Customizable Requests to External Customer & Validated Send Request System

Manuel Lemus

Problem Statement

External customers receiving update requests often face issues with email spam filtering due to off-brand, non-customizable emails. This leads to incomplete or delayed responses, making it difficult to collect necessary assets efficiently. Additionally, there is no built-in file validation, which can result in incorrect file formats being uploaded, causing further delays.

User Personas

• Primary User: External customers who receive send requests and need to upload required assets.
• Secondary User: Internal teams who depend on accurate and timely responses to complete their workflows.

User Journey & Features

1. Receiving the Request
   • As a customer, I want to receive a branded and trustworthy email request so that I can recognize and open it without concerns about phishing or spam filtering.
   • Feature: Customizable email templates with branding, domain-based sender verification. Allow HTML or WYSIWYG editor to configure email requests so they look on brand.
2. Opening & Reviewing the Request
   • As a customer, I want to easily view the update request details so that I can understand what is required from me.
   • Feature: Mobile-responsive UI, clear instructions, branded request page for trust.
3. Providing Information
   • As a customer, I want to fill out the requested information with minimal effort so that I can quickly complete the request.
   • Feature: Pre-filled fields, contextual tooltips, progress indicators. Omit access to source sheets and prevent access requests to avoid confusion.
4. Uploading the Required File
   • As a customer, I want to upload my file in the correct format so that my submission is accepted without errors. Request may include character limits and descriptions needed in order to fulfill.
   • Feature: File validation for format, size limits, and duplicate detection.
5. Submitting & Confirmation
   • As a customer, I want to receive a confirmation after submitting my update so that I know my request has been successfully received.
   • Feature: Confirmation page, email receipt, request status tracking.

Georgie

Hi @Manuel Lemus,

Thank you for providing your feedback! However, since there are multiple separate requests in the same post, I've removed this post from the Product Ideas section - each individual idea needs to be its own separate post so that other members can vote on which one they agree with, and so that the Product team can post updates for each item as they likely won't all be addressed at once.

I found some similar ideas here:

• Custom Templates for Automated messages from Smartsheet
• Improving Template Customization: Suggestion for Better Automation Management
• Update Request Customization - descriptions and headers like a Form
• Customize action for update request
• Prepopulate Form for Update Request
• Improve update request history

Please add your vote to any of the above ideas you agree with. If these are not close enough to what you're wanting (and for your ideas that don’t already have existing idea posts), please create a separate unique post for each separate idea so that other members can vote on the ones they want to see Smartsheet implement as well.

I also wanted to point out that users receiving update requests can check the box for “Send me a copy of my responses” which would act like an email receipt.

Thanks,

Georgie