Client Notifications

This topic explains:

  1. How to choose which client notifications your business will send.
  2. How to enable clients to receive those notifications, which you'll do in individual client profiles.

See Also:

  1. Enabling Meevo Notification Services
  2. Employee Notifications
  3. Meevo Blackout Times

Enabling Client Appointment notifications

To get to Notification Settings, select Meevo > Business Settings > Notification Settings or type notification into the Convobar.

In Notification Settings, you'll select which notifications your business will send and the communication methods for each. You can choose to send emails, text messages, or both. 

About Scheduled and Immediate Client Notifications

On the Client Appointments tab are Scheduled and Immediate Notifications.

Scheduled notifications go to an appointment's Paying Client. The Send __ days before option in a client's profile determines when the notifications are sent (counting back from the appointment day and Start Time).

  • Appointment Confirmations: Require the client to confirm, request to reschedule, or cancel. Confirmations are sent only if the appointment is in a "not confirmed" state. If the appointment is in any other state (Confirmed, Awaiting Response, etc.), a confirmation will not sent.
  • Appointment Reminders: Reminders to the client of an upcoming appointment; these notifications do not require a client response. They are not sent if the appointment is in a Request to Reschedule state.
  • Arrival Instructions: Notifications for Meevo Messenger Arrivals. See Enabling Meevo Messenger Arrivals for details on enabling Arrivals notifications.
  • Appointment No-Showed: Explains to the client that they missed an appointment, includes the appointment date and time, and then instructs the client to call the business phone number to reschedule. If marked No-Show during the appointment time, the notification goes out 2 hours after the last service's end time. If marked No-Show after the last service's end time, the notification goes out 2 hours from when the status changed to No-Show. This notification is 1-way only; clients cannot respond to it.

Tip: We recommend customizing this message to communicate your no-show policy.

Immediate Notifications are sent to the appointment's Paying Client. directly after a triggering action.

  • Appointment Booked: Sent when a service is booked for a new appointment on a day when the client has no other services booked. Appointment Booked notifications are sent 5 minutes after the appointment is created.
  • Appointment Edited: This notification is sent if any of the following occur to a booked appointment: the date is changed, the Start Time of the appointment's first service is changed, at least one service is removed and at least one service remains, at least one service is added, at least one service name is changed since the initial booking of the appointment, or at least one employee is changed. Appointment Edited notifications are sent 3 minutes after the most recently saved edit.
  • Appointment Cancelled: This notification is sent immediately after all of a client's services for that day are removed (deleted) from the Appointment Book.

Enabling Scheduled and Immediate Notifications 

From the Client Appointments tab in Notification Settings:

  1. These options can be found under each notification type:
  • Template: This drop-down is where you can select a custom notification template for that notification type. Use default template means that Meevo will use the system's default notification templates.
  • Enable Email and Enable Text: Enables the communication method for that notification type.
  • Default for clients without override: This determines the option's default state in all client profiles that do not already have the option set to Override. Upon editing and saving, all client profiles that do not have an override will inherit your selections as their default settings. Refer to this topic for supporting details on inheritance and overrides.
  • In the Send ___ days/hours before field, configure the number of days or hours prior to the appointment start time that the notification will be sent. 
  • Bulk update options: These options allow you to perform updates to options across all client profiles at once. Refer to this topic for supporting details on bulk updates.
  1. Appointment Confirmation Options: Select Options to display additional reschedule and cancellation options. These options apply only to appointment confirmations:

  • Do not send text when client confirms appointment: This turns off the system-generated reply that gets sent to a client after they confirm an appointment. Enable this option to reduce your outgoing text message count.
  • Allow reschedule requests: Allows clients to request to reschedule their appointment by replying to a confirmation message. Reschedule Request appointments remain on the book until manually removed.
    • Cannot request to reschedule within X hours of appointment start time: Limits how long before the appointment start time a client can request to reschedule. Clients who attempt to reschedule within this time frame will receive a notification that the appointment was not rescheduled, and are instructed to call the business.
  • Allow cancellations: Allows clients to cancel appointments by replying to a confirmation message. Canceled appointments are automatically removed from the book.
    • Cannot cancel within X hours of appointment start time: Limits how long before the appointment start time a client can cancel. Clients who attempt to cancel within this time frame will receive a notification that the appointment was not canceled, and are instructed to call the business.
    • Select Appointment Cancellation Reason: Appointments that are canceled as a result of a client response will be assigned the Cancellation Reason selected here.
  1. When finished, select Save.

