SMS reminders have become table stakes for the way businesses communicate with clients, and they've been a long-requested feature by HoneyBook members. You can now send select types of SMS reminders to your clients to streamline communication, reduce friction, and ensure fewer payments and sessions go missed.
The types of SMS reminders currently available are:
š£ Note
This feature is free while in Beta.
Adjust SMS reminders for your company
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By default, SMS reminders are turned ON for your account, and the client opt-in is automatically added to your contact/lead forms and session schedulers that contain a linked phone number field (see more on client opt-in HERE). If you'd like to keep SMS reminders ON, no action is needed!
That said, SMS session reminders are tied to the session-specific reminders you can set up. You can adjust the reminder settings for each session by following the steps here.
SMS payment reminders are tied to three of the payment reminders that you can toggle ON or OFF under your Company Preferences. Learn more here.
Turn SMS reminders ON or OFF
1. From any page, click your profile photo in the top right corner of your screen > select Company Settings from the menu.
2. Select Preferences, then scroll down to the SMS reminders section.
3. Toggle Send SMS reminders (free during Beta) ON or OFF.
If you want to turn SMS reminders on for your sessions, follow the additional steps below.
If you want to make sure that SMS reminders for payments are turned on, or adjust which are turned on/off, follow the additional steps here.
For session reminders
Once you've made sure that SMS reminders are turned ON for your company, you can adjust SMS reminders for sessions.
1. From your HoneyBook home page, click the Tools menu > select Scheduler.
2. Locate a session that youād like to adjust SMS session reminders for, then click Edit.
3. Under the Send invitee reminders section, click the reminder type dropdown > select the reminder type(s) you'd like to send.
š£ Note
At this time, you cannot send just SMS reminders for sessionsāyou must select email AND SMS.
4. Make any other adjustments to the reminders (such as: customizing the timing), then click Save and Finish.
5. Repeat this process for any other session types!
For payment reminders
Once you've made sure that SMS reminders are turned ON for your company, you can adjust SMS reminders for payments.
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The types of SMS payment reminders that are currently available are:
1 day before due date for autopay/recurring payments
Due date
2 days past due date
These reminders are tied to the payment reminders that you can toggle ON or OFF under your Company Preferences. Please note that toggling one of these three payment reminder types ON will turn on both SMS AND email reminders, and toggling one of these three payment reminder types OFF will turn off both SMS AND email reminders.
1. From any page, click your profile photo in the top right corner of your screen > select Company Settings from the menu.
2. Select Preferences, then scroll down to the Payment reminders section.
3. Toggle the Recurring/Autopay, Due date and/or Overdue + 2 reminder ON or OFF to adjust the setting for both SMS and email reminders.
Who will receive SMS reminders?
Clients must opt-in to receive SMS reminders before any are sent. The client opt-in has been automatically added to your contact/lead forms and session schedulers that contain linked phone number fields. It will stay live unless you turn SMS reminders OFF for your company.
š Tip
The opt out rate for clients after opting in is nearly 0%, so clients are overall satisfied with this new experience!
A client will receive SMS reminders if one or more of the following criteria are met:
Submitted your contact form or lead form, entered their phone number in a linked phone number field when filling it out, and opted in to receiving SMS reminders at that time
Scheduled a session with you, provided their phone number, and opted into receiving SMS reminders at that time (on or after March 17, 2024)
What are the different reminder types?
Smart file access codes
Why? This seriously reduces friction for you and your clients.
What? Smart file access codes sent to your client via text.
Who? The client accessing the file.
The impact? Weāve seen 98% of access to smart files has been via SMS code, and not email code. We believe thatās because delivering codes via SMS has reduced a lot of friction in accessing files!
How do I set this up? These SMS reminders are turned on by default, unless you disable SMS reminders for your company.
Payment reminders
Why? To help you get paid on time.
What? Weāve added text functionality to any payment reminders you set up that send via email 1 day before autopay/a recurring payment is due, on the day a payment is due, and when a payment is 2 days overdue. These are sent in addition to email reminders on those days, rather than instead of. Text payment reminders arenāt sent on holidays or over the weekend to minimize disruption to your clients.
Who? These text reminders are sent to all client participants in the project.
The impact? Faster payments and fewer overdue ones!
How do I set this up? These reminders are tied to the payment reminders that you can toggle ON or OFF under your Company Preferences. Just make sure that the Recurring/Autopay, Due date, and/or Overdue + 2 payment reminder types are toggled ON under your Company Preferences.
Session reminders
Why? We want to drastically reduce the number of no-shows by adding text reminders to sessions you book with your clients.
What? Reminders for a scheduled session sent via text, in addition to email.
