose the email message
- attach the scanned document
- send the email
- NEVER delete the scanned document
In this revised scenario, the scanned document becomes part of the investor's permanent record in GoldMine and can be found quickly by opening the email message in the History folder.
And finally, just a suggestion re how to file scanned documents on the server. As an alternative to storing John Smith's scanned documents in a folder on the server named "John Smith" that already contains his other files, consider simply storing all scanned documents together in a completely separate folder called "scans". To keep the files organized, name each file using the date plus the investor's name plus the nature of the document. So, for example, save John Smith's scanned 2023 Market Outlook letter in g:\shared\scans\2023 01 29 John Smith 2023 Market Outlook letter.pdf. If you scan a lot of documents, this will be quicker and less error prone than scanning into investor-specific folders. And you are going to access a specific scanned document via GoldMine anyway rather than hunting for it using File Explorer.
Some of our clients make the mistake of saving scanned documents to the Libraries | Documents | My Scans folder on their computer. That folder is on their local c:\ drive. So if for example they scan a document to that folder and name it doc.pdf then the actual address of that file is c:\users\<computer name>\documents\my scans\doc.pdf. Later if that same user sitting at that same computer attempts to open the attachment, it will work and they conclude that all is well. But all is NOT well! Other users at other computers won't be able to open that attachment because the address instructs GoldMine to look for the file on the c:\ drive, meaning THEIR local c:\ drive, not the c:\ drive of the person that scanned the document. And of course it isn't on their local c:\ drive so GoldMine can't find it.
If you are a team of one and your computer is both your workstation and your GoldMine server, you make think that it's okay to save scanned documents to Libraries | Documents | My Scans since you don't have to share them with others. But if you save to that folder, it will cause a problem in the future if you add an assistant to your team. And you may be surprised to learn that Microsoft moved Libraries in Windows 11. So when it comes time to replace your computer at some point, again you will have a problem because that path will no longer exist.
Hopefully you find this information helpful. And as always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.