Automating appointment status and customer feedback collection

Automating appointment status and customer feedback collection

Hello community members,

In the spirit of elevating your scheduling game for 2024, we're bringing you a couple of useful workarounds that can enhance your overall Bookings experience.

We have divided the community post into two halves. In the first half, we will show how to automate the appointment status to Completed. This action ensures that emails are automatically triggered after the appointment is completed. In the second half, we will explore how to add and prefill the feedback form in your customer emails. This will allow you to efficiently gather feedback from customers.

In an effort to streamline the entire process, we're merging both topics into a single post. This aims to automate updating the appointment status to completed, triggering the completion email to customers, and seamlessly integrating our Zoho Survey form for actively collecting valuable feedback.

Automating the appointment status

Currently, updating an appointment's status to Completed is a manual process in Zoho Bookings. However, with our new workaround, you can now streamline this task through automation. We've included steps below that will make it so that once an appointment has ended, its status will automatically switch to Completed.  

Note that if you mark an appointment as No show, your selection will not be overwritten by this new workaround. 

If you're still concerned about this, consider editing the content of the appointment completion trigger email, providing generic content suitable for both attendees and non-attendees. This guarantees that even if all appointments are marked as completed, a generic email with relevant information will be sent to all customers.

Prerequisites for automating the appointment status 

1. Zoho Bookings basic or premium subscription.
2. Zoho Flow paid subscription

How to automate 

A. First, we'll create a new flow in Zoho Flow:

1. Sign in to Zoho Flow.

2. Select the Create flow option.



3. Select App and search for Zoho Bookings in the search bar.



4. Select the Appointment booked trigger.



5. Select the Connection and Variable Name.



6. Click Done. 

You have now created a new flow for Zoho Bookings.

Other helpful links for this process:
B. Next, let's configure the logic: 

1. Navigate to the Logic tab in Zoho Flow.

2. Click the Flow Control dropdown and select Delay.

3. Drag and drop the Delay function to the bottom of the Appointment booked trigger.



4. Click on the edit icon next to the Delay function.



5. In the Delay For the column, select the appointment end time variable from the available Zoho Bookings variables.



Completing this steps helps us ensure that this workflow executes exclusively at the end of each appointment.

C. We can now allocate additional time for any necessary actions:

For example, let's consider extending the remaining actions by an extra 5 minutes. This extension grants you additional time to update the appointment status. 

1. From the Logic tab, drag and drop another Delay action to the bottom of the first Delay action.



2. Click on the edit icon next to the Delay function.



3. In the Delay For column, set the desired extra time based on your preference. If going by our proposed example, we'd configure an additional 5 minutes.


For more details: Delay

Note: If you decide not to include extra time and prefer to execute the flow precisely at the end of the appointment duration, you do not need to complete this section of steps.

D. Finally, let's configure a custom function

Through this step, we'll ensure our ended appointment's status updates to Completed (as long as no other status has been selected).

1. From the Logic tab, click the Custom Functions dropdown.



For more details: Custom Functions

2. Click +Custom Function.



3. Add a relevant name for the function under Function Name, and set the Return Type as void - Returns nothing from the dropdown.

4. Under Input parameters, type bookingID and select string from the dropdown as shown in the screenshot below.



5. Click Create to open the Deluge script page, where we will enter our code for execution.

Please configure the below code in the Deluge script page.  

Code Link



If you're interested, here is a brief explanation of the code:

Line 1: To pass the input data below to the code.
  • Booking ID: Identifies the specific booking for fetching details and checking the status.
Line 3: Set up the API endpoint URL based on the Zoho Bookings account's data center.
Line 3–12: We utilize the Get Appointment API' to retrieve the appointment details. For more details: Get Appointment API

Line 13: Here, we're fetching the status of the respective appointment from the response of the Get Appointment API.

Line 15: Implement an 'if' condition to execute the code only if the appointment status is not No show.

Line 16–27: In this step, we utilize the 'Update Appointment API to mark the appointment status as Completed' when the condition specified in line 15 of the code is met.

