Automated Email Reminders

Keeping up with long-term maintenance follow-ups is easy to let slip when you're running a busy operation. Automated email reminders let you set up scheduled follow-up emails that go out automatically after a job is completed, so your customers hear from you at the right time without any manual tracking on your end. Once you set up an automation and a matching job is marked complete, ServiceCore schedules the reminder for you. You can write your own message, insert details like the customer's name and job type automatically, and preview exactly how the email will look before it goes out.

You can manage, edit, or delete scheduled reminders at any time, and review them at both the account level and the individual customer level. If you already have completed jobs that qualify for a reminder, you can catch them up in a single pass instead of waiting for the next job to trigger one.

Before You Start

Here are a few things to know before you continue:

• You must have Manager, Admin, or Owner permissions to create or edit an automation. Deleting an automation requires Admin or Owner permissions.
• Automated email reminders are triggered by job type. Rental, Service, or Septic Job types must already exist in your ServiceCore account before you can use them in an automation.
• Reminders are sent at 10am EST on their scheduled send date.
• These emails are categorized as marketing emails. Customers can unsubscribe from them at any time. Unsubscribed customers will still receive transactional emails (like invoices and job confirmations).
• Once a customer has unsubscribed, there is no way for you or a customer to opt them back into receiving automated reminders.
• To see if you have access to this feature in ServiceCore, please check out this article on user permission levels.

Set Up an Automated Email Reminder

In order to use automated email reminders, you will need to set up an automation that tells ServiceCore which job type to watch for and how long after that job is completed to send a follow-up email. You only need to set it up once. After that, ServiceCore schedules a reminder every time that job type is marked complete.

To set up an automated email reminder, follow these steps:

1. Click "Messaging" in the top menu.
2. Click “Automations”

3. Click the “+ Create New Automation” button. 
    

   Please Note: If you're used to finding automations under Settings, that path still works. Clicking Automations under Settings > Automations > Messages will take you straight to the new Messaging > Automations location. 
   
   
    

4. Enter a name for your automation in the Automation Name field (e.g., Septic Pump Reminder).

5. Click into the Job Type field under Trigger Job Types and search for and select the job type(s) that should trigger this automation. You can select more than one.

   
   
    

6. Enter a number in the Timeframe field for how long after job completion the reminder should send (e.g., 3).
7. Use the drop-down menu next to it to select the unit, Months or Years.

8. Select whether the reminder should be sent on the 1st or 15th of the month using the drop-down menu.

   • Batching reminders to the 1st or 15th keeps your outgoing email volume organized and predictable. ServiceCore shows you an example date range as you set the timeframe, so you can confirm the schedule before saving.

     
     Once you set the timeframe below, ServiceCore schedules a reminder every time a job matching your selected trigger type is marked complete.

   
   
   
   Please Note: For Septic Job Types, you can enable “Use tech’s recommended next service date” to use that date instead of your automated email reminder’s standard schedule.
    

9. Select Customer Email or All Site Contacts as the Recipient(s) of the automated email reminder. 
10. Click into the Subject field and enter your subject line, or keep the default. 
11. Click into the Body field and write your message. 
12. Click any variable chip in the Variables panel (like Customer Name, Job Type, or Site Address) to insert it at your cursor, or drag it into place. 
    • Click the “x” on an inserted variable chip to remove it. 
13. Click "Live Preview" to see exactly how the email will render with sample data. 
    • TIP: Click "Reset" to revert your subject and body back to the default template at any time. 
14. Enable Schedule reminders for past completed jobs if you would like to send reminders to those jobs. You can learn more about this toggle in the section below.

15.  Click “Save.”

    
    

Schedule Reminders for Past Completed Jobs 

If you already have completed jobs that qualify for a reminder under this automation's timeframe, you don't have to wait for the next matching job to trigger one. Turning on Past Completed Jobs when you save lets you review and schedule reminders for jobs you've already finished. 

