Customers & Automation
Automated Notifications
Automated Notifications
Configure which automated messages your customers receive — from appointment reminders and review requests to birthday greetings and rebooking nudges — and control when they are sent.
Where to find it — Web: Sidebar → Engage → Automations. Mobile: Engage tab → Automations section (or Settings for reconnect configuration).
Overview
Automated notifications let you:
- Send appointment reminders at a configurable time before each booking
- Request post-visit reviews automatically after completed appointments
- Welcome new customers with a message after their first booking
- Send birthday greetings, rebooking nudges, and loyalty milestone messages
- Notify customers when a booking is cancelled or they are marked as a no-show
- Run multi-wave reconnect campaigns to re-engage inactive clients
- Set Do Not Disturb hours so non-urgent messages are held overnight
All automations are available on all plans. AI-powered automation recommendations require a PRO subscription.
Automation reference
OpenChair has 12 automated notifications grouped into two categories: Booking Updates (triggered by booking events) and Growth Automations (triggered by time or milestones).
Booking updates
| Automation | Default | Trigger | Channels | Configurable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booking confirmation | Always on | Immediately when a booking is created | Email + SMS | No — cannot be disabled |
| Appointment reminder | On (24h before) | Cron job (hourly check) | Email + SMS | Hours before: 1, 2, 4, 12, 24, or 48 |
| Rescheduled update | Always on | Immediately when a booking is rescheduled | Email + SMS | No — cannot be disabled |
| Cancelled appointment | On | When a booking status changes to cancelled | Email or SMS | Channel, message template |
| No-show follow-up | Off | When a booking status changes to no-show | Email or SMS | Channel, message template |
| Post-visit review | On | Cron job (24–48 hours after completion) | Email or SMS | Strategy, aftercare message |
Growth automations
| Automation | Default | Trigger | Channels | Configurable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome message | Off | Cron job (after first booking, configurable delay) | Email + SMS (uses booking templates) | Delay: immediate, 1 hour, or 24 hours |
| New client follow-up | Off | Cron job (after first completed visit) | Email or SMS | Channel, message template |
| Birthday message | Off | Cron job (daily at 9 am venue time) | Email or SMS | Days before (1–30), channel, template |
| Rebooking nudge | Off | Cron job (daily at 9 am venue time) | Email or SMS | Days after last visit, channel, template |
| Client reconnect | Off | Cron job (daily at 9 am venue time) | Email and/or SMS | Multi-wave campaigns with independent settings |
| Loyalty milestone reward | Off | Cron job (after visit count reached) | Email or SMS | Visit milestone (3–50), channel, template |
Configuring automations
On web
- Go to Engage in the sidebar.
- Open Automations.
- Find the automation you want to configure.
- Toggle it on or off.
- For automations with settings, click the card to open the configuration panel.
- Adjust the settings and click Save.
On mobile
- Go to Engage → Automations.
- Toggle an automation on or off. A confirmation dialog appears when disabling.
- For automations with settings, tap the card to open the dedicated settings screen.
- Adjust and tap Save.
Note
Only venue owners can change automation settings. Team members can view automations and their status but cannot toggle or configure them.
Appointment reminder
Sends a reminder before each upcoming appointment. The reminder includes the service name, staff member, date, time, and a link for the customer to manage their booking.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Hours before | 1, 2, 4, 12, 24, or 48 | 24 |
Suppression rules — the reminder is skipped if:
- The booking was confirmed less than 48 hours ago (to avoid double-messaging)
- A reconfirmation request was sent less than 48 hours ago
- A reminder has already been sent for this booking
The reminder is sent via both email and SMS simultaneously.
Post-visit review
Requests customer feedback after a completed appointment. The request is sent 24–48 hours after the booking is marked as completed.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | OpenChair (internal reviews), Google redirect, Hybrid | OpenChair |
| Aftercare enabled | On / Off | Off |
| Aftercare message | Free text (up to 500 characters) | Empty |
When aftercare is enabled, the review email includes additional care instructions above the feedback request.
Welcome message
Sends a welcome message to new customers after their first booking. Uses the welcome booking message template (customisable in the template editor — see Notification Templates).
