Use Notify to send one client a quick message, like "Your color is ready to pick up" or a heads-up about a running delay. It's meant for individual, hand-written messages about the client's appointments or orders. For messages that go out automatically, use automations.
Before you start
- You need the Administrator, Super Administrator or Owner role. The Notify option is hidden for other roles.
- The client needs the contact details for the channel you want: an email address for email, a phone number for SMS and WhatsApp.
- SMS also needs the client's Transactional Consent. See Client consent explained.
- Sending uses your salon's credits. For SMS and WhatsApp, the cost depends on the client's country. See Credits explained.
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Step 1 of 4
Open the Notify dialog
In the sidebar, go to Clients. Open the ⋮ menu on the client's row and choose Notify. You can also use the ⋮ menu at the top of the client's profile.
The Send Notification dialog opens. The reminder at the top says that only transactional notifications are allowed.
- 2
Step 2 of 4
Pick a channel
Choose a Channel: Push, Email, SMS or WhatsApp. Channels the client can't be reached on are unavailable:
- Email needs an email address.
- SMS needs a phone number and Transactional Consent.
- WhatsApp needs a phone number.
- Push reaches the client on devices where they turned on notifications from your booking site.
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Step 3 of 4
Write the message
For Email, enter a Subject (up to 255 characters) and a Message. For Push and SMS, enter a Message. Messages can be up to 5,000 characters. Long SMS messages are split into several parts and cost more credits.
For WhatsApp, you can't type free text. Pick a Template, then fill in each blank in the template preview. Every blank is required.
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Step 4 of 4
Send it
Click Send.
You will see:A Notification Sent message. The message appears on the client's Notifications tab.
What Softalon checks before sending
Before a message goes out, Softalon runs a few checks to protect your sender reputation and your clients:
- Content check. Email, SMS and WhatsApp messages are reviewed automatically. Promotional content is rejected on email and SMS. Messages that look like spam or abuse are rejected on these three channels. Push messages skip this check.
- Links. SMS and WhatsApp messages can only contain Softalon links, such as short links and your onsoftalon.com booking site. Email may contain other links.
- Client preferences. If the client turned the channel off in their notification settings, the message isn't sent.
- Credits. If your salon doesn't have enough credits for the message, it isn't sent.
- Sending limits. Notify is for occasional messages, not bulk outreach. Your salon can send up to 3 messages a minute, 20 an hour and 50 a day. Each client can receive up to 1 a minute, 3 an hour and 5 a day.
For reminders, follow-ups or birthday messages to many clients, build an automation instead. The Notify limits above don't apply to automations.
If something is off
The SMS channel is grayed out
The client has no phone number or hasn't given Transactional Consent. Add the phone number on their profile, or turn on the consent switch if the client agreed to receive messages.
The notification content is not valid
The automatic check flagged the message. Remove promotional wording, offers and discounts, and any links that aren't Softalon links, then try again.
The notification could not be sent
The client may have turned this channel off, the address may not be deliverable, or your salon may be out of credits. Try another channel or buy more credits.
I hit a sending limit
You reached one of the sending limits. Wait a few minutes, or an hour for the hourly limits, and try again.
Common questions
No. Notify is for transactional messages only, such as updates about an appointment or an order. The automatic check rejects promotional email and SMS messages.