This is how the final flow will look:



Note: The described flow is tailored for newly scheduled appointments. For cases where appointments are initially scheduled and later rescheduled, a separate flow must be created. The flow for rescheduled appointments follows the same steps outlined above, with the only modification being the initial trigger. Instead of the 'Appointment booked' trigger, please substitute it with the 'Appointment rescheduled' trigger in step A (steps B, C, and D remain the same).



Collecting feedback with surveys

Ensuring a seamless and positive customer experience is a top priority for every appointment. An integral part of this process involves gathering feedback from customers after the appointment's completion. This valuable feedback not only helps understand their sentiments but also provides insights for continuous improvement. 

Let's explore how to leverage Zoho Survey to collect valuable feedback from customers. Additionally, we'll delve into the process of pre populating survey fields with the customer's name extracted from the appointment.

How to create a survey in Zoho survey:

You have the option to create a new survey from scratch or choose from templates or existing surveys.

For more details, refer to: Create a Survey.

As an example, let's use the Customer Feedback Survey from the templates.




To enhance your survey experience, you have the flexibility to edit the survey form and select specific fields for inclusion.

Now, let's take a closer look at streamlining the customer experience by auto-populating the field inputs in Zoho survey with customer details. This additional step eliminates the need for customers to add their information manually, contributing to an enhanced overall experience.

1. Click on the Actions button (three dots) next to the Last Name field, and choose Edit.




2. Click on Advanced options and check the box next to Prepopulate answer.



3. Select First Name, Last Name, and Email Address under Question label and URL parameter in each corresponding Value from field.



4. In the Value field, configure the parameter name (e.g., firstname, lastname, email). Once configured, this parameter name will be used in the survey link to prefill the fields in the survey form. Customize it as per your requirements, ensuring consistency with the term used in the survey URL.



To publish the survey, go to the Launch tab and click on the Publish button to obtain the Zoho Survey URL.




Pre-populating fields in the Zoho Survey form

Once we have the Zoho Survey URL, we'll need to match the configured parameter name and variables from the Zoho Bookings email notifications. These variables play a crucial role in dynamically fetching customer information and populating it in the Zoho Survey form.

For details about variables in Zoho Bookings email notifications, refer to this link: Pre-defined variables

We'll now edit the survey URL to align the variables with the configured Value, or parameter name, from our prepopulated answer settings.

Let's say this is our survey URL: 

https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/E****h

We'll want to use a question mark ("?") at the end of the survey URL and an ampersand ("&") to separate different parameter names.

Here's what that would look like using our example Value names from earlier:


Now, let's map the parameter names to the Zoho Bookings variables.

It would look like this:


For more details: Autofill 

Where to use the Zoho Survey URL

To enable the automatic sending of the Zoho Survey URL to customers upon updating the appointment status to Completed, follow these steps in the Zoho Bookings application:

For one-on-one services:

1. Click on Service in the top left corner.
2. Select the desired one-on-one service.
4. Navigate to the For Customers tab.
5. Click Customize next to the Mark As Completed' trigger to access the email content.



6. Enter your desired name for the button. For example, you might use something like 'Please fill out the survey'. 

7. Select the entered text and click on the Add Link icon. Paste the configured Zoho Survey URL in the URL box. This will convert your text into a hyperlink that leads to the survey.



For group and resource booking services, please follow the same steps under Workspaces > Notifications.

For more details: Workspace Notifications

With the completion of this step, we have incorporated the Zoho Survey URL with dynamic variables, facilitating the dynamic autofill of customer data.

To wrap it up

With the successful implementation of the configuration described above, the entire process of automating status updates and collecting feedback is now seamlessly integrated, promising an elevated and enhanced product experience for all users.

If you have any questions or need assistance with your configuration, please email us at hello@zohobookings.com or support@zohobookings.com.



