Every booking looks after its own messages, so you're not confirming appointments by hand or chasing people the day before. Here's what goes out, and how to set it to suit you.
What sends on its own
- A confirmation, the moment a booking is made, whether it came from your booking page, your website or your calendar. Bookings you import from your old system don't send one; their reminders go as usual.
- Reminders before the visit, at the times you choose, by email, and by SMS on paid plans. You never type them.
- Change notices. Reschedules and cancellations confirm themselves to the customer, and you're notified through your own settings.
Booking reminders
Every business starts with three: 1 day before by email, 1 hour before by SMS, and 2 hours before with both switched off. They're under Settings → Messages, in Booking reminders:
- Switch email and SMS on or off for each reminder. Each SMS uses your SMS credits.
- Add reminder sends one at another time: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 or 12 hours before, 1, 2 or 3 days before, or 1 week before. You can have up to 5.
- ⋯ › Change time moves a reminder to another time, and ⋯ › Remove reminder takes it out. If upcoming bookings would miss it, both say how many. One reminder always stays: switch both its switches off if you want none. In the app, tap a reminder for its switches, Change time and Remove reminder.
Every change saves as you make it.
How they go:
- A booking made after a reminder's time skips that reminder. A booking made at 3 pm for 10 am tomorrow gets no 1 day before reminder; their confirmation has just gone.
- A reminder you add, or a switch you turn on, starts with the bookings it hasn't reached yet. Bookings whose reminder time has already passed don't get a late one.
- A moved booking gets its reminders at its new time, except any whose time has already passed when it's moved: the customer has just been told the new time.
- Never two at once. If two reminder times come due together, only the one nearest the visit goes.
- No SMS at night. A reminder SMS due between 9 pm and 7 am waits until 7 am, or doesn't go if the visit starts by then. The 1 and 2 hours before reminders go at their time, and so do emails.
Let customers change their own plans
The confirmation, reminder and rescheduled emails, and the confirmation SMS, carry the customer's own Manage booking link, where they can reschedule or cancel within the windows in your cancellation policy. After the windows close, they're asked to get in touch, or told it's a late cancellation if you let them still cancel online. The reminder email says where they stand when it's sent: when free changes end while your window is open, or what applies once it has closed. The reminder SMS asks them to reply if they need to change anything, and their reply lands on their profile.
A customer who moves or cancels their own booking online always gets an email about it, never an SMS, whatever your switches. Someone who has unsubscribed from your marketing still receives confirmations and reminders for their own appointments; opting out of offers never strands someone's booking.
Your own notes before a visit
Under Settings → Messages → Notes for customers before they visit you can add your own words in two moments. When they book goes into the confirmation email and SMS, and the email they get when a booking moves to a new time: parking, how to find the door, what to bring on a first visit. In reminders goes into every reminder email and SMS before the visit: what to come with, what to avoid beforehand. The SMS gets its own short version, typed into In the SMS (optional). The email and SMS notes are separate, so leave the SMS one empty and the SMS stays as it is, even with the email note filled. The card shows how many extra credits your line adds to each SMS (see SMS credits).
In the emails, the notes sit under the booking details, headed with your business name. Everything else in those messages stays as it is, and the cancellation, receipt and payment emails never carry them. Leave a note empty and that message reads exactly as before.
Packages about to expire
A customer with a package gets one heads-up about 30 days before it runs out, if they still have sessions to use: what's left and their link to book. Email is on to begin with; switch SMS on too if you like. Like a visit reminder, it follows the customer's own preference, so someone who asked for SMS only never gets the email.
Choose email, SMS, or both
Open Settings → Messages for a simple grid: for each kind of message, choose email, SMS or both. Two safeguards are built in:
- News a customer genuinely needs, like a cancellation, always keeps at least one channel on.
- Every customer notification set to SMS goes by email when the SMS can't go: your credits have run out, SMS isn't on your plan, there's no working Australian mobile, or the customer replied STOP. That includes reminders, even with their email switch off. The one exception is a customer who chose SMS only for themselves.
FAQs
Will reminders really cut my no-shows?
For most businesses, yes, and by a lot; most no-shows are simply forgetfulness. For the rest, deposits and card on file add a firmer layer. See Set up deposits to reduce no-shows.
Can I remind customers earlier, like 2 or 3 days before?
Yes. Under Settings → Messages, press Add reminder and choose the time. To reach customers while they can still cancel free, choose a time before your cancellation window closes: with a 48 hour window, 3 days before.
Can I turn reminders off?
You can: switch off the email and SMS on each reminder under Settings → Messages. One reminder always stays in the list, even with both switches off. The one thing you can't switch off entirely is genuinely important news, which always keeps a channel so a customer is never left in the dark about their own booking.