Making the most of email notifications in Zoho Bookings

Making the most of email notifications in Zoho Bookings

Email notifications are one of the most versatile tools in Zoho Bookings.


We've beautified and translated them. Now, let's see what other steps we can take to further stretch their use.


In this guide, we'll use email notifications to:
  1. Create product awareness
  2. Market other services
  3. Show social proof
  4. Thank customers
  5. Collect feedback
  6. Win repeat business and more
Check out the table below to see how you can pack more value into your outgoing emails.

Email Notifications


Booked
Rescheduled
Canceled
Completed
No-show
Reminders
Agenda and meeting prerequisites






Case studies






Customer testimonials






Staff credentials






Post-appointment instructions






Data gathering






"Book another appointment" button






Service promotions







Yes, customer testimonials, case studies, and other value additions can be shared through social media. But think about this: Brands spend billions of dollars for customer attention, whereas on the other end, customers are overloaded with information. It's difficult to reach your customers amidst this chaos.

Even if you pack valuable content into your social posts, your customers are likely distracted and their attention fragmented.



But when you leverage email notifications in Zoho Bookings, you get more targeted customer attention with very little effort from your side. Above all, it is FREE.How?

Because even when faced with hundreds of emails, customers will open Zoho Bookings messages to view valuable information like appointment times and meeting links.



Plus, as customers often forget these details, they're likely to open your email notifications more than once. This means you get a customer's undivided attention on a recurring basis.

So why not leverage this?

You can double-down on the value you deliver to your customers during this attention window and let customers know more about what you have to offer.

This reinforces brand recall, strengthens customer trust, and increases repeat bookings, eventually leading to a boost in revenue.

Sending value packed emails

Let's explore different ways to deliver value to your customers.

1. Agenda and prerequisites

An agenda helps you set clear expectations by giving a preview of the session. This way, customers can prepare for what's to come.

Prerequisites are beneficial for both you and the customer. Say, for example, you teach students programming languages online. Your prerequisites might be a laptop, a GitHub account, and an integrated development environment such as Visual Studio.

This helps your students prepare and makes your class time more effective. It's a win-win situation.

Two ways to send an agenda and prerequisites to your customers include visuals and text.

Visuals

For more detailed agendas, you can create a private page on your website with stunning designs and include the page's hyperlink in your email. This is easily done by creating a share link through Zoho WorkDrive or Google Drive.

Here's what a hyperlinked agenda will look like:



To make things even easier for customers, you can hyperlink a downloadable agenda. The following video demonstrates how to add a downloadable file to your outgoing emails.



Text

If your agenda is short, you can write it out using bullet points directly within your emails.  We recommend having no more than six points to keep the message as concise as possible.


Text-based agenda


Text-based prerequisites

The following video shows how to add text-based agendas and pre-requisites to your emails.



2. Customer testimonials, case studies, and more

Customer testimonials and case studies help you showcase your credibility and gain trust. When your potential customers see highly rated testimonials and successful case studies, they'll put their faith in you.

It's also important to note that customers might have second thoughts about their appointment if it is far in advance. Sending these testimonials eliminates any such thought and reduces the possibility of a no-show.

Let's dive into some of the ways that you can send positive customer feedback along with your emails.

Landing pages and blog posts

Sometimes, the real estate in an email isn't sufficient enough. In those cases, you can hyperlink your testimonials or include buttons that lead to customer feedback forms.

Here's what the output will look like.



And here's how to add a button that links to any content of your choice.



Copy and paste the following code from the below snippet to add a button to your emails. In place of the blue "Button Text Here," you can add the text that you wish to see on your buttons.
  1. <button style="padding: 16px 32px; text-align: center; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; margin: 4px 2px; background-color: rgb(80, 73, 127)">
  2. <a href="https://www.zoho.com/bookings/customers/loanstreet.html" style="color: white; text-decoration: none">
  3. <!-- Button Text Here -->
  4. </a>
  5. </button>

Videos

You can also embed your YouTube thumbnails as images in your emails and hyperlink them to the corresponding videos. We embed thumbnails rather than videos because most email clients cannot read video embeds.

