Send appointment reminders

Reminders cut no-shows. Softalon sends them with workflows that use the Upcoming appointment triggers, which fire a set time before each appointment starts.

When reminders fire

There are three Upcoming triggers under Appointment:

These are the only reminder times. There's no setting for another offset.

A reminder only fires for appointments that are still upcoming: Awaiting Payment, Awaiting Confirmation or Confirmed. Canceled, declined and no-show appointments don't get one. If an appointment is rescheduled, the reminder follows the new time.

1. 1

   Step 1 of 4

   Start from the reminder template

   Go to Workflows, click Create Workflow and choose From Template. Pick a reminder template and click Continue.

   To build your own instead, choose From Scratch and set the trigger to Appointment › Upcoming (24h) or Upcoming (2h).

2. 2

   Step 2 of 4

   Check the messages

   Click each Send Notification step. A reminder usually goes to the client, so the recipient is a client variable, such as the client's email address or phone number.

   Use variables for the details, for example {{ $event.data.object.client.firstName }} for the first name and {{ time($event.data.object.startAt) }} for the start time. Times are shown in your salon's time zone and format. If the client booked from another time zone, times in messages to that client use the client's time zone.

3. 3

   Step 3 of 4

   Add reschedule and cancel links

   Let clients change plans without calling. Add links like {{ actionLink($event.data.object.id, "reschedule") }} and {{ actionLink($event.data.object.id, "cancel") }}. Each one becomes a short link that opens the right page on your booking site.

4. 4

   Step 4 of 4

   Save and turn it on

   Click Save. On the Workflows page, make sure the workflow's switch is on.

   You will see:

   The card shows the trigger, for example Appointment - Upcoming (24h). After the next reminder goes out, you can see the run in History.

Tips

• One message per channel type. Until the run reaches a Wait/Delay step, a person gets at most one message per address: one email, one message to their phone and one push notification. SMS and WhatsApp share the phone, so a WhatsApp step after a sent SMS is skipped. Put the channel you prefer first.
• Only confirmed appointments. Reminders also fire for appointments awaiting confirmation or payment. If you only want to remind confirmed bookings, add a Conditional Split that checks the appointment status. This needs the Accelerate plan or higher. See Add delays and conditions.
• Another time. To send later than 24 hours before, for example 12 hours before, use Upcoming (24h) and add a Wait/Delay step of 12 hours. The wait doesn't recheck the appointment, so the message still goes out if it was canceled during the wait.