Dr. CanaryThe bird writes in, then reads its mail.
Lead engagement testing: the bird sends a test inquiry through your site and reads the emails and texts that come back.
On monitoring, a saved shopper set to submit sends a test inquiry through your site’s own form. The bird then reads the emails and texts that come back, in order, against what it asked, and sees whether the store called. A one-time checkup sends no inquiry.
One inquiry, followed.
An example on a fictional store, Summit Ridge Kia.
When an inquiry is sent
- fills in the form
- the last step before sending
- inquiry sent
- emails and texts read
It sends the inquiry, then reads the emails and texts that come back.
Stops at the last step before any inquiry, booking, order or message is sent, and records what the site shows there.
- Only on monitoring. A one-time checkup sends no inquiry.
- Only when the saved shopper is set to “submits inquiries and books appointments”.
- Set to “looks only”, it stops at the last step before any inquiry, booking, order or message is sent, and records what the site shows there.
- Never on a public or unclaimed site. There the bird stops before anything consequential is sent.
- A recheck you request runs a saved shopper too, so it can send an inquiry and use your allowance.
How your team recognises it
The inquiry is sent under a name that says it is an automated Dr. Canary site test, with our own email address and phone number. The replies come back to the bird, and your team can tell the inquiry apart from a customer’s.
What is read afterwards
The emails and texts arrive.
They come to the bird’s own inbox and number, as a customer’s would. If the store calls that number, the bird sees that a call came in.
They are kept in order.
Each one is kept as it arrived, with the delivered capture where there is one.
Each is read against the inquiry.
A reply that answers one question and leaves another open is reported that way.
What a finding looks like here
The message a customer would have received: the email or text as it arrived, with a red mark on what went wrong.
An example on a fictional store, Summit Ridge Kia.
- inventory question answeredpass
- offer question answeredFAILthe special the shopper asked about went unanswered
The monthly allowance of test inquiries
- 10Monitoring: MonthlyTest leads a month, per location
- 15Monitoring: BiweeklyTest leads a month, per location
- 30Monitoring: WeeklyTest leads a month, per location
A one-time checkup carries none. Test leads are per location per month, whichever way you pay.
See the plansWhat it does not do
- It does not place phone calls. It reads emails and texts. If the store calls, it sees that a call came in, and nothing more.
- Its test customer never arrives at the store.
- A reply that did not arrive is reported as not received. That is not proof nobody answered.
- A capture that fails limits what can be concluded, and the report keeps it as incomplete rather than calling it a fault.
- It does not read your CRM. It sees what arrived in the test customer’s inbox and phone.
Ask your assistant
More examplesList the inquiries from my recent checks and show me what came back for the latest one.
list_assignment_runsget_inquiry
A missing inquiry is not the same as a failed read.
Is my saved shopper set to submit inquiries, or to look only?
list_assignments
Questions
Does it send real leads?
It sends a real inquiry through your site’s own form, under a name that says it is an automated Dr. Canary site test. It is a test lead: its customer never arrives at the store.
Will my BDC know it is a test?
Yes, if they read the name. The inquiry names itself as an automated Dr. Canary site test and carries our own email address and phone number.
Does it call the store?
No. It does not place phone calls. It reads the emails and texts that come back, and it sees whether the store called.
How many test inquiries does a plan include?
Monitoring includes an allowance of test inquiries per location each month, by cadence: 10 on monthly, 15 on biweekly and 30 on weekly. A one-time checkup includes none.
Can I turn inquiries off?
Yes. Set the saved shopper to “looks only”. It then stops at the last step before any inquiry, booking, order or message is sent, and records what the site shows there.
Does a checkup include it?
No. A one-time checkup carries no test leads. Test inquiries belong to monitoring.
What does it do with the replies?
It keeps each email and text as it arrived, in order, and reads them against what the shopper asked. You can read the whole conversation in Dr. Canary, or ask your assistant to open it with get_inquiry.