We can use online image editors like Canva to create engaging thumbnails. This method intrigues your clients, increases click through rates, and enhances brand recall.

The following GIF shows how the output will look like:



Using the same technique, you can record videos of your staff speaking on camera about:
  • The agenda, to give a preview of the session
  • Any prerequisites, to prepare your customers for an engaging session
  • Their own experience in the industry, to assure customers that they're under the guidance of an expert
Check out the following video to embed YouTube thumbnails in your outgoing emails.



  1. <a href="https://www.zoho.com/bookings/">
  2. <img src="https://i.imgur.com/JieK.png" alt="HTML tutorial" style="width:400px;height:250px;">
  3. </a>

4. Adding value after an appointment

It's best to go the extra mile and send thank you emails to your customers post-appointment. You can also send resources that may be helpful to them.

For example, a marketing team that does product demos could send out a PDF that contains help documents, support contacts, and other useful details. A solopreneur who teaches programming languages online might send a study plan and some words of encouragement.



All these steps show that you care about your customer's progress. This leads to increased trust, recurring bookings, and growth in revenue.

Depending upon the size of these instructions, you can choose to include them in the body of the email itself, or within a downloadable PDF, videos, hyperlink, or a button.

5. Collecting feedback

Both satisfied and dissatisfied customers add value to a business, and forms work well when you wish to gather their feedback. This comes in handy for cancellation and no-show emails as well because it allows us to find out why our customers have cancelled. You can also send forms along with your completed emails to find out what went well.

Here's what a hyperlinked form will look like:



Notes

1. Zoho Bookings offers five types of email notifications and three types of reminders. Not all content works with every email, and our table at the beginning of the article can help you decide on which to use. Depending upon your businesses, you can choose to stick with one or more value additions.

2. Be sure that your reminders are spaced out well. For example, if you have an appointment scheduled two weeks from now, you can send three reminders. However, if the appointment were just two days away, you would likely just want to send one reminder. This will also vary depending upon the industry you're in, so we recommend you use your best judgment.

Suggested flow ideas

So far, we've seen the content that works for different types of emails. But what should your ideal flow be?

Don't worry, we've got your back.

Here are some sample flows that you could emulate.
  • Marketing team that offers product demo calls
    • Booked email + agenda
    • Reminder 1 + staff experience
    • Reminder 2 + customer testimonial
    • Completed email + post-appointment instructions
  • Solopreneur who teaches programming languages
    • Booked email + pre-requisites
    • Reminder 1 + staff experience
    • Reminder 2 + agenda
    • Reminder 3 + case study
    • Completed email + post-appointment instructions
In this article, we've pushed the boundaries of email templates in Zoho Bookings. We've also discussed different ways that we can group together email notifications and create flows that maximize value for your audience.

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments or email us at hello@zohobookings.com. We'll be happy to help you out.

    Access your files securely from anywhere









                          Zoho Developer Community




                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts



                                                      • Topic Participants

                                                      • Siva

                                                          • Sticky Posts

                                                          • Zoho Bookings know-how: A hands-on workshop series

                                                            Hello! We’re conducting a hands-on workshop series to help simplify appointment scheduling for your business with Zoho Bookings. We’ll be covering various functionalities and showing how you can leverage them for your business across five different sessions.
                                                          • Announcing: custom color palette + free workshop

                                                            Hello everyone, We're excited to share new feature in Zoho Bookings—a color palette within booking page themes. You'll find this option under Manage Bookings > Workspaces > Booking Page Themes. You can customize the color of every element in your booking page and even alter the transparency of your background image. Please note that this is a paid feature included in the Basic and Premium plans. At the moment, it's available only under the Modern Web theme. This means you can create billions (7,
                                                          • Complete walk-through of Zoho Bookings (video)

                                                            Save time for both you and your customers. Use Zoho Bookings, the appointment scheduling app from Zoho, to free yourself from email and paper-based scheduling. Zoho Bookings can give you a common calendar by syncing multiple calendars, including yours and your staff's. Your customers can book a time convenient for them, and pay for services, through your website or the customizable webpage features available in Zoho Bookings. They'll also get emails reminding them about their appointments and any
                                                          • New Features: Service Availability and staff booking page themes!