To schedule reminders for past completed jobs, follow these steps:

1. Enable Schedule reminders for past completed jobs before saving your automation.

2. Click “Save”.

   
   
    

3. In the window that appears, review the list of matching jobs. ServiceCore shows how many jobs are selected, the job type, and the lookback period at the top.
4. Uncheck any customer or job you don't want to send a reminder for. 

5. Click "Confirm & Schedule." 

   
   
    

You'll now see your new automation in the automations list, and the reminders you confirmed will appear in your Upcoming emails list.

Managing Automations 

Your new automation will appear in the automations list under Messaging > Automations. From there, you can edit, view upcoming emails, pause, turn on, or disable any automation.

If you disable an automation, ServiceCore will prompt you to choose whether to keep already-scheduled emails or cancel them. Pausing an automation stops new messages from being scheduled going forward. Disabling an automation is more comprehensive and affects all messages tied to it.

Delete an Automation 

To delete an automation, follow these steps:

1. Click the three-dot menu  in line with the automation you want to delete and select "Disable: All Messages."

2. Click the three-dot menu and select "Delete Automation."

   
   
    

3. In the window that appears, click "Confirm Delete."
   
   
    

Please Note: Deleting an automation also deletes all of its scheduled messages. This can't be undone. Only Admin or Owner permissions can delete an automation. 

Manage Scheduled Reminders

Once a job is completed and an automation triggers a reminder, that reminder appears in your Upcoming emails list. Each entry shows the customer, subject line, and which automation triggered it, so you can tell reminders apart when you have more than one automation running. You can review, edit, or delete any scheduled reminder before it goes out. 

Edit a Scheduled Reminder

To edit a scheduled reminder, follow these steps:

1. Complete a job that matches one of your automation’s selected job types.
2. Click “Messaging” in the top menu.
3. Click “Email.”
4. Select “Upcoming.”

5. In your list of upcoming emails, click the “Edit Scheduled Reminder” pen icon in line with the reminder you would like to edit.

   
   
    

6. Update the Date Scheduled or Recipients as needed.

   
   
    

7. Scroll down and update the Subject or Body for this specific reminder, using the same variable chips and Live Preview as your automation setup, if needed.

8. Click “Save Changes.”

   
   
    

TIP: Changes you make here only affect this one scheduled email. They won't change your automation's default message for future reminders. You can also delete this scheduled email directly from this window by clicking "Delete email."

Delete a Scheduled Reminder

To delete a scheduled reminder, follow these steps.

1. On the “Upcoming” tab, click the “Delete Scheduled Reminder” trash icon in line with the reminder you would like to delete.

   
   
    

2. In the window that appears, click “Confirm Delete.”

   
   

View Sent Reminders

The Sent tab shows you every automated email reminder ServiceCore has attempted to send, so you can confirm what actually went out and troubleshoot delivery issues.

To view sent reminders, follow these steps:

1. Click into "Messaging" in the top menu.
2. Click into "Email."
3. Select "Sent."

4. Select a Date Range (Yesterday, Today, 1 Week, or 1 Month), or enter a custom From and To date.

   

TIP: Click "Filter" to narrow results to a specific status.

Sent Email Statuses
 

Upcoming Email Statuses

Each scheduled reminder has a status that tells you what ServiceCore will do with it. The table below explains what each status means and what action, if any, you need to take.

View Unsubscribed Customers

Customers who opt out of automated reminders will not receive future automated emails, but they'll still get transactional emails like invoices and job confirmations. You can see each unsubscribed customer, their reason for unsubscribing, and the date they unsubscribed in the Unsubscribed tab. 

To view unsubscribed customers, follow these steps: 

1. Click “Messaging” in the top menu.
2. Click “Email.”

3. Select “Unsubscribed.”
    

   

Review Scheduled Reminders from a Customer Profile

To review scheduled reminders from a customer profile, follow these steps: 

1. Open the customer’s profile.
2. Click the “Notifications” tab.
3. Select “Scheduled Messages.”
4. In the list, you can edit or delete any scheduled message.

TIP: Click “View Sent Emails” in Scheduled Messages to review all sent emails.

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@servicecore.com!