About "Miscellaneous" notifications 

Notification options for 5 Star Ratings, Docs & Forms, Referral Thank You, Product Purchase Reminder, Self Pay, and Wait List are found on the Client Miscellaneous tab.

  • 5 Star Ratings: Sends a notification to the servicing client after a service transaction/checkout occurs, giving the client an opportunity to rate the services that were performed. The Send __ days after checkout option in Notification Settings and the Send rating request every __ visits option in 5 Star Ratings Settings both determine when the notification is sent. When the 5 Star Ratings notification is enabled, clients will always receive a ratings notification after completion of a service that they've never received before (unless the service is configured to not send ratings). 
  • Docs and Forms: Sends a form to a client based on the form's settings. See About Docs & Forms for more details on this feature.
  • Referral Thank You: This email-only notification gets sent to any client who referred another client within the selected date range. Note this notification cannot be opted out of by a client. You can send a thank you for clients who were referred:
    • Yesterday: Referred clients need to have a transaction yesterday for the referrer to receive a thank you.
    • Last Week: Referred clients need to have a transaction during the previous week for the referrer to receive a thank you. Thank yous are send at the beginning of each week according to last week's data. The week's start day is based on the Calendar Week Start Day Business Preferences setting.
    • Last Month: Referred clients need to have a transaction during the previous month for the referrer to receive a thank you. Thank yous are sent on the first of each month according to the previous month's data.
  • Product Purchase Reminder: This notification sends clients product purchase reminders based on their historical purchases and the product definition's setting This product lasts __ weeks with suggested use. You can set that option to zero if you don't want notifications to be sent out for a product.
  • Self-Pay - Initial and Self Pay - Reminder: These are Self-Pay notifications; only their notification template can be changed here.
  • Wait List - Opening Available and Wait List - Pending Removed: These are Wait List notifications; only their notification template can be changed here.

Enabling Miscellaneous Notifications 

From the Client Miscellaneous tab in Notification Settings:

  1. Under 5 Star Ratings, Docs And Forms, and Product Purchase Reminder: 
    1. Template: This drop-down is where you can select a custom notification template for that notification type. Use default template means that Meevo will use the system's default notification templates.
    2. Enable Email and Enable Text: Enables the communication method for that notification type.
    3. Default for clients without override (5 Star Ratings and Product Purchase Reminder only): This determines the default state of the option for all client profiles who do not have the option set to Override. Upon saving, all client profiles that do not have an override will inherit these default settings. See the Notifications FAQ for important details on inheritance and overrides.
    4. In the Send ___ days after checkout field (5 Star Ratings only), configure the number of days after an appointment is checked out/rung up that the ratings message will be sent. A value of 0 means the notification will go out about one hour after checkout on the day of the appointment. The 5 Star Notifications service in Meevo runs at the top of the hour, every hour.
    5. In the Send thank you for clients who were referred (Referral Thank You only), select a reference point for when referred clients had their first transaction (Yesterday, Last Week, Last Month).
    6. Bulk update options (5 Star Ratings only): See More on Notification Overrides and Bulk Updates for details on performing bulk updates to client notifications.
  2. Under Self-Pay and Wait List, only the notification template can be changed. Use default template means that Meevo will use the system's default notification templates.

Enabling email notifications for a client

Email notifications are enabled per client directly in the client's profile. Clients do not receive an opt-in email or have to opt-into email notifications. 

  1. Locate and select the client profile.
  2. In the Email section of the Main tab:
  • Verify that the client has a valid Email Address entered in the profile. 
  • To enable appointment notifications for this client, select Use email for appointment notifications below the email address. This option must be selected for the client to receive email appointment notifications.
  • To make the client eligible to appear in Basic Marketing export lists, select Use email for marketing. Note Use for appointment notifications must also be enabled.
  1. Next, select the Notifications tab and enable Send Email beside your desired notifications:
  • Send __ Days Before: Specify the number of days prior to the appointment date and time that the notification will be sent.
  • Default/Override: Set this switch to Default to inherit the default settings (as defined in Notification Settings). To override the default setting, toggle the switch to Override and make your selection. See More on Notification Overrides and Bulk Updates supporting details on overrides.
  1. When finished, select Save. Your changes take effect immediately.

