Overview
Attaching a file to an email on a sales opportunity keeps paperwork such as an inventory list, a weight ticket, a certificate of insurance, or a claims form in the same thread as the conversation with the customer.
You attach files from your computer in the email composer on the opportunity's communication box.
Each file you attach is also saved to the opportunity's Files & Photos tab, under Documents.
The customer receives the files as standard email attachments.
An email the customer sends in with attachments shows those attachments on the email in the opportunity's activity thread.
Before You Start
Attaching files is part of the email composer in the communication box on a sales opportunity's Sales tab.
You need the Sales permission, the same permission that opens an opportunity's Sales tab. Any user who can send email from a sales opportunity can attach files to it, and there is no separate permission for attachments.
SmartMoving accepts these file types on a sales email: .pdf, .xls, .xlsx, .doc, .docx, .csv, and .txt.
How to Attach a File to an Email on a Sales Opportunity
Open the sales opportunity and go to the Sales tab.
In the communication box, click the Email tab. The email composer opens.
Click the paperclip in the composer toolbar. Your computer's file picker opens. Pointing at the paperclip shows the file types you can attach.
Select one or more files and confirm. Each file appears below the message with its file name, showing a loading indicator while it uploads and a document icon once it is attached.
Finish the subject and message, then click Send Email. The email goes out with the files attached, and the sent email in the activity thread lists what went with it.
Attachment Limits on a Sales Email
These limits apply to every email you send from a sales opportunity's communication box.
A single file can be up to 7 MB. A larger file is not attached, and a message headed with the file name reads "File is too large. Please resize and try again."
All attachments on one email can total up to 7 MB. Over that, a warning reads "These attachments total more than one email can carry (7 MB). Remove one before sending." Send Email stays disabled until you remove a file.
One email can carry any number of files, up to that 7 MB total.
A file name can be up to 300 characters. A longer name is not attached, and the message reads "File name is too long. Please rename and try again."
SmartMoving accepts .pdf, .xls, .xlsx, .doc, .docx, .csv, and .txt files on a sales email. A file outside that list is not attached, and the message reads "File type not supported."
Image files such as .png, .jpg, and .jpeg cannot be attached to a sales email. Place a photo in a document such as a .pdf to send it with the email.
Selecting several files at once where one is an unsupported type still attaches the rest.
Why a File Can Be Refused
SmartMoving checks every file for malware before accepting it onto a sales email. A file that fails the check is not attached, and the message names the reason. A refused file cannot be attached anyway.
A file identified as a threat is refused with "This file was blocked because it may contain malware."
A file carrying content the check does not allow is refused with "This file was blocked because it contains" followed by what the check found, such as password protection, macros, an executable, a script, or HTML.
A file the check cannot finish, for example when the check does not respond within 10 seconds, is refused with "This file could not be scanned for malware, so it was not uploaded. Please try again." Attach the file again.
A file your browser cannot read is refused with "The file could not be read. Please try again." A cloud storage file that has not downloaded to the computer gets this message. Download the file to the computer first, then attach it.
A file that cannot be stored is refused with "The file could not be uploaded. Please try again."
When a file is refused because it could not be checked or could not be stored, any files still waiting to upload are dropped, with a message reading "The remaining files were not attached." Attach those files again.
Key Details
Every file you attach to an email on a sales opportunity is saved to the opportunity's Files & Photos tab as soon as it uploads, before you send the email.
To take a file off the message, click the X beside its file name, labelled Remove attachment. SmartMoving removes the file from the message and from the opportunity's Files & Photos tab. If the remove control comes back instead of the file disappearing, the removal did not complete and the file is still on the Files & Photos tab.
Send Email stays disabled while a file is still uploading, so the email cannot go out without an attachment you added.
An email sends only when every attached file can be included. If a file cannot be included at send time, the email is not sent and the composer shows "Your message was not sent." with the reason.
Leaving the email composer keeps the recipients, subject, and message as a draft. The attached files are not kept with the draft, and stay on the opportunity's Files & Photos tab. Attach them again when you come back to finish the email.
Starting a reply clears any files staged on the composer, and those files stay on the opportunity's Files & Photos tab. Attach the files you want after you open the reply.
Attaching the same file twice to one email is allowed, and the customer receives both copies. Each copy is also saved separately on the opportunity's Files & Photos tab. Check the files below the message before you click Send Email, and remove any duplicate.
Attachments on an email appear on that email in the opportunity's activity thread, each showing its file name. A long name is shortened; point at it to see the full name. Clicking an attachment opens the file.
Best Practices
Attach the document to the sales email before you write the message, so a refused file is dealt with while the message is still short.
Keep a single attachment on a sales email well under 7 MB, since the same 7 MB ceiling covers every file on one email together.
Combine several documents into one .pdf before attaching, which keeps a sales email inside the 7 MB total.
Check that each file shows a document icon before you click Send Email, which confirms the file finished uploading.
Remove any file you decide against, which also clears it from the opportunity's Files & Photos tab and keeps the record accurate.
Troubleshooting
The paperclip in the email composer does nothing the first time I click it.
A message reading "Attachments are ready. Click again to attach a file." means the email composer was still finishing loading. Click the paperclip again and the file picker opens.
A message says attachments are unavailable.
Reload the sales opportunity page, open the Email tab again, and attach the file.
The Send Email button is greyed out and I cannot send.
Check for a warning that the attachments total more than 7 MB, and remove a file. Also check that no file is still showing a loading indicator, since Send Email stays disabled while a file uploads.
A file I trust was refused for malware.
A file refused by the malware check cannot be attached to a sales email.
A file I removed from the message is still on the Files & Photos tab.
Removing a file from a sales email removes it from the opportunity's Files & Photos tab. A file can remain there when the removal did not complete, when it arrived on an email the customer sent in, or when someone uploaded it directly. Delete it from the Files & Photos tab.
I came back to an email I started and the attached files are missing.
The message comes back as a draft, but attached files are not kept with a draft. The files stay on the opportunity's Files & Photos tab. Attach them to the message again before you click Send Email.
The customer received the same attachment twice.
The file was attached to the email twice. Both copies are sent. Remove a duplicate from below the message before you click Send Email, and delete the extra copy from the opportunity's Files & Photos tab.
I see "Your message was not sent." after clicking Send Email.
One of the attached files could not be included, so the email did not go out. Read the reason shown below the message, remove or reattach the file it names, then click Send Email again.