    Access your files securely from anywhere

          Zoho Developer Community




                                    Zoho Desk Resources

                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                    • Digest


                                    • Functions


                                    • Meetups


                                    • Kbase


                                    • Resources


                                    • Glossary


                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                    • MVP Corner


                                    • Word of the Day



                                        Zoho Marketing Automation
                                                • Sticky Posts

                                                • Approve or deny appointments based on criteria

                                                  Hey, community members! Have you ever wondered how to automatically approve or deny appointments? While we're still working on building that feature, we've got an alternative method to cancel appointments if they don't meet your specific criteria. Let


                                                Manage your brands on social media



                                                      Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                        Zoho DataPrep Resources



                                                          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                            Zoho Books Resources


                                                              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                    Qntrl Resources


                                                                      Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                          Zoho Campaigns Resources


                                                                            Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                            • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                              CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                            • Kaizen

                                                                              Kaizen

                                                                            • Functions

                                                                              Functions

                                                                            • Meetups

                                                                              Meetups

                                                                            • Kbase

                                                                              Kbase

                                                                            • Resources

                                                                              Resources

                                                                            • Digest

                                                                              Digest

                                                                            • CRM Marketplace

                                                                              CRM Marketplace

                                                                            • MVP Corner

                                                                              MVP Corner





                                                                                Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                Get Started Now


                                                                                  Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                    Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                    Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                    Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                      Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                                                                        Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                            ご検討中の方





                                                                                                  • Recent Topics

                                                                                                  • I need help in setting up a script that works for my calling service

                                                                                                    Please i need your guidance and expertise in how to go about a particular scripting. You see, we are a call service that assists companies to receive calls for them, i need to create a system in my Zoho CRM whereby i will receive call from my already
                                                                                                  • Cost Center accounting

                                                                                                    Hello all. We are looking at switching from MYOB to Zoho books. Love all the features in books - esp. CRM integration, but the big gap for us is the lack of cost-center accounting feature. Are there firm plans to develop this feature in Zoho Books? If
                                                                                                  • Impuesto automatico en cotizaciones

                                                                                                    Buen dia Mi pregunta es como se puede poner alguna operacion para que las cotizaciones me salgan automaticamente con impuestos ya que uno al cargarla al final tienen que añadir el porcentaje de impuesto Saludos
                                                                                                  • Formatting of Gantt Chart for PDF export

                                                                                                    Hi all, There really needs to be some improvements to the presentation of exported PDF Gantt Charts. An exported format is the way that most people on a project (other than the PM directly) will consume this data. The current PDF export options are lacking a lot of control. - I'd like to firstly have control over the export size of the PDFs (A4, A3 etc), Currently it seems arbitrary - very large aspect ratio print sizes. - Next i'd like to be able to specify the print date range, and scale (show
                                                                                                  • How to Iterate a Function in Zoho Desk Workflow with Delay Between Calls?

                                                                                                    Hi everyone, I’m working on a function in Zoho Desk that searches for a specific ticket record. If the ticket is not found, I need to retry the search multiple times with a delay between each attempt until the ticket is located or a maximum number of
                                                                                                  • タスクを問い合わせテンプレートに追加

                                                                                                    タスクを問い合わせテンプレートに自動で追加されるようにしたいです。どうしたらいいですか
                                                                                                  • Placeholder for Agent Signature in Email Templates

                                                                                                    Dear Zoho Team, I hope this message finds you well. We currently face a limitation when designing email templates in Zoho Desk. While we can create email templates and include a footer at the end, the agent signature is always appended by default at the
                                                                                                  • Custom Profile Agents Unable to Update Mandatory Phone Number in tickets under Zoho Desk

                                                                                                    Hi, While working in the Ticket module in Zoho Desk, agents with a custom profile are unable to update the Phone Number field (which is mandatory) under Account Information. The agents need to enter values such as "NA" or "Nil" in the field to close the
                                                                                                  • Response Violation - Zoho Desk

                                                                                                    Hi Team, I just need an information regarding the zoho desk - Response Violation and how can we avoid the tickets from getting the tickets response violated.
                                                                                                  • How to Replace an Assessment in a Job Opening on Zoho Recruit

                                                                                                    Hi everyone, I’m currently using Zoho Recruit and would like to replace the assessment linked to a specific job opening. I want to remove the existing assessment and add a new one. What is the best way to do this without losing any important data or affecting
                                                                                                  • Updating existing values in a list

                                                                                                    Is it possible to update an existing value in a list? For example if I wanted to append text to an existing string value that I had previously added to a list is that possible? I'm able to extract the existing value (get() function) and append the additional text, but can't find a way to add the new value back to the list in the same index location. One work around I found was to delete the existing list entry and then add the new value, however this changes the index location to the last entry in
                                                                                                  • Host not reachable

