Creating and Printing a Mail Merge

Mail Merges Video

There are two main parts to creating a mail merge: creating the document template and selecting the clients to receive the merged document. The mail merge function allows a document to be populated with information from the Client record in Office. Only the fields listed below can be used in your mail merge template.

«Courtesy_Title»	«Address_1»	«Email_Address»
«First_Name»	«Address_2»	«Date_of_birth»
«Last_Name»	«City», «State» «Zip»	«Desired_retirement_age»
«Client_Name»	«Country»	«Wedding_anniversary»

Create the Mail Merge Template

In the left navigation pane, click Client Management. The Client Management tab opens.
In the left-hand column, click Mail Merges. The Mail Merges page opens and defaults to the Templates view.
You can double-click a Template Name to edit a previously created letter or use the template provided to start a new document.
On the toolbar located above the grid, click the New drop-down and select Document Template.
In the Merge Template Name box, type the name of the new mail merge template.
In the Merge Template Description box, you can also include a brief description of the document.
The body of the document can be edited using the functionality of Microsoft Word.
1. Text contained in brackets [ ] should be replaced with information pertaining to your office. The text referring to your firm can be deleted if you plan to use letterhead when the document is printed. Note: Be sure to adjust the body of the document to allow for the letterhead.
2. Text contained within double arrowheads << >> refers to fields within the Morningstar Office Client or Prospect record.
Click Save to save your changes, and then click Close to return to the grid.

Tip: Click the View drop-down menu and select Mail Merges to review past mail merges that link a previously selected mail merge template with a previously selected set of clients. You can double-click on any mail merge name to open a previously created campaign.

Select Clients and Perform the Mail Merge

Note: These same procedures can be followed from the Prospects area.

In the left navigation pane, click the Client Management tab and then click the Clients page.
Select the records to be included in the mail merge by checking the boxes to the left of the client names.
From the menu above the grid, click the Mail Merge button or click the Action menu and select Mail Merge. The Create Mail Merge dialog opens.
The List Type drop-down defaults to Clients. Note: The drop-down default is Prospects when initiated from that grid.
The Select Recipients field will display Multiple Recipients if more than one record was selected for the mail merge. To add or change the list of selected clients, click the magnifying glass icon.
The List Quantity is automatically computed based on the size of the client list.
Use the List Description box to describe the list of selected clients (optional).
To the right of the Merge Template box, click the magnifying glass icon to select the name of the document template. If you do not select a template, the system will use the sample template.
In the Mail Merge Name box, enter a unique name that describes the combination of the chosen letter template with the chosen client list.
Click Save to save the final campaign for future printing or modification.
Click Merge & View to preview and print the final merge document. Scroll down to review each page of the document.

Note: Any edits made from this window will not be saved to the database.

Click Print to print the document.
Click Close to close the preview window.