Enhance Your Tourists' Experience with Automated Emails
Managing bookings isn't just about confirming dates and payments: communication with tourists is a crucial factor that can enhance their experience, strengthen your brand identity, and ultimately increase your revenue.
This article explains how to use the "Customers" category of Harmony solutions to automate emails at strategic points of the journey: before arrival, after check-out, and after receiving a review.
Key Definitions
Harmony: a platform that allows you to configure and automate email sends related to bookings.
Solution: an automated rule created in Harmony to execute a process (example: sending instructions to a tourist).
Tags: labels that allow you to segment email sends to specific groups of customers, accommodations, owners, or portals.
What Can You Do with a Customers-Type Solution?
This category offers three main functions:
Offer additional services or send instructions to the tourist.
Get more reviews from tourists.
Reward customers who have left a review.
1. Offer Additional Services or Send Instructions to the Tourist
Once the booking is confirmed, you can schedule emails with useful arrival instructions or suggestions for extra services.
Step by Step
Log in to VRMS → Harmony and access "Dashboard" or "Solutions."
Click "Create new solution" and select "Customers."
Choose the solution "Offer additional services or send instructions to the tourist."
Define a clear name and select the booking status in which it should apply.
Choose the execution time: days before or after check-in, with a specific time.
Configure the notifications: select recipients (customer, occupant, owner, agent), template, and possible copies (CC or BCC).
Save the configuration and define if it will apply only to new bookings or also to existing ones.
Attention to Details
The send time always corresponds to the local time of your VRMS account.
If the booking comes in later than the scheduled date, the system automatically adjusts the send to the next check cycle.
2. Get More Reviews from Tourists
After check-out, the system can send an automatic email requesting a review. Harmony allows you to reinforce this action with reminders for those who haven't responded yet.
How to Configure It
Define when to send the reminder: the same day of check-out or X days after.
Customize the content with an incentive, like a discount for future bookings.
Use tags to segment who receives the emails (for example, VIP customers, specific accommodations, or certain portals). Remember that the tags added in the solution must match exactly with those configured in the accommodation, owner, or portal.
Common Errors
If your account doesn't have an Avantio web or active reviews module, sending to tourists from portals (like Airbnb) won't work.
3. Reward Customers Who Have Left a Review
When a tourist takes the time to leave a review, thank them automatically. You can send a thank-you email and include, if you wish, a promotional code.
Step by Step
Create the solution and give it a descriptive name.
Define when the email should be sent after receiving the review.
Configure recipients, template, and copies (if necessary).
Save the solution.
Helpful Tip
Personalize the messages: use a friendly tone and templates aligned with your brand.
Segment with tags: avoid irrelevant mass sends.
Check the local time: ensure emails arrive at a logical time for your customers.
Automating emails at key moments: before arrival, after check-out, and after receiving a review, allows you to optimize the tourist's experience, strengthen the relationship with your customers, and maintain efficient communication that adds value to both the traveler and your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a booking is registered after the scheduled date for an automatic send?
What happens if a booking is registered after the scheduled date for an automatic send?
The system adjusts the configuration and performs the send at the next available check.
Can I also send automatic emails to owners and agents, in addition to customers?
Can I also send automatic emails to owners and agents, in addition to customers?
Yes. You can configure additional notifications with different templates and recipients.
Is it possible to use negative or positive days when defining the execution time of an email?
Is it possible to use negative or positive days when defining the execution time of an email?
Yes. A positive value sends the email X days after the configured date, while a negative value schedules it X days before.