                                                                                                    Good morning. I have four mail accounts and they have been working well for years. Now, suddenly, I am unable to send any e-mails from any of them. I allways have this pop-up: Thank you. Regards. Luis Fernández
                                                                                                  • BIN Locations

                                                                                                    Hi, I’m new to Zoho inventory and unless Im missing something, I cannot find BIN locations anywhere in ‘items’? please tell me it’s there somewhere?!? Thanks
                                                                                                  • Zoho Marketing Campaign

                                                                                                    I want a details report of marketing API . which API i can use to get a full flexed detail of email campaign , sms , social media ,and all other campaigns ?
                                                                                                  • Zoho Marketing Automation APIs

                                                                                                    When I want to create New lead in marketing automation , I want to add First Name and Last Name as well along with Email but there is no option like this in API . Can you please give me the API which will fulfill my condition ?
                                                                                                  • Website not found when trying to unlock Zoho vault with fingerprint(authenticator) in windows 11

                                                                                                    Whenever I try to unlock the Zoho vault with fingerprint(authenticator) it shows the Website not found on the server. To replicate the issue follow the below steps: Download the zoho vault extension and login. And now open the zoho vault extension ->
                                                                                                  • Adding Folders in Android App

                                                                                                    Is it possible to create a new email folder within the Zoho Mail Android app?  Or can this only be done from the desktop version of Zoho Mail? Cheers!
                                                                                                  • Collaborative editing of spreadsheets by multiple users simultaneously - Is it really possible?

                                                                                                    I work in a SharePoint 2010/SharePoint Server 2010 environment and we use MS Office 2007(Excel 2007) . I have been trying to create a MS Office document which will allow multiple users to work on a spreadsheet simultaneously. For that I have: 1) Created a excel workbook and published as a workspace as suggested by Andrea Kalli in her link: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-collaborate-files-between-sharepoint-and-office-2007-182172/ 2) Set up and saved the Excel Workbook as "Shared" and made it available
                                                                                                  • Ability for customer to give feedback after receipt of an order

                                                                                                    Is there any way we can receive feedback from customers regarding their order after delivery (other than just an email, obviuosly)? This is not the same as product reviews, as it may concern other points, but would ideally have an inbuilt reference to
                                                                                                  • Issue with EU MArketplace

                                                                                                    Hi It's super frustrating that many CRM / Zoho (whatever) extensions are not available in the EU Market place Example: https://marketplace.zoho.com/app/crm/time-tracker-extension-for-zoho-crm For now, can the team address the extension above, but on the
                                                                                                  • Conversion of functions from Google Spreadsheets

                                                                                                    Hello! I use this formula "=QUERY(ResumoOrdemVencimento!A3:O38;"SELECT A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O WHERE C != '' ORDER BY C,G")" in Google Sheets but when importing my spreadsheet into Zoho Sheets the formula was not converted. The QUERY function brings data from another spreadsheet, and then I sort and apply conditional formatting. The order of data will change automatically as I update the source spreadsheet. What Zoho Sheets function is equivalent to QUERY? I have some other spreadsheets to
                                                                                                  • Zoho Books Sandbox environment

                                                                                                    Hello. Is there a free sandbox environment for the developers using Zoho Books API? I am working on the Zoho Books add-on and currently not ready to buy a premium service - maybe later when my add-on will start to bring money. Right now I just need a
                                                                                                  • Zoho Books | Product Updates | November 2024

                                                                                                    Hello users, We are back with exciting new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From multi-criteria workflows to writing off customer opening balances, discover the new updates designed to make your bookkeeping swift. Attach XRechnung to Invoices
                                                                                                  • Spell check sucks

                                                                                                    Come on guys, it's 2024 and your spell check is completely retarded. You gotta fix it.
                                                                                                  • Signature image logo not displaying in recipient mail clients

