How can I customize the emails sent to my clients before and after an appointment?

Who is this article for?

Colib sends your clients a booking confirmation when an appointment is booked, up to two reminders before it and, if you wish, a follow-up after the session by email. You can add your own text and images to these emails (directions, parking, what to bring, exercises to do after the session...) and choose when the reminders and the follow-up are sent.

These notifications are set for each appointment type, so a first assessment and a follow-up visit can send different messages. This article explains where to customize them, which other settings change the emails your clients receive, which parts are sent in each client's language and what an SMS contains. See also the Appointment Reminders feature page.

Before you start: the notifications are customized in Settings > Appointments (www.colib.io/settings?show=appointments), for every new or existing appointment type. You need access to the practice settings.

Three types of notifications are possible:

1Open the notifications of an appointment type

1. Go to www.colib.io/settings?show=appointments. You can also click the Settings icon (gear) in the top bar, then Appointments.
2. Click the pencil icon of the appointment type (or create a new type).
3. Scroll down to the Notifications section.

2Customize the booking confirmation (initial notification)

Under Initial notification, write your text in Additional content for the initial email notifications. You can format it and add images or links with the editor toolbar.

To attach one or several documents to this email, contact us. To send forms to fill out with the confirmation, see How can I automatically ask a client to fill out a form before an appointment?

3Set up to two reminders

1. Under Reminders, turn on Send reminder(s).
2. Choose the Number of reminders: 1 or 2.
3. Enter the Number of hours between the appointment and the 1st reminder (and the 2nd reminder if you chose 2), for example 48 and 2.
4. Optionally, write your text in Additional content for the email confirmation reminders. The same text is used for both reminders.

The reminder emails can contain a button that lets the client confirm the appointment in one click (see Add a confirmation link to the reminder notifications below). A reminder whose time is already past when the appointment is booked is not sent.

4Follow-up after the session: send a follow-up email (optional)

1. Under Follow up email, turn on Send a follow up email.
2. Enter the Number of hours between the end of the appointment and the follow up email.
3. Enter the Email subject (if you leave it empty, the subject is the name of your practice followed by Follow-up after your appointment).
4. Write the Content for the follow up email sent after the appointment (required): a thank-you, exercises, a link to leave a review...

The follow-up is only sent by email. It is not sent when the client did not show up or when the appointment was cancelled.

5Save the appointment type

Click Save at the bottom of the window. Repeat for your other appointment types.

Important: new reminder and follow-up delays are not retroactive: they apply to the appointments booked afterwards. To apply them to the upcoming appointments of this type, open the type again and click Refresh scheduled notifications (confirmations are not sent again).

What your clients receive

Your content does not replace the Colib email: it is added inside it. The confirmation and the reminders always contain the greeting, the details of the appointment (client, type, date, time, practitioner, location or link to the online meeting), then your content, the buttons to modify or cancel the appointment if your settings allow it, and your email signature. The follow-up email contains the greeting, your content and your signature.

• SMS — text messages can also be sent for the initial notification and the reminders. Their text is standard and does not include the content of the appointment type.
• One version for all clients — your content and the follow-up subject are sent as written to all your clients. If you have English- and French-speaking clients, write them in both languages (see In the client's language below).
• Greeting — the greeting (Hi Alex, for example) is added automatically: no need to write it in your content.

In the client's language

Each client receives the booking confirmation, the reminders and the follow-up in their own language, English or French. Colib uses the Language field of the client record (Profile tab). A client created by an online booking gets the language in which they booked. To check or change it, please see the article titled "How to edit a client's information and communication preferences".

Tip: if you have English-speaking and French-speaking clients, write your content in both languages, one after the other (for example the English paragraph, then the French one). Keep it short: everything else in the message is already translated for each client.

Settings that apply to all your notifications

In Settings > Scheduler (www.colib.io/settings?show=scheduler), section Client notifications:

• Preferred ways to send notifications to the clients — Email & SMS, Email or SMS. Your clients need a valid phone number to receive SMS.
• Notifications options selected by default — whether the confirmation and the reminders are turned on by default when you create an appointment in the scheduler.
• Send notifications to clients during business hours only — notifications are sent between 7am and 7pm in the time zone of your practice.
• Add a confirmation link to the reminder notifications — adds the button that lets clients confirm their appointment.
• Send confirmation notifications for recurring appointments immediately — see How to create and edit recurring appointments

In Settings > Communications (www.colib.io/settings?show=communications), section General: the Tone of voice (friendly or formal), the Greetings (first name or last name) and your Email signature in English and in French, used at the bottom of all these emails. The Email reply-to section decides whether your clients' replies go to the clinic or to the practitioner.

Good to know

• Nothing clinical in an SMS — the SMS confirmation and reminders only contain the practical details of the appointment: the name of your practice, the appointment type, the date and time with the time zone, the practitioner, the link to the online meeting (or the location, in the confirmation) and the links to confirm, modify or cancel. They never contain your notes or the client's file, and the content of your appointment types is not added to them. The message you add to a single appointment, however, is included in the SMS and in the email: never put clinical information in it (diagnosis, treatment, results), nor in your email content, and choose neutral names for your appointment types. For sensitive exchanges, use the secure messaging: see how to send a private message to a client.
• For a single appointment — in the appointment window, you can turn the confirmation and the reminders on or off, and add a message for this appointment only: see How to add a custom message to an appointment? and How to create an appointment?
• Arrival confirmation — the same Notifications section offers Ask the client to confirm their arrival, sent by SMS a number of minutes before the appointment.
• All the notifications at a glance — see What notifications do clients receive after booking?
• Resend a confirmation — see How can I manually resend a confirmation notification (email or SMS) for an appointment?

Still have a question?

Write to us at support@colib.io, we will be happy to help.