This is the journey when your team makes the booking, because the customer called, visited or was referred, rather than booking online. The customer hears nothing while you build the booking. Every message after that follows a switch on Notifications, and on each booking your team decides whether the customer is told at all.
When your team creates the booking
With Send notification, the customer gets the Booking Confirmation (Business-Led) email, from Email the customer: booking updates, and the confirmation text, from Text the customer: booking confirmation.
Your business gets Text you: new booking alert when it is on, and each team member assigned to the booking gets an email when Email assigned team members is on. Email you: new booking copy covers online bookings only, so a booking your team makes does not send it. Book silently sends none of these messages.
Book for a customer and choose what they hear
Notify customer? has no default, so your team chooses on every booking.
- Open Appointments, select New, then Appointment.
- Choose the pet, then the service in Services for and the pet's name.
- Pick the time.
- Under Notify customer?, choose Send notification or Book silently.
- Select Create Appointment. For a recurring booking it reads Create Recurring Series.
With Send notification, the sheet shows a preview of the confirmation before you book. When you book several dates at once, the customer gets a separate confirmation for each appointment.
Choose which confirmations a customer gets
These two switches decide what a customer receives when you choose Send notification. New accounts start with both off.
- Open Settings, then Notifications.
- Under Booking Created, switch on Email the customer: booking updates.
- Switch on Text the customer: booking confirmation.
- Optional: switch on Text you: new booking alert and Email assigned team members for your own alerts.
- Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
Email the customer: booking updates sends every customer email about a booking, from the confirmation to the receipt, so turning it off stops them all.
Before the visit
Petboost sends these before the appointment, each from its own switch under Pre-Appointment Reminders:
| When | Message | Switch |
|---|---|---|
| 74 hours before, with Pre-hold funds on | The pre-authorisation heads-up email, 2 hours before the hold is placed | Email the customer: pre-auth heads-up |
| At your Reminder Time | A reminder email and text | Email the customer: reminders and Text the customer: reminders |
| At your Reminder Time (2nd) | A second reminder | Email the customer: reminders (2nd) and Text the customer: reminders (2nd) |
| Fridays at 2pm, business time | An email about each confirmed booking from Saturday to the following Friday | Email the customer: Friday reminder |
There is no separate final reminder on the morning of the visit. To send one, set the second reminder to a short lead time. There is no Friday text.
Set reminder timing
Do this to choose how long before the appointment the reminders go.
- Open Settings, then Notifications.
- Under Pre-Appointment Reminders, then First Reminder, switch on Email the customer: reminders, Text the customer: reminders, or both.
- Set Reminder Time in weeks, days, hours and minutes. Minutes go in 5-minute steps.
- Optional: under Second Reminder, switch on Email the customer: reminders (2nd) or Text the customer: reminders (2nd), and set Reminder Time (2nd).
- Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
A reminder time longer than 72 hours shows This reminder may not land in time to be effective, and its note recommends 2 to 48 hours before the appointment. A service can set its own reminder times on its Notifications tab.
Tip
A customer gets two reminders at most. A common pair is 48 hours and 24 hours before, or 24 hours and a short second reminder on the morning of the visit.
Add preparation instructions
Preparation instructions and anything the customer needs to bring go in one message, which Petboost adds to your confirmations and reminders.
- Open Settings, then Notifications.
- If Custom Messages is not showing, switch on Advanced options.
- Under Custom Messages, write the Pre-Appointment Message.
- Optional: switch on Also add to confirmation and reminder texts.
- Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
The Pre-Appointment Message goes in the confirmation and reminder emails and on the customer's booking card. Added to texts, it goes in the booking confirmation text and each reminder text, the second reminder included, so each of those texts uses more SMS segments. A service can have its own Pre-Appointment Message under Advanced options on its Notifications tab.
During the visit
Starting or completing a visit sends no message to the customer or to your business. To tell the customer something during the visit, your team sends it, for example with Send Late SMS: 15-30 min from the booking's Manage menu. If a card payment fails, see Problem Resolution Journey.
After the visit
Finalising the appointment sends nothing. When the payment is taken, the customer gets the Payment Succeeded / Receipt email, which follows Email the customer: booking updates. No text is sent. Report cards and Google review requests go only when your team sends them from the booking.
The details Petboost fills in
The wording of each message is fixed, and Petboost fills in these details from the booking:
| Detail | Filled in as |
|---|---|
| The pet's first name, joined with "&" when a booking has several pets | {{PetFirstName}} |
| The pet type emoji | {{PetAnimalTypeEmoji}} |
| The service name | {{ServiceLabel}} |
| The start time | {{StartTime}} |
| The start date | {{StartDate}} |
| The assigned team member | {{TeamMemberName}} |
| The appointment cost | {{TotalPrice}} |
| Your business name | {{BusinessName}} |
| Your business phone number | {{BusinessPhone}} |
| A link to the booking in the pet owner app | {{AppointmentLink}} |
There is no full-name, service description, preparation or items-to-bring detail. Write preparation instructions and what to bring in the Pre-Appointment Message. Pet Owner Communications lists every detail and the messages you can write yourself.
What can differ by service or customer
A service can keep its own copy of each switch, its own reminder times and its own Pre-Appointment Message on its Notifications tab. One customer can have their own setting on the Settings & Overrides tab of their profile. Pre-authorisation holds can be switched on for one service on its Pricing & Payments tab.
Check
Select Preview on a message, or book a test appointment for your own phone number and email, to read what customers receive before you rely on it.
Troubleshooting
A customer is not receiving messages
- Check whether your team chose Book silently on the booking
- Check their email address and mobile number, and ask them to look in their spam or junk folder
- Open their Settings & Overrides tab and read What they receive today. A customer override, or a service's own setting, can switch a message off
- On a trial, reminders do not send until the trial ends
A payment problem
See Problem Resolution Journey for what Petboost sends when a card hold or a payment is declined, and Card on file and payment methods for pre-authorisation settings.
Related documentation
- Customer Journey Overview: the whole communication system
- First-Time Customer Journey: the new customer experience
- Returning Customer Journey: communications for regular customers
- Problem Resolution Journey: failed payments and moved bookings
- Cancellation Journey: cancellations and refunds
- Settings → Notifications: message timing and content
- Settings → Automatic Actions: automated workflows
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