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How to set up client reminders

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Client reminders are an important part of all successful businesses. Not only do they save businesses hours of time each week, but they add to the overall customer experience, helping them stay organised. There are various types of customer messaging options available to you, in this article you will learn how to set up client reminders and rebooking reminders. 

Rebooking reminders are a valuable way to increase revenue, as they help your business to capture lost clients and are an easy way to create an additional touchpoint; boosting the number of bookings in your calendar. For more information on additional ways to communicate with your clients and customers, see our help centre section on customer messaging.
 

Important note: the types of reminder messages you can send depends on your Timely plan, for example: rebooking reminders are exclusive to our Innovate plan. To find out more about what is included for your specific plan, see our pricing page for more information.

 

 

How to set up reminders

Step-by-step instructions

1 If you would like to add a Consult form to your reminder, tick the box that says automatically send a consult form with this reminder, and then choose from the drop down list which of your templates you would like to send out.

 

 

2 Setup your reminder rules by choosing when you'd like to send your customer reminders. There are two options: x hours before or x days before at x time. We recommend using the x hours before option for the best experience for your customers.

 

Timely note: if you choose the 1-day prior setting, then only bookings added at least 24 hours before the appointment start time will be sent reminders. If a reminder won't be sent on a booking, we will add an alert to the appointment's history. Check out our how to view appointment history guide for more information.

 

 

3 If you'd like to send reminders to customers that have pencilled in appointments, make sure to check the box. You can also use two-way SMS to confirm appointments by setting up "text Y to confirm".

 

 

4 Once your rules are setup, enter your SMS template. Check out our guide on customising SMS templates for more details. If you're selected email, set up your email rules, and click save.

 

Timely tip: you will be able to choose any of Timely's pre-made templates, or if you have shared consultations with your business you can use one of your own. You can only add a consult form to an SMS, not to an email.

 


How to set up rebooking reminders

Rebooking reminders are a great way to improve your customer retention, especially if they have not booked a service recently. A rebooking reminder will send a message a set number of weeks after an appointment, if the customer does not have a future booking. 
 

Timely note: before you start, you will need to make sure that you have two-way messaging enabled. This allows customers to reply to SMS messages and is a requirement for setting up an SMS rebooking reminders. Our how to turn on SMS replies and confirmations (two-way SMS) guide steps you through that process.


Step-by-step instructions

1 To get started, go to setup > customer messages in the main menu.

 

2 Click add a new message in the top right corner.

 

3 Select the rebooking reminders option from the list, just like you did with booking change above.

 

4 Select what type of message you'd like to send SMS or email. 

 

5 Customise your message if sending via SMS (there is no option to customise the email).

 

6 Once you're ready, click save to begin sending the message automatically.

 

 

Timely tips:

  • We recommend SMS as these are more likely to be opened and viewed by customers.

  • You can set up the rules for your rebooking reminders.

  • If you'd like to restrict the rebooking reminder to specific services, choose 'selected services'.

  • You can find out more about customising message templates here. Your message length can be up to ~ 430 characters, if your message is longer, it may cost you multiple messages.

  • If you'd like to include a link in this message, then you may like to use a URL shortener like  Bitly (https://bitly.com/) or Google (https://goo.gl/).

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