                                                                                                    Whenever I send an email to another person the image that forms part of my logo is not displayed just a broken link to: https://mail.zoho.com/mail/ImageSignature?fileName=Email-log.jpg&accountId=47238000000007001&storeName=NN1:-3205531763309921492 I can see the logo because I've got a zoho account and I'm logged on but others without a zoho account can't see it. How do I fix this? Thanks -Martin
                                                                                                  • Sales Order, what are the statuses under Confirmed and Closed

                                                                                                    Hi, I have to build a workflow in Deluge which should be triggered when Sales Order status is Confirmed or Closed. But these 2 states don't exist when you fetch a sales order. Which of the statuses are considered as Confirmed or Closed ? Here is a list
                                                                                                  • Notifications for calendar meetings

                                                                                                    So we have been happy users for a few months now. This is an important problem we face, since I have forgotten meetings already cause of lack of notifications. The problem: I have notifications (email, popup and notifications) set for my calendar by default.
                                                                                                  • Reusuable Sections & Universal Brand Settings

                                                                                                    Zoho Email Campaign setups take longer than other software I've used because it doesn't have reusable sections or universal brand settings (fonts and colors). These enhancements should be added to help us create our campaigns more easily.
                                                                                                  • Blockchain technology

                                                                                                    Blockchain technology is being used to revolutionize accounting and financial reporting. With blockchain, financial transactions are recorded on a decentralized ledger, making tracking transactions and verifying their accuracy easier. This technology
                                                                                                  • Este domínio já está associado a esta conta

                                                                                                    Fui fazer meu cadastro na zoho e quando digitei meu domínio recebi essa mensagem que meu domínio estava associado a uma conta que eu nem faço idéia de quem seja. Como que faço pra resolver isso? Atenciosamente, Anderson Souza.
                                                                                                  • not able to hit inventory api

                                                                                                    when i hit the api with my account keys and the access is provide by the client
                                                                                                  • Remove County field from Customer Address input screen (or allow input to be deleted)

                                                                                                    We are in the USA and have just noticed that there is now a County field in the Customer Address input screen (and maybe other areas of Zoho Books, but this is the one affecting us at the moment). County is not important to our business, and in fact we
                                                                                                  • 553 Relaying disallowed error

                                                                                                    Hi, I am receiving a "553 Relaying disallowed" error when sending emails to my domain email address which I have configured in Zoho. However, I am able to receive emails from my domain email to my gmail account. The SPF and MX entries are all configured
                                                                                                  • !! URGENT My sent mail goes to spam

                                                                                                    I tested a few times and every time I send mail out it goes the recipients spam box.  Why is it marking my mail as spam? please help me ! thanks
                                                                                                  • Event Time Zone in meeting invites are confusing users

                                                                                                    When sending calendar invites to internal and external users, the first section "Event Time Zone" is confusing people and they are automatically declining events. Can this section please be removed??? It already shows the correct time zone next to the
                                                                                                  • Request For Quotation (RFQ) module

                                                                                                    Hello, Do you have any plans to implement a RFQ module in to ZOHO Inventory? I would like to chose items that I require a price for, select a number of different suppliers to e-mail and have them submit there pricing online. I would then like to see a
                                                                                                  • Constant Sync Errors 🙄

                                                                                                    I'm constantly getting sync error notifications with no actual resolution. Also... I have folders and files with a (!) on the cloud icon, indicating it's not accessible. This has also led to the complete loss of certain folders. Like... the go missing!
                                                                                                  • Display your zoho contact name when they call your mobile number

                                                                                                    As per the title If a contact calls the office number, the contacts name shows on mobile as long as I have their contact details registered in my crm. Is there a way that if the contact calls my mobile, their name can be displayed? Currently just their number shows when they call.
                                                                                                  • In Zoho Projects, is there a way to create a folders template under documents that can be used once a project is created?

                                                                                                    We have a specific folder structure that we would like to use that is standard across every project. Instead of having to create this structure every time a project is created, is there a way to create a template for the folders that can be added?
                                                                                                  • javax.mail.authenticationfailedexception 535 authentication failed

                                                                                                    Hi, I am facing 535 authentication failed error when trying to send email from zoho desktop as well as in webmail. Can you suggest to fix this issue,. Regards, Rekha
                                                                                                  • Next Page