Introduction
RentVisie emails your customers at set moments without anyone writing a message: when a booking is confirmed, a vehicle is picked up or returned, an invoice is made or a payment comes in, and on a nightly run for reminders. Each kind of email only goes out when your company has written a template for it, under Admin, Communicator.
You will use this when:
- you set up the app and want confirmations, invoices and reminders from day one
- you want to change an email's wording, or add a pay or sign link
- you start renting to customers who speak another language
- a customer never got an email and you want to check its template
Words this screen uses
| The screen says | It means |
|---|---|
| Automated | An email template: the wording for one kind of email, in one language |
| Automated type | Which kind of email the template is for, such as Booking confirmation or Invoice |
| Variables | Merge fields: short codes such as ${bookingNumber} that the app swaps for the booking's real details when it sends |
| Communicator | The email area of the Admin menu |
Use this page for the emails the app sends by itself; an email you write yourself is covered in manual emails.
How to use
Configuration
Everything on this page is configuration: once a template exists and is switched on, the app sends that email at the right moment without anyone doing anything.
Add a template
- From the main menu open Admin, then Communicator. A screen headed Communicator opens with four tiles: Bookings, Invoice, Peppol and Sent Emails.
- Click the Bookings tile (the car icon). The Automated list opens with the columns Automated type, CC, BCC and Language, and a filter box under each heading.
- Click New Automated. The form opens on the left, with a panel headed Variables on the right.
- Fill in the fields, then click Save. Cancel closes the form without saving. The form, top to bottom:
| Field | Starts as | What it does | What it accepts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Yes | No stops this template from sending anything. See Which template a customer gets under Key details before you use it | Yes or No |
| Automated type | Empty | Which email this is. The list of types, and when each one goes out, is under Key details | One type from the list |
| Language (optional) | Empty | The language this wording is for. Leave it empty on one template per type to cover every other customer | One of your app's languages, or empty |
| Number format (optional) | Up to 2 decimal places + thousands separator. | How amounts are written. The separators (comma or full stop) follow the customer's language | One format from the list, or empty |
| CC | Empty | Addresses that get a visible copy of every email of this type | Email addresses separated by a semicolon (;) |
| BCC | Empty | Addresses that get a hidden copy | Same as CC |
| Subject | Empty | The subject line. Merge fields work here too | Text, up to 200 characters. Save refuses it empty with Subject is empty |
| Body | Empty | The email itself, in a word-processor style editor with bold, lists, tables and links | Any text. Save refuses it empty with Body is empty |
Put booking details in the text. The Variables panel lists every merge field you can use. Type the code exactly as it is shown, including the dollar sign and the curly brackets. Skim the table once; you will come back to it when you write a template:
| Merge field | Becomes |
|---|---|
| ${customerFirstName}, ${customerLastName}, ${invoiceName} | The customer's names |
| ${bookingNumber}, ${externalReference} | The booking number, and the outside reference (N/A when there is none) |
| ${pickupDate}, ${returnDate} | Pick-up and return, day-month-year and time, in your company's time zone. ${pickupDateUS} and ${returnDateUS} give month/day/year |
| ${numberOfDays}, ${currentDate} | Days of rental, and today's date |
| ${assetGroup} | The vehicle class (the app calls it the "asset group") |
| ${assetRegistration}, ${assetMake}, ${assetModel}, ${assetName} | The vehicle on the booking. Before one is assigned, the first three show ? |
| ${totalPrice} | The booking total including VAT (value-added tax) |
| ${totalDeposit}, ${depositPaid}, ${depositDue} | The deposit, what is paid of it, and what is still owed |
| ${paymentDue}, ${totalPaid}, ${totalDue}, ${balance} | Rent still owed; everything paid; rent plus deposit still owed; the booking's balance |
| ${latestPaymentAmount} | The most recent payment (N/A when there is none) |
| ${invoiceNumber} | The invoice number, in emails that go with an invoice |
| ${pickupLocationName}, ${pickupLocationAddressFull}, ${pickupLocationPhone}, ${pickupLocationEmail} | The pick-up location. There are also …AddressLineOne, …AddressLineTwo and …AddressCity versions, and the same set for the return location (${returnLocationName} and so on) |
| ${locationMapsUrl}, ${locationReviewUrl} | The pick-up location's map and review links |
| ${branchName}, ${branchIban} | The branch the pick-up location belongs to, and its bank account |
| ${bookingSecurityPin} | The booking's security PIN |
| ${selfServiceAutoCheckoutDate} | When a self-service booking starts on its own |
Amounts come out as a plain number, without a euro sign: write € ${totalPrice} in the text, not ${totalPrice} alone.