                                                            Dear All,  Want a dedicated schedule for your one-on-one services? How would it feel to have one-on-one services open for consultations only during certain times? You need a superpower to make that happen and we give it to you - Service Availability is
                                                          • Zoho Bookings has a new pricing - Pay per user

                                                            Dear customers, Businesses around the world use Zoho Bookings. Customers have booked 1.5 million appointments and over 200K online meetings using Bookings. We are only set to cross more milestones, thanks to your support. We are excited to introduce to


                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                    Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                      Zoho Books Resources


                                                                        Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                          Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                            Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                              Qntrl Resources


                                                                                Zoho Creator 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

                                                                                            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

                                                                                                            • Client scripts for Zoho Books ?

                                                                                                              Good day everyone, I am looking for a way to be able to interact with the Quotes and Invoices as they are being created. Think of it like Zoho client script in Zoho CRM. But for the life of me I dont see a way to do this. The issue with having function
                                                                                                            • Fillable template with dynamic tables?

                                                                                                              Is there a way to build a fillable template so that users can add rows to a table? To describe what I'm trying to accomplish the table has 3 sections; a header row, some number of rows with custom information, and a summary row with totals. I can't figure
                                                                                                            • Invoicing multiple expense items as a single line item

                                                                                                                    My client would like me to invoice them for multiple expense items on a single line item on an invoice.  Can this be done?  I know I can import billable expenses to an invoice, but I don't know how to show them as a single line item or have them
                                                                                                            • Zoho IP blocked by SpamCop

                                                                                                              Hi, Many of my emails are blocked and I receive this:  INVALID_ADDRESS, ERROR_CODE :550, ERROR_CODE :spamcop.mimecast.org Blocked - see https://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?136.143.188.51. - https://community.mimecast.com/docs/DOC-1369#550 [DGwIYPPSOfWI
                                                                                                            • Tables improvement ideas / features

                                                                                                              Heya, I've been using Zoho Tables for a few months now and wanted to post some features that I think will be greatly beneficial for the tool: 1. Ability to delete a record in automation or move a record in automation. - Usecase: I move a record from one
                                                                                                            • Announcing offline payment modes for event tickets

                                                                                                              Hello everyone,   Collecting ticket payments from prospective attendees can be a tricky part of event planning. While Zoho Backstage has always allowed you to collect payments online as people buy tickets from your event microsite, we have now enabled
                                                                                                            • Gmail is ramping up its email sender policy from November 2025

                                                                                                              Hello marketers, As you may be aware, Gmail introduced a guideline for bulk senders starting February 2024. If not, here's a quick refresher straight from Google: After this policy was announced first in 2023 and soft-implemented in February 2024, we
                                                                                                            • Deluge Error Code 1002 - "Resource does not exist."

                                                                                                              I am using the following script in a Custom Button on a Sales Return. Basically, the function takes the information in the sales return (plus the arguments that are entered by the user when the button is pushed) and creates a return shipping label via
                                                                                                            • Is there a list of Zoho Icons?

                                                                                                              Is there a list of Zoho Icons you can reference: i.e. business-gold is <image marginRight='7px' color='#2A70E7' bgColor='#FFFFFF' width='52px' height='52px' type='icon' value='business-gold' size='24px' cornerRadius='26px' iconType='solid' /> Thanks!
                                                                                                            • Item images

                                                                                                              Can we get an "On hover" expanded image for items please ?
                                                                                                            • Ability to Create and Manage YouTube Video Chapters in Zoho Social

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request an enhancement to Zoho Social that would allow users to create and manage YouTube video chapters directly within the platform. Currently, Zoho Social does not support manually adding chapters
                                                                                                            • What happens to my current site SEO if i opt for zoho creator?