Opting-in a client (enabling text notifications)

Text notifications are enabled per client via the client's profile. 

  1. Locate and select the client profile.
  2. Select the Main tab and select Edit.
  3. In the Phone section of the Main tab:
  4. Ensure that a valid Mobile phone number is entered.
  5. Select Opt-in for text notifications below the phone number that will receive text message notifications. Meevo automatically sends the client an opt-in text message after you save the profile. You can check the Opt-in status in a client's profile at any time for an up-to-date opt-in status. Clients can opt-into text notifications by replying directly to the opt-in text message. Refer to our FAQs on Notifications for specifics on how client replies impact Meevo.
  6. Next, select the Notifications tab and enable Send Text beside each of your desired notifications.
  • Send __ Days Before: Specify the number of days prior to the appointment date and time that the notification will be sent.
  • Default/Override: Set this switch to Default to inherit the default settings (as defined in Notification Settings). To override the default setting, toggle the switch to Override and make your selection. See More on Notification Overrides and Bulk Updates supporting details on overrides.
  1. When finished, select Save. Your changes take effect immediately.

To turn on phone confirmations for a client

When you enable phone confirmations for a client, you are enabling the "Phone" notification type in the Confirmation Manager. When it is enabled, the phone icon will light up for this client in Confirmation Manager, indicating that the client can be called to confirm an appointment.

  1. Locate and select the client profile.
  2. In the Phone section of the Main tab:
  3. Ensure a valid phone number is entered.
  4. Select Primary beside the phone number to receive phone confirmations. Only the primary number can receive phone confirmations.
  5. Below the primary phone number, select Use for phone confirmation to enable that notification type in Confirmation Manager.
  6. When finished, select Save. Your changes take effect immediately.

Sending notifications to another client

Select a client in the Send appointment notifications to option to designate that person to receive all notifications for this client. Meevo will use the selected client's notification settings (Barbara in the image below), so the settings on this profile are hidden. Also, the Appointment Book Smart Assistant will display the Send appointment notifications to client's contact information, not the booked client's info. 

Note: Another way to reroute a client's notifications is by selecting the Minor checkbox on the client's profile and selecting a Parent/Guardian to receive notifications. 

Turning off a client's appointment confirmations (Do Not Confirm)

Select Do not confirm to disable text and email confirmations for all current and future appointments for this client. Reminders can still be configured and sent. Note regardless of this option's state, an appointment's status will always take precedence over this option for that appointment only.

If this option is enabled and you disable (deselect) it, all current and future appointments will be set to Unconfirmed, and confirmations will be sent according to the client's notifications settings.

Turning off all notifications for a client's appointment

If you wish to hide a service or appointment from the servicing client (for a surprise appointment for example), enable No notifications in the Appointment Editor.

When No notifications is enabled:

  • All appointment notifications and Docs & Forms notifications are turned off for this client for this appointment only. 
  • If the servicing client is also the Paying Client, then all notifications are disabled for all clients on the appointment. 
  • The appointment does not appear on the Future Appointments area of the client's receipt.
  • Confirmations for this appointment cannot be manually sent to the client through Confirmation Manager.

Setting default options in client profiles

In the Communication Methods section of Notification Settings > Main, you can set default values for opt-in options; your changes will affect client profiles that don't have overrides.  

  1. Use email for appointment notifications: If this option is enabled when a valid email address is entered into a client profile, the profile's Use for appointment notifications checkbox is automatically selected.
  2. Opt-in for text notifications: If this option is enabled when a valid mobile phone number is entered into a client profile, the profile's Opt-in for text notifications checkbox is automatically selected.
  3. Apply to all clients: This applies, via a bulk update, the setting's value to all client profiles that don't have an override. See More on Notification Overrides and Bulk Updates for details on performing bulk updates to client notifications.
  4. Text Opt In Request Template: Use this drop-down to select a custom notification template for text opt-in messages.
  5. Text Opt In Request Confirmation Template: Use this drop-down to select a custom notification template for opt-in confirmation messages that go to clients.
  6. When finished, select Save.