Who? The client on the meeting.
The impact? Higher meeting attendance!
How do I set this up? Session reminders are enabled on a session-by-session basis, and must be sent in addition to email reminders. Just follow the steps here.
FAQ
When are payment reminder texts sent?
SMS payment reminders are sent around 9am in the client's timezone.
Can I send SMS reminders to existing clients?
At this time, no. Clients must consent to receive SMS through your contact form or lead form, or session scheduler, in order to receive text reminders.
Can clients opt out of receiving SMS reminders?
Yes. Clients can opt out of SMS at any time by writing āopt-outā as a reply to an SMS reminder. Upon sending the phrase āopt-out," they will no longer receive texts related to your company, unless they text āopt-inā at which point they will be re-enrolled.
Can clients respond to SMS reminders?
Clients cannot respond via text to SMS reminders. If they do, they will get an error message response instructing them to contact you (the business) via email, as SMS reminders are sent from an unattended number.
Will SMS reminders show in the corresponding project's activity feed?
At this time, only payment and session reminders will show in a project's activity feed. A special status will appear for the corresponding SMS reminder.
Why are my SMS reminders not sending?
If your SMS reminders are not sending or delivering as intended, there are a few places to check.
1. First, make sure SMS reminders are turned ON for your company (they're turned on by default).
2. If you're experiencing trouble with SMS session reminders, make sure that the appropriate session has Email & SMS selected as the reminder type, and that the timing is set as intended, by following these steps.
3. If you're experiencing trouble with SMS payment reminders, make sure that the appropriate payment reminder type(s) (Recurring/Autopay, Due date, and/or Overdue +2) are toggled ON under your Company Preferences, by following these steps.
4. Make sure that your published contact form or lead form contains a linked phone number field:
5. Make sure that your client didn't enter a landline number, the incorrect number, or another number that can't receive SMS messages.
6. Check that the SMS reminder was not set to send on a weekend and/or holiday, per the rules outlined here.
7. If the SMS reminder was a payment or session reminder, check the status of the text.
What phone number will SMS reminders send to?
SMS reminders will send to the phone number that your client entered in the linked phone number field when filling out your contact form or lead form, or the phone number they entered when scheduling a session with you (after March 17, 2024).
Are SMS reminders sent on holidays?
Select SMS reminders are not sent on weekends and/or federal holidays to respect client privacy, and will be delayed to send on the following business day.
We'll break down the weekend and holiday sending rules below.
Smart file access codes: SMS smart file access codes are considered urgent and will send on weekend and/or holidays.
Payment reminders: SMS payment reminders will not send on the weekend and/or holidays. If a payment reminder falls on a weekend and/or holiday, it will be delayed until the following business day, if it is still relevant (i.e. client has not paid).
Session reminders: If an SMS session reminder will send on a weekend and/or holiday depends on the selected timing in the reminder.
X minutes or hours before session: Considered urgent and will send on the weekend and holidays
X days or weeks before session: Will not send on the weekend and holidays. If the reminder was due to send on a weekend and/or holiday, it will send the next business day
What are the different statuses available for SMS reminders?
At this time, only SMS payment and session reminders will show in projects' activity feeds. For the corresponding payment and session reminder emails, a special SMS icon will show the status of the text message reminder.
The following SMS statuses indicate a successful send:
Sent: This status appears briefly, along with the time and date of send
Delivered: Indicates that the SMS reminder was delivered, but does not guarantee it has been read
Opened: This status is triggered if a client clicks on a link in the SMS reminder
The following SMS statuses indicate a failure:
Undeliverable: Indicates that the SMS message was not delivered. This status can appear if the client provided a landline number, there is a carrier issue, the client opted out, or the client hasn't yet opted in to receive SMS reminders
Not sent: Indicates that the SMS message was not sent
Not supported: This status appears for all activity feed items that arenāt supported with SMS, such as messages sent through the activity feed
SMS disabled: This status appears if SMS reminders are turned OFF for your company, or just for the corresponding reminder type
š Tip
Learn more about message statuses here.
Can I customize the SMS reminder texts?
At the moment, the content of SMS reminders cannot be edited.
How do I add the client opt-in for SMS to my contact/lead forms and Scheduler?
The client opt-in for SMS reminders is automatically added to your contact forms and lead forms with linked phone number fields. Similarly, the client opt-in is automatically added to your session schedulers (for sessions scheduled on or after March 17, 2024).
The client opt-in will stay live unless you turn SMS reminders OFF for your company.
Will I receive SMS reminders?
All SMS reminder types are sent only to clients. They are not sent to you (the business).
You can verify if an SMS reminder was sent by checking the corresponding message's status in the project's activity feed.
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!