                                                                                                              I have an existing website and I need to use Zoho creators for the rapid creation of my webpage creation. Currently, my IT team is creating the web pages, but I am concerned about the SEO of my current website if I shift to zoho will i loose it all?
                                                                                                            • Automatic Portal invite

                                                                                                              We have numerous customers we move through a blueprint in deals, when they get to a certain point we need to give them portal access, how can this be done through deluge or a workflow?
                                                                                                            • Preview Emails with Merge Fields before sending

                                                                                                              Hello, Are there plans to preview an email with merge fields before sending out? Currently, all you see in the preview are the merge field values, but before I send out the email I want to make sure the merge is working. Also, the saved emails only show
                                                                                                            • User Filter not selecting All Items

                                                                                                              We are encountering 2 issues when using the user filter. When users are trying to search using the filter option, the OK button is grayed out. Users have to unselect or make a change before it filters properly. 2. When filtering and the OK button works,
                                                                                                            • Support Nested JavaScript Variables in PageSense Pop-up Targeting

                                                                                                              Hello Zoho PageSense Team, I hope you're doing well. I’d like to request a feature enhancement for the PageSense pop-up targeting functionality. Current Limitation: Currently, PageSense pop-ups can be triggered using simple JavaScript variables. However,
                                                                                                            • Cannot Invert Axis for Rankings

                                                                                                              Hi there I want to be able to create a ranking graph in Analytics/BI, with 1 at the top of the Y axis, but I am unable to invert the axis. Super simple example in Excel below. Higher rankings need to be higher up on the graph to give the correct visual
                                                                                                            • How to copy value from a single line field into a picklist field within a module's subform?

                                                                                                              Hello there, I have a single line field in a module's subform. I would like the value in the field to automatically update a picklist field within the same subform (both have items with the same names). Is this possible via function? Unfortunately, workflows
                                                                                                            • Committed Stock and To Be Received Stock via API?

                                                                                                              Is it possible to retrieve Committed Stock and/or To Be Received Stock for an Item via the API? I want to use this information for calculating the amount of inventory needed to be purchased.
                                                                                                            • Creating Email template that attaches file uploaded in specific field.

                                                                                                              If there's a way to do this using Zoho CRM's built-in features, then this has eluded me! I'm looking to create a workflow that automatically sends an email upon execution, and that email includes an attachment uploaded in a specific field. Email templates
                                                                                                            • Marketer’s Space - Automate a Personalized Holiday Workflow with Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                              Hello marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space! From Thanksgiving through Christmas, you have a flurry of opportunities to connect with your audience. In this post, we’ll see how you can plan an entire month-long automated workflow
                                                                                                            • Service Account Admin for API Calls and System Actions

                                                                                                              Hello, I would like to request the addition of a Service Account Admin option in Zoho product. This feature would allow API calls and system actions to be performed on behalf of the system, rather than an active user. Current Issue: At present, API calls
                                                                                                            • Zoho Inventory Custom Field Update

                                                                                                              Hello All, In this post I am describing how can we Update the Custom Field Value in Zoho Inventory. // Get Org ID orgid = organization.get("organization_id"); // Field Value resvp = ifnull(item.get("purchase_rate"),null); // Record ID iid = item.get("item_id");
                                                                                                            • Sorting columns in Zoho Projects

                                                                                                              Hi, In project management best practice, sorting columns (ascending, descending) is an important tool. Sorting dates to see the order of tasks starting, sorting on priority or even on planned hours is a must for an efficient project control. Currently,
                                                                                                            • Zoho CRM - Calendar Cards View - Let Users Decide What Is Displayed On Calendar Entries

                                                                                                              Imagine planning your week of face-to-face meetings across three counties. You’re trying to group appointments by location to make the best use of your time, but Zoho CRM’s calendar doesn’t show where each meeting is happening. You’re left trying to remember
                                                                                                            • Zoho Inventory - How to pay a supplier up front then receive multiple deliveries

                                                                                                              How do we manage situations where we pay a supplier up front, then the receive the products in increments? Example Workflow: Create Purchase Order > Receive Bill for full amount > Receive Items 2 or more deliveries. Currently, once a Bill is created against
                                                                                                            • How can I add or change the active customer in Zoho Projects?

