Petboost sends a new customer no welcome message of its own. Every message they receive comes from a switch on Notifications, so they only get the messages you have switched on, and a new business account starts with those switches off.

How a new customer signs in

A new customer needs no password. They sign in with a code sent to their mobile.

The customer opens your booking link.
Under Let's start with your phone number, they enter their Mobile Number and select Continue.
Under Enter Verification Code, they type the four-digit code from the text and select Confirm.

The Existing & New Clients badge tells them the same sign-in works whether or not they have booked with you before. If the code does not arrive, Resend Code sends another.

How a new customer books

After signing in, the booking form takes a new customer through Pet Details, Business, Pets & Services, Availability, Account Details and Review & Terms. On Review & Terms they accept your terms, answer Communication Preferences, and add a card when your settings ask for one. When they submit, the booking is confirmed straight away if Instant confirmation is on in Booking Settings, or waits for you to accept it.

With Require an account before showing services on in Booking Settings, Account Details comes straight after Business. The customer signs up or signs in there, then goes through Pets & Services, Availability and Review & Terms.

Where a service needs a vaccination certificate, the order decides when the customer adds it:

By default, on Review & Terms, after they pick a time
With Require an account before showing services on, when they continue from Pets & Services, before they see your times

Get a new customer's details before your times sets out what the second order gives and costs.

See the booking form as a new customer sees it

Simulate shows a customer's booking form against your live settings, and it writes nothing. Use it on a test customer to walk through what a new customer sees.

Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on a pet.
Select Simulate, then Booking Experience.
Choose a service and a time, then read Review & Terms.

The card section at the foot of Review & Terms shows what your settings ask of the customer: an optional card, a required card, or a deposit due today.

The messages a new customer receives

Each message follows the switch named beside it on Notifications.

When	Message	Switch
They book	A booking confirmation email	Email the customer: booking updates
They book	A booking confirmation text, or Text the customer: booking request received when the booking needs approval	Text the customer: booking confirmation
You accept or decline their request	An email and a text with your answer	Email the customer: booking updates and Text the customer: booking changes
An intake form is sent with the booking	A request to fill in the form	Email the customer: intake form request and Text the customer: intake form request
74 hours before, with pre-hold funds on	The pre-authorisation heads-up email, 2 hours before the hold is placed	Email the customer: pre-auth heads-up
At your Reminder Time	A reminder email and text	Email the customer: reminders and Text the customer: reminders
At your Reminder Time (2nd)	A second reminder	Email the customer: reminders (2nd) and Text the customer: reminders (2nd)
Fridays at 2pm, business time	An email about each confirmed booking from Saturday to the following Friday	Email the customer: Friday reminder
The payment is taken	A receipt	Email the customer: booking updates

On a trial, Petboost sends no automatic appointment or Friday reminders until the trial ends. Finalising the appointment sends nothing: the receipt goes when the payment is taken. Each message is filled in from the booking; Pet Owner Communications shows each one and the details it fills in.

Choose the messages a new customer receives

Switch these on before you share your booking link, so a new customer hears from you from the first booking.

Open Settings, then Notifications.
Under Booking Created, switch on Email the customer: booking updates.
Switch on Text the customer: booking confirmation.
Under Pre-Appointment Reminders, switch on Email the customer: reminders, Text the customer: reminders, or both.
Set the Reminder Time.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Reminder Time takes weeks, days, hours and minutes, with minutes in 5-minute steps. A reminder time longer than 72 hours shows This reminder may not land in time to be effective. Preparation instructions for a first visit go in the Pre-Appointment Message under Custom Messages, which Petboost adds to confirmation and reminder emails. A service can set its own reminders, and pre-hold funds can differ by service.

Tip: Two reminders suit a new customer: the first 48 hours before, with preparation in the Pre-Appointment Message, and the second 24 hours before, or on the morning with a short Reminder Time (2nd). Select Preview on a message to read it before you publish.

When your team adds a new customer

When you add a customer with a mobile number, you choose Notify customer?. With Send notification, Petboost texts them a quick login link from your business. If they already have a booking waiting on a card, the text asks them to add their card to confirm it instead. With Create silently, nothing is sent. After signing in, the customer completes anything their profile is missing before they can book. See Business-Managed Journey for bookings your team makes.

Check what a customer still has to fill in

Check this when a customer says they cannot get to the booking screen.

Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on the customer's pet.
Select Simulate, then Profile Completion.
Select Next on each step and read what it says is still needed.

Next does not move past an unfinished step. In Simulate it shows A few details are still needed and lists them, and the customer's own form names the step, such as Please complete your contact information. A customer stuck on a step never reaches Continue to Book Appointments.

Why people stop halfway

Some people stop part-way on every booking page. There is no time that suits them, a vaccination record is not to hand, the price is not what they expected, or they were just looking. The abandoned-booking alerts and the Abandoned Booking card tell you who they were, so you can text them the same day.

Follow up a new customer who did not finish

A customer who leaves the booking form part-way still leaves a record, and Petboost emails you about it hourly when Email you: abandoned bookings & unfinished profiles is on. Follow up the same day, while they still remember why they stopped.

Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on the customer's pet.
On the Action Required tab, read how far they got on the Abandoned Booking card.
To finish the booking for them, select Create Appointment.

Create Appointment opens your booking form filled in with the pet, the service and the time they chose. Send Recovery Message texts the customer instead.

What your business receives

While a new customer books, Petboost can send your business Email you: new booking copy and Text you: new booking alert, and Email you: payment declined if a payment fails. See Business Communications.

Troubleshooting

A new customer is not receiving messages

Check the email address and mobile number on their profile
Check their spam or junk folder for emails
Open their Settings & Overrides tab and read What they receive today. A customer override can switch a message off
Check the switches on Notifications. A new business account starts with them off
On a trial, automatic reminders do not send until the trial ends
A customer who replies STOP to your number receives no more texts from it

A new customer has a payment problem

Check the card on their profile
Check Pre-hold funds on Pricing & Payments
Select Get Help in your dashboard to chat with our team

First-Time Customer Journey