Birthday and follow-up texts
In short
A birthday text goes out at 11:00 on the client's birthday, and a follow-up text a set number of days after an appointment ends. Both are off until you turn them on, and both reach only clients who agreed to promotional messages.
Two texts you can add on top of confirmations and reminders: a birthday greeting, and a thank-you after a visit. Both are switched off for a new shop, both use your own wording, and both go by SMS only. There is no email version of either.
What a client receives
Happy birthday, Maria! Everyone at Linden Hair Studio wishes you a lovely day.
Hello Maria, it's been a couple of weeks since your visit to Linden Hair Studio. Ready for the next one? Book whenever suits you.
An example. Every shop writes its own messages.
Who gets them
These two count as promotional messages, so the rules are stricter than for a reminder. A client gets them only if all of this is true:
- they agreed to promotional messages from your shop
- they have a phone number, and texts are not switched off for them
- they have not stopped your texts from the preferences link or by replying STOP
Clients give that agreement themselves, with a tick box when they book on your booking page, join the waitlist or fill in their details from a QR code. They can also change it later from their message preferences. You cannot tick it for them: on a client's page, Promotional messages only shows whether and when they agreed. Replying STOP withdraws it.
Every birthday and follow-up text carries the link to stop them, not only the first one.
The birthday text
- When
- 11:00 on the birthday
- In your shop's time zone.
- Opening hours
- Not waited for
- A birthday on a Sunday is still greeted on the Sunday.
- How often
- Once a year
- Needs
- A date of birth on the client
- Clients without one are simply skipped.
A birthday greeting is only true on the day. If it cannot go out that day, it is dropped rather than sent late.
The follow-up text
The follow-up goes out a number of days after the appointment ends, at the same time of day. You pick the number of days in Send after: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 or 14. The default is 1 day.
- Tuesday 14:00Appointment ends
- Thursday 14:00Follow-upWith Send after set to 2 days
It only follows an appointment that was completed. Cancelled appointments and no-shows get nothing, and a visit with several services gets one follow-up, not one per service.
Turn on First visit only and it goes out after a client's first appointment only. A new client who books their next visit before leaving still gets it, because only earlier visits count.
When it falls outside opening hours
If Send only during business hours is on, a follow-up that comes due while you are closed waits until you open, the same as confirmations.
- Friday 19:30Appointment ends
- Saturday 19:30Follow-up dueThe shop has closed
- Monday 09:00Follow-up sentWhen the shop opens
A follow-up waits at most 7 days. After that it is dropped, so a thank-you never arrives weeks after the visit.
Values shown for an example shop.
Delay confirmation, update, cancellation and follow-up messages until shop hours. Reminders are not affected.
While follow-ups are on, you can also send one by hand with Send in the appointment's messages, once the appointment is completed and a day has passed. First visit only does not apply to a follow-up sent by hand, but the client still needs to have agreed to promotional messages.
Where to set it
Values shown for an example shop.
Sent on the customer's birthday. Requires promotional consent.
Sent after an appointment. Requires promotional consent.
Sent this many days after the appointment ends, at the same time of day.
Needs Follow-up turned on
To change the wording, see Customise your message templates.
Related
See it with your own shop
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