                                                                                                              I'm trying to change the customer in an active Zoho project. Is it possible to add or change the customer?
                                                                                                            • What happens when someone clicks 'unsubscribe' in a zoho CRM email

                                                                                                              Hello, As per, i am going round in circles trying to find an answer to these 2 question. I have an email template that has an unsubscribe link in the footer in zoho CRM. First, what happens when someone clicks it - where does the contact get unsubscribed
                                                                                                            • Zoho CRM - Scheduled Reports Which Contain Chart

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho CRM Team, I'm requesting that the Report Export and Scheduling feature be enhanced to include a chart, if one has been created on a report. At the moment I have a report which shows Sales This Week by Deal Owner and a pie chart at the top of the
                                                                                                            • Can I add Conditional merge tags on my Templates?

                                                                                                              Hi I was wondering if I can use Conditional Mail Merge tags inside my Email templates/Quotes etc within the CRM? In spanish and in our business we use gender and academic degree salutations , ie: Dr., Dra., Sr., Srta., so the beginning of an email / letter
                                                                                                            • Cadences

                                                                                                              I have just started using Cadences for follow-up up email pipeline. Is it just me or do you find the functionality very basic? For example, it will tell me (if I go looking for it) if someone has replied to a follow-up and been unenrolled; but it won't
                                                                                                            • Canvas View in Zoho Recruit

                                                                                                              Is it possible or would it be possible to have the new 'Canvas View' in Zoho Recruit?
                                                                                                            • Zoho Inventory - Move Orders

                                                                                                              Quick question about Move Orders... Why is there no status to say something like "Draft", "In Progress" and "Completed", similar to Transfer Orders? I'm assuming that when something needs to be moved it should be planned in Inventory, executed and then
                                                                                                            • Kaizen #215 - Workflow APIs - Part 3 - Create and Update Workflow Rules

                                                                                                              Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve joined Zylker Cloud Services as they review and improve their workflows. In Part 1, we discovered and audited their sprawling workflow landscape. In Part 2, we learned how to
                                                                                                            • DataPrep Bigquery Connection failed

                                                                                                              Hello everybody, I want to create a connnection beetwen Bigquery and Dataprep but when I try to connect my project I got this error Loading tables has failed. Table list fetched from the data source expired.
                                                                                                            • Utilisation de Zoho en conformité avec l’article 286 du Code général des impôts (CGI)

                                                                                                              Cher(e) client(e), Conformément à l’article 286 du Code général des impôts (CGI) impose aux entreprises assujetties à la TVA d’utiliser des systèmes de caisse ou de gestion commerciale certifiés lorsqu’elles enregistrent des ventes à des particuliers.
                                                                                                            • Issue in Zoho People Regularization – Incorrect Hour Calculation

                                                                                                              I have noticed that when applying attendance regularization in Zoho People for previous dates, the total working hours are not calculated correctly. For example, even if the check-in is 10:00 AM and check-out is 6:00 PM, the system shows an incorrect
                                                                                                            • Free Webinar : Unlock AI driven business insights with Zoho Inventory + Zoho Analytics

                                                                                                              Are you tired of switching between apps and exporting data to build customized reports? Say hello to smarter & streamlined insights! Join us for this exclusive webinar where we explore the power of the Zoho Inventory–Zoho Analytics integration. Learn
                                                                                                            • Allow Multiple usage units to items while adding them to sales/purchase transactions

                                                                                                              The usage unit of items added in zoho books are static right now and can not be changed. But certain items are received or sold in multiple usage units. One example is fabric. It can be bought in Meters, inches, kgs or other units. Another example would
                                                                                                            • PO receive quantities

                                                                                                              At last, Zoho has finally got around to allowing us to receive a larger qty than recorded in the PO :-) Saves us all from editing the PO's before receiving larger quantities ( usual for us ) ! It's still in "beta" but available upon request, I've tested
                                                                                                            • Next Page