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Delay | Immediately (0 min), 1 hour (60 min), or 24 hours (1,440 min) | Immediately |
Cancelled appointment notification
Sends a message when a booking is cancelled. Triggered immediately when the booking status changes.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Email or SMS | SMS |
| Message template | Free text with variables | "Hi {{customerName}}, your appointment at {{venueName}} has been cancelled. If you need a new time, book here: {{manageLink}}" |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{manageLink}}
No-show follow-up
Sends a message when a customer is marked as a no-show. Triggered immediately when the booking status changes to no-show.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Email or SMS | SMS |
| Message template | Free text with variables | "Hi {{customerName}}, we missed you today at {{venueName}}. If you'd like to rebook, you can do that here: {{manageLink}}" |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{manageLink}}
New client follow-up
Sends a follow-up message after a customer completes their first ever visit at your venue.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Email or SMS | |
| Message template | Free text with variables | "Hi {{customerName}}, thanks again for visiting {{venueName}} for the first time. We'd love to see you again soon — book your next visit here: {{bookingUrl}}" |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{bookingUrl}}
The automation checks that the customer's visit count is exactly 1 (first visit) and deduplicates to avoid sending twice for the same booking.
Birthday message
Sends a birthday greeting a configurable number of days before the customer's birthday. Runs daily at 9 am in the venue's timezone.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Days before | 1, 3, or 7 (mobile) / 1–30 (web) | 7 |
| Channel | Email or SMS | SMS |
| Message template | Free text with variables | "Happy birthday {{customerName}}! As a little gift from us at {{venueName}}, you can book your next visit here: {{bookingUrl}}" |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{bookingUrl}}
The birthday automation requires a date of birth on the customer's profile. Customers without a birthday on file are not included.
Rebooking nudge
Sends a nudge after a configurable number of days since the customer's last visit. Runs daily at 9 am in the venue's timezone.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Days after last visit | 14, 21, 28, 42, 60, or 90 (mobile) / 7–365 (web) | 28 |
| Channel | Email or SMS | SMS |
| Message template | Free text with variables | "Hi {{customerName}}, ready for your next visit at {{venueName}}? Book here: {{bookingUrl}}" |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{bookingUrl}}
A 30-day cooldown prevents the same customer from receiving another rebooking nudge within 30 days of the last one.
Client reconnect (multi-wave campaigns)
The reconnect system sends multi-wave re-engagement campaigns to inactive customers. Each wave targets customers who have not visited for a configurable number of days, with independent message templates and daily send limits.
Reconnect settings
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Reconnect | On / Off | Off |
| Global daily limit | 1–500 | 100 |
| Exclude VIP customers | On / Off | Off |
| Exclude blocked customers | On / Off | On |
Wave settings
Each wave can be configured independently:
| Setting | Options | Default (wave 1) |
|---|---|---|
| Wave name | Free text | "6 Week Nudge" |
| Inactivity days | 7–365 | 42 |
| Channels | Email, SMS, or both | |
| SMS template | Free text with variables | — |
| Email subject | Free text with variables | "We miss you, {{customerName}}!" |
| Email body | Free text (HTML supported) with variables | Default reconnect template |
| Wave daily limit | 1–200 (optional) | 50 |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{weeksSince}}, {{lastVisitDate}}, {{bookingUrl}}
You can add multiple waves (e.g. a 6-week nudge, then a 12-week check-in). Each wave operates independently and respects its own daily limit as well as the global daily limit.
Testing a reconnect wave
Click or tap the Send Test button on any wave to send a test message to your own email or phone. Test messages bypass Do Not Disturb.
Reconnect analytics (mobile)
On mobile, the reconnect settings screen shows a 30-day analytics summary:
- Sent — total messages sent
- Clicked — link clicks with click-through rate
- Booked — resulting bookings with conversion rate
- Revenue — attributed revenue
Loyalty milestone reward
Sends a message when a customer reaches a specific visit count. Triggers once per customer at the configured milestone.