Add a link to pay or sign. These merge fields become web addresses that open a page for this booking. Type the code as plain text, or select a word, click the editor's link button and paste the code as the link address. The link fields:
| Merge field | Opens a page where the customer can |
|---|---|
| ${payBookingOutstandingUrl} | Pay what is outstanding on the booking. In a payment-request email it pays that request |
| ${payBookingFullOutstandingUrl} | Pay the full outstanding amount |
| ${payBookingRentOutstandingUrl} | Pay the rent still owed |
| ${payPaymentRequestUrl} | Pay the payment request the email is about |
| ${payInvoiceUrl} | Pay the invoice the email is about |
| ${signAgreementUrl} | Sign the rental agreement online |
| ${acceptQuoteUrl}, ${signQuoteUrl} | Accept the quote, or sign it. Only in emails about a booking that has a quote |
| ${customerPortalUrl} | Open the booking in the customer portal |
| ${customerSelfServiceUrl} | Open self-service for this booking, PIN included |
| ${driverSelfServiceUrl} | Open self-service as an extra driver, in the emails extra drivers receive |
The link only goes out if you put it in the text. The app does not add a payment or signing link to any email by itself.
Add a second language. Click New Automated again, choose the same Automated type, pick the language under Language (optional), and write the text in that language. Do this for every type you want in that language. You can keep one template per type for each language, plus one with no language.
Before you start: the Communicator screens can only be opened by someone with the Company admin role. Other staff cannot see or change templates; ask your company admin. The attachments some emails carry come from elsewhere: your terms and conditions are uploaded under letterhead and branding, and the email's sender address is the email field on each of your locations (main menu Admin, Product design, Locations tile).
Using the automated email templates
From the main menu open Admin, then Communicator, then click the Bookings tile. You are on the Automated list.
- To see what your company sends, filter by Automated type or Language. A type with no row sends nothing.
- To change the wording, click the pencil icon on the row, edit Subject or Body, and click Save. The next email of that type uses the new text.
- To pause an email, open its template, set Active to No and click Save. Set it back to Yes to restart. Emails missed meanwhile are not sent later.
- To remove a template, click the bin icon on its row. It is deleted at once, with no question first, and cannot be brought back.
To stop one type of email for one customer only, rather than for everyone, see stopping and suppressing email.
Key details
The email types and when each one goes out
Skim this once and come back to the row you need. The name is what you choose under Automated type:
| Automated type | Goes out when | Attached |
|---|---|---|
| Reservation request | A booking is saved as provisional, or a website request arrives | — |
| Booking confirmation | A booking is confirmed, reconfirmed, re-sent or paid online. See Confirm a booking | Rental agreement, calendar entry, terms |
| Booking confirmation advance payment, Booking confirmation full payment with deposit | Instead of Booking confirmation, under the advanced payment settings. See confirmation emails | Rental agreement, terms |
| DriverBookingConfirmation | A booking is confirmed: one to each extra driver with an email address | — |
| Quote | A quote is sent. See Send a quote and follow it up | Quote |
| Sign document | Someone clicks Sign document remote on the booking's Emails tab | — |
| Signed rental agreement | The customer has signed the rental agreement | Signed agreement |
| Booking extended, Booking extension with payment request | A booking's dates are changed with the email option. See Change a booking's dates | — |
| Booking cancellation | A booking is cancelled with Cancel with email. See Cancel a booking | — |
| Customer Selfservice Link | Someone clicks Customer self service link on the booking's Self service tab | — |
| Pickup Reminder | The nightly run, before pick-up. See reminders | Pick-up form |
| Pickup completed | The pick-up is finished | Pick-up form, terms |
| Dropoff reminder | The nightly run, before the return date | — |
| Dropoff notification | A self-service return that your company checks by hand | — |
| Dropoff completed | The return is finished | Drop-off form |
| Feedback | The nightly run, four to five days after return. See Check customer feedback after a rental | — |
| Payment request | A payment request is created. See Send a customer a payment request | — |
| Payment reminder, Deposit Payment Reminder | The nightly run, while money is owed before pick-up; the first also from Payment Reminder on the Emails tab | — |
| Payment received, Deposit Payment Received | A rent or deposit payment is recorded on the booking | — |
| Deposit invoice | A deposit invoice is made or sent | Deposit invoice |
| Invoice | A booking is invoiced with email. See Invoice a booking | Invoice |
| No show | A no-show booking is invoiced | Invoice |
| Credit invoice | A credit note is made. See Take back an invoice with a credit note | Credit note |
| Lease renewal | A running lease is invoiced for its next period. See Invoice and extend a running lease | Invoice |
Three types in the list, Payment outstanding, Quote reminder and Update customer, are never sent by the app. A template for them does nothing.
