Workflow trigger - Customer booked appointment

Table of contents

1. What is the "Customer booked appointment" workflow trigger?
2. Key benefits of the "Customer booked appointment" trigger
3. Setting up the "Customer booked appointment" trigger
4. Open the workflow builder
5. Add a new trigger
6. Give your trigger a name
7. Choose who to include in the workflow
8. Set the filters
9. Save the trigger
10. Use cases
11. Use case 1: Appointment reminder
12. Use case 2: Follow-up after the appointment is booked
13. Use case 3: Internal notification for high-priority clients
14. Use case 4: Managing group appointments
15. Use case 5: Notifications for appointments with several attendees
16. Frequently asked questions

What is the "Customer booked appointment" workflow trigger?

This article is an in-depth guide to using the "Customer booked appointment" workflow trigger, a powerful tool for automating actions when a customer books an appointment on their own. By the end of this read, you will understand how this trigger works, its key benefits, the setup process and some real-world use cases.

The "Customer booked appointment" workflow trigger fires every time a customer books an appointment using a booking link or an online scheduling system, with no involvement from your team. This trigger is essential for businesses that want to automate follow-up actions, reminders and notifications based on scheduled appointments. It only works for single appointments and does not support recurring appointments.

Key benefits of the "Customer booked appointment" trigger

Automating appointment-based workflows can significantly improve operational efficiency and the customer experience. Here are some of the key benefits:

• Automatic reminders: Reduce your no-show rate by sending timely appointment reminders by email or SMS.
• Better customer experience: Keep customers informed and engaged with automatic confirmation and follow-up messages.
• Support for including guests: Automate workflows not only for the primary contact, but for the appointment guests too. Send reminders, confirmations and follow-ups to every attendee of a multi-person appointment.
• Efficient team notifications: Make sure the relevant team members are notified automatically every time an appointment is booked.
• Flexible customisation: Use filters to fire workflows for specific calendars, calendar groups or customers with particular tags.
• Better resource management: By automating reminders and follow-ups, your team can focus on delivering services instead of managing diaries manually.

Setting up the "Customer booked appointment" trigger

Follow these steps to set up the "Customer booked appointment" trigger in your workflow.

Open the workflow builder

Go to the "Automations" section. Create a new workflow from scratch or select an existing workflow where you want to use the "Customer booked appointment" trigger.

Add a new trigger

Click "Add new trigger" and type "Customer booked appointment". Select it from the list.

Give your trigger a name

Enter a descriptive name that helps you identify the trigger, such as "New appointment booking trigger".

Choose who to include in the workflow

Once you have named the trigger, select who should be included in the workflow when the trigger fires. This setting sits under "Who should be included in the workflow?" and offers three options:

• Contact only: The workflow runs only for the appointment's primary contact. This is the default behaviour.
• Contact and guests: The workflow runs once for the primary contact and once for each guest contact associated with the appointment. This is useful for appointments with several attendees where everyone needs to receive reminders or follow-ups.
• Guests only: The workflow runs only for the guest contacts; the primary contact is skipped. Use this option when the primary contact already has a separate workflow and you only want to address the guests.

Important: for the "Customer booked appointment" trigger, guests added to the appointment after the booking will not be included by this event. Only the guests present at the moment of booking are included.

Set the filters

You can refine the trigger using the following filters:

• Has tag: Select this filter if you want the trigger to fire only when a customer with a specific tag books an appointment.
• In calendar: Use this filter to target specific calendars. The workflow will only fire when an appointment is booked in the selected calendar.
• In calendar group: Choose this filter to target calendar groups. The workflow will fire when an appointment is booked in any calendar within the selected group.

Save the trigger

Once the filters are set, click the "Save" button. Make sure you save the whole workflow by clicking the blue save button in the top right-hand corner.

Use cases

Let's look at some examples where you can use this trigger.

Use case 1: Appointment reminder

Scenario: A dental practice wants to send automatic reminders to patients 24 hours before their appointment to reduce no-shows.

Result: The workflow sends a reminder email and SMS to the patient 24 hours before the appointment, improving attendance rates.

Use case 2: Follow-up after the appointment is booked

Scenario: An estate agency wants to send follow-up emails to clients who book property viewings, to confirm the details and provide the necessary instructions.

Result: The workflow sends a confirmation email with the appointment details, directions to the property and a checklist of the required documents.

Use case 3: Internal notification for high-priority clients

Scenario: A financial advisory firm wants to alert senior advisers every time a VIP client books an appointment.

Result: The workflow sends an internal email notification to the senior adviser, making sure they are prepared for the upcoming appointment.

Use case 4: Managing group appointments

Scenario: A fitness centre wants to manage group training sessions by automating notifications every time a client books a session in a group calendar.

Result: The workflow sends a confirmation email to the client and an internal notification to the assigned instructor.

Use case 5: Notifications for appointments with several attendees

Scenario: A consultancy firm schedules strategy sessions that include both the main client and other stakeholders as guests. The firm wants every attendee to receive a confirmation email and a preparation list.

Result: By selecting "Contact and guests" in the inclusion setting, the workflow sends a personalised confirmation email and a preparation list to both the primary contact and each guest, making sure everyone arrives prepared.

Frequently asked questions