Message a customer about their booking

Most of what you can send sits in the job's actions menu, under Tell the customer. Call and Text sit on the job card at the top of the job. They work in one of two ways:

• TradeBooked sends it: Notify customer, Send BACS details, Payment chasing, and Ask the customer in Activity & messages. These are emails from your business name via TradeBooked.co.uk (or just your business name if you have switched on Remove TradeBooked branding on Pro or Autopilot). Replies go to your business email.
• Your own phone sends it: Draft a message, Call and Text open your own Messages, WhatsApp, Mail or phone app. The customer sees your number or email address, and nothing is recorded on the job.

You will need:

• The customer's email address for anything TradeBooked sends, and their phone number for Call, Text, Message and WhatsApp
• A booked time for Notify customer. It does not show on a request you have not confirmed, a job with no date agreed, or a completed or cancelled job
• Your bank details saved for Send BACS details (on iPhone, More, then Settings, then Bank details)

Open the job from Today or Jobs and tap Actions at the bottom of the screen. The Job actions menu opens. Every row under Tell the customer puts something in front of the customer.

On Android, tap the menu button at the bottom of the job. On the web, open Bookings and press More actions (the three dots) on the booking card, where Notify customer is under Manage job.

Payment chasing and Send BACS details only appear on a completed job with money still owing. Send closeout link and Send review request live here too, and have their own guides.

Tap Notify customer. Nothing is sent yet. A confirm step opens, titled with the customer's name (Notify Sarah? for example). It says when they were last emailed (such as Emailed Sarah 16 Sep, 10:32, or Not notified yet), then exactly what will go, for example Notify emails Sarah Thu 17 Sep, 2:00 pm with a calendar invite.

Tap Send, or Cancel to close it with nothing sent. If the email cannot go, the step stays open and says why.

The email gives the service, date and time, job address, your phone number and booking reference, with a calendar invite the customer can tap. Its heading depends on what they already know:

• The time has changed since they were last told: New time for your booking (or New dates, or New start time)
• Nothing has changed: Updated calendar invite for your booking, so it works as a resend
• They have never been told a date: the Booking confirmed email instead

Once it has gone, the job shows when you emailed them. If your customer reminders are set to SMS or WhatsApp, the job also offers Text Sarah the time as well (or WhatsApp Sarah the time as well), which opens your own Messages or WhatsApp with the time typed in. You send that yourself.

Tap Draft a message and type what you want to say on the Message Sarah screen. Nothing is sent until you pick how under Send it:

• Message: opens Messages to the customer's number with your words in it
• WhatsApp: opens WhatsApp with your words in it. On iPhone you pick the chat. On Android it opens the customer's chat
• Email: opens your mail app to the customer, with the subject About your job and the booking reference
• Share another way: opens the share sheet for any other app

Message and WhatsApp only show when the job has a phone number, and Email only when it has an email address. TradeBooked does not send any of these and keeps no copy, so for something you want on record, use Notify customer or Ask the customer.

On Autopilot, type a rough version, tap Rewrite with AI, then Draft. Read it, then tap Use this to put it in the box, or Undo rewrite to get your own words back. The first time, tap Turn on Message Assist. See Set up Message Assist.

Tap Activity & messages. Under Ask the customer, tap what you need (such as Need photos or Need access details), add a message if you like, and tap Send to customer.

The customer gets a More info needed email with a reply button that works for 7 days. Their reply and any photos show under Messages, and TradeBooked emails you when they reply.

It is for jobs not yet confirmed (Pending, Deposit required, Awaiting confirmation or Scheduled). Sending is on Pro and Autopilot. On Solo you can read customer messages but not send.

On Android the thread also sits on the job screen. On the web, press More actions, then Start chat (or Booking chat), then Send request.

Send BACS details sends as soon as you tap it, with no confirm step. The customer gets your account name, sort code, account number and payment reference, and the amount left to pay after any deposit or payment received. With no final price set, it asks them to contact you before paying. It is on every plan. On Android it is called Send bank transfer details. On the web, open Money, pick BACS as the payment method and press Send BACS details to customer.

Payment chasing controls TradeBooked's automatic payment reminders for the job. On iPhone it opens a list:

• Chase now: the customer gets a Payment reminder email in TradeBooked's next daily send, once the job date is two days past, with the amount owed and a pay link when a final price is set
• Snooze 3 days: holds reminders for three days
• Stop chasing: pauses reminders for this job
• Resume reminders: starts them again from the beginning

Automatic payment reminders are on Pro and Autopilot, and Autopilot sends a second email a week later. On Solo these controls send nothing. On Android, tapping Payment chasing does the same as Chase now. On the web, open Money and press Chase payment.

When the job has a phone number, the job card shows Call and Text. They open your phone app and Messages, from your own number, and are not recorded. Android has the same buttons. On the web, press the customer's avatar on the booking card.

Notify customer leaves a line on the job saying when you emailed, on every plan.

On Pro and Autopilot, every email TradeBooked sends from these rows (Notify customer, Send BACS details, payment reminders and info requests) is also listed under Events in Activity & messages, and in the customer's History.

Messages you send from your own phone, including Text the time as well, are not recorded in TradeBooked.

You do not need to send the routine ones by hand. TradeBooked emails the customer a Booking confirmed email when you book a job in or confirm their request, the new time when you reschedule with Notify customer left on, and a note when you cancel or decline. On Pro and Autopilot it can also send reminders before the visit. See Set up customer reminders.

On my way and the Live ETA tracking link are covered separately.