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Visit milestone | 3–50 | 5 |
| Channel | Email or SMS | SMS |
| Message template | Free text with variables | "Hi {{customerName}}, thanks for reaching {{visitCount}} visits with {{venueName}}. We appreciate your loyalty and would love to welcome you back soon: {{bookingUrl}}" |
Available variables: {{customerName}}, {{venueName}}, {{visitCount}}, {{bookingUrl}}
Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb (DND) prevents non-urgent automated messages from being sent during overnight hours. DND is calculated in your venue's timezone.
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| DND enabled | Yes |
| Start time | 9:00 pm (21:00) |
| End time | 8:00 am (08:00) |
Messages that fall within the DND window are held and logged as "blocked by DND".
Messages that bypass DND
The following message types are always delivered immediately, regardless of DND:
- Booking confirmation
- Reschedule confirmation
- Booking acknowledgement (pending request received)
- Booking decline
- Counter-offer
- Deposit expiry
- Reconfirmation request
- Magic link (passwordless sign-in)
- Test messages (sent via the Send Test button)
Automation recommendations (PRO)
OpenChair can analyse your venue's activity and suggest which automations to enable or adjust.
Note
Automation recommendations require a PRO subscription.
Recommendations appear as cards on the Automations page. Each shows a headline, explanation, and suggested action. You can:
- Apply the recommendation to enable or update the automation
- Dismiss the recommendations to hide them
Up to 3 recommendations are generated at a time, with a confidence level (high, medium, or low).
Activity tracking
Each automation card shows activity information:
- Last sent — when the automation last sent a message
- Send count — total successful sends
- Skip reasons — if messages were recently skipped, a note explains why (e.g. "Some sends were held by Do Not Disturb hours" or "Email is unavailable for some clients because earlier sends bounced")
New Zealand venues
SMS is not available for New Zealand venues. All automations that support SMS will show a warning, and the SMS channel option is not available. Use email for all automated customer communications.
Platform differences
| Feature | Web | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Automation overview | Card grid at Engage → Automations | Card grid (responsive: 1 col phone, 2 col tablet) |
| Settings access | Inline modal panels | Dedicated full-screen pages |
| Birthday days-before options | Dropdown (1–30) | Button group (1, 3, 7) |
| Rebooking days-after options | Dropdown (7–365) | Button group (14, 21, 28, 42, 60, 90) |
| Reconnect wave editor | Accordion form in panel | Accordion form on dedicated screen |
| Template editing | Text input with variable hints | Text input with variable hints |
| Disable confirmation | Direct toggle (no confirmation) | Confirmation dialog with reason |
| Non-owner view | Same UI, toggles disabled | "Owner only" label, controls disabled |
| Reconnect analytics | Not shown inline | 30-day summary card on settings screen |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Customer did not receive a reminder | Check that the appointment reminder is enabled and the configured hours match when you expected the reminder. The reminder is skipped if the booking was confirmed less than 48 hours ago. Also check that the customer's contact details are correct and not bounced. |
| Birthday message was not sent | The customer must have a date of birth on their profile. Open their profile and check the Birthday field. Also confirm the birthday automation is enabled and the "days before" setting gives enough lead time. |
| Rebooking nudge sent too soon or too late | The nudge is sent after the configured number of days since the customer's last completed visit. Check the Days after last visit setting. If the customer visited again recently, the timer resets. |
| "SMS is not available" warning | Your venue is in New Zealand, where SMS is not supported. Switch the automation's channel to email. |
| Messages not arriving at night | Do Not Disturb is enabled by default (9 pm – 8 am). Non-urgent automations (birthday, rebooking, reconnect) are held during these hours. They run at 9 am in your venue's timezone. |
| Reconnect campaign not sending | Check that the reconnect automation is enabled, at least one wave is configured, and the global daily limit has not been reached. Also verify customers meet the inactivity threshold for the wave. |
| Customer received duplicate messages | Each automation includes deduplication logic. If a duplicate was sent, check whether multiple automations overlap (e.g. rebooking nudge and reconnect targeting the same customer at similar intervals). |
Related Articles
- Notification Templates
- Customer Segments & Retention
- Sending Quick Messages (SMS & Email)
- Concierge Automation
- Engage
- Client Reconnect
- Birthday & Rebooking Automations
Last updated: March 2026