The Invoice tile holds separate templates for invoices you send by hand. Peppol holds the e-invoicing invitation email. Sent Emails records what went out; see when email does not arrive.
Which template a customer gets
The app stops at the first template it finds. It looks for the right type in the customer's language, then your company's language, then the language of the staff member whose action sent it, and finally the one with no language. If that template is set to Active No, nothing is sent; it does not try the next one. For example, a Dutch company has Booking confirmation templates in Dutch, in English (switched off) and with no language. A German customer gets the Dutch one; an English customer gets nothing. To stop writing in one language, delete that language's template instead of switching it off.
Who the email comes from and goes to
The sender is the email of the booking's pick-up location, under its branch's name, and replies go there too. The email goes to the customer on the booking; Invoice, Credit invoice, Deposit invoice and Lease renewal go to the customer's invoice email address instead, when one is filled in.
Terms and calendar entry
Your terms and conditions are attached to Booking confirmation, its two advanced versions and Pickup completed. A customer marked as a company gets your business-to-business terms; everyone else gets your consumer terms. Nothing is attached if that terms file has not been uploaded. The plain Booking confirmation also carries a calendar entry the customer can add to their diary.
A worked example with merge fields
A booking totals €1,284.75 including VAT, with a €500.00 deposit. The customer, whose language is Dutch, has paid the whole deposit and €300.00 of rent. With the standard number format, a line reading "Still to pay: € ${paymentDue}. Deposit still due: € ${depositDue}." arrives as "Still to pay: € 984,75. Deposit still due: € 0." — €1,284.75 less €300.00, and €500.00 less €500.00. ${totalDue} also gives 984,75, because the deposit is already paid, and ${totalPaid} gives 800: this format drops zero decimals, so pick another under Number format (optional) if you want € 800,00.
What to do next: set up the confirmation variants in confirmation emails and the nightly ones in reminders. Check a new template by confirming a test booking with your own email address as the customer.
Q&A
Why did a customer get no email, and nobody saw an error? There was no active template of that type in the language the app picked (see Which template a customer gets). When you press a button yourself, the app shows No email template available. Please create a template first. Most emails, though, are sent in the background or by the nightly run, and then nobody sees any message. Add or switch on the template under Admin, Communicator, Bookings. The customer may also be excluded from that type; see stopping and suppressing email. To check whether anything went out, see when email does not arrive.
Why does a customer get the email in the wrong language? There is no template in their language, so the app used your company's language or the one with no language. Add a template for their language with New Automated. Also check the language on the customer's record; see document language.
Why did switching off one language stop a customer getting any email at all? A switched-off template still counts as found, so the app stops there. Delete the template (bin icon) instead, so those customers get the next template in line.
Why does the email show "${invoiceNumber}" or another code instead of the detail? Either the code is typed differently from the Variables panel (a missing bracket, a capital letter in the wrong place), or the detail does not exist for that email. The invoice and quote codes only work in emails that belong to an invoice or a quote. Open the template, copy the code from the Variables panel and click Save.
Why is there no pay or sign link in the email? The app only adds a link where the template contains its merge field. Add ${payBookingOutstandingUrl}, ${signAgreementUrl} or another link from the table under Configuration to the template's Body.
Why did Save say "Template already present"? There is already a template for that type in that language; open that row instead. A template with Language (optional) left empty can only be saved while no other template of that type exists, in any language. Write the no-language template first, then add the languages.
Why do the terms not come with the confirmation email? The terms file for that kind of customer (business or consumer) has not been uploaded, or the rental agreement itself was not made, in which case nothing is attached at all. Upload the terms under letterhead and branding.
Why do customers reply to a location address instead of our head office? Replies go to the pick-up location's email. Change it on the location (main menu Admin, Product design, Locations tile), or add your head office under CC on the template.
Can I send an automated email again by hand? Some, yes: the booking's Emails tab has Resend confirmation email, Payment Reminder, Deposit Invoice and Sign document remote, and Manual for a message you write yourself. See manual emails.
Related pages:
- Confirmation emails — which confirmation goes out depending on how far away pick-up is.
- Reminders — the nightly pick-up, return, payment and feedback emails.
- Stopping and suppressing email — stop one type for one customer, or hold back invoice and confirmation emails.
- When email does not arrive — the sent-email record, delays and retries.