Managing customer text messages and emails

SortScape allows you to send text messages (i.e., “SMSs”) and emails to your customers, letting them know of your next visit. This saves you time because you no longer have to type the same message over and over again from your mobile phone.

You can also send bulk email messages to customers using our email campaigns feature.

Enabling customer text message notifications and emails

To disable or enable customer text message notifications, log in as an administrator, then open Settings → Messaging → Settings.

From this screen you can enable or disable customer text messages.

How to send a text message or email from a visit

From the visit screen, in the app or desktop, go to the top right hand corner and click on the relevant icon - SMS or Email. Choose the template you wish to use and then click send. You can send SMS to multiple numbers on a contact; see Sending appointment notifications to customers and Multiple mobile numbers for SMS reminders.

Saving contact details when you send a message

When you send an email or text message to a contact who does not have an email address or mobile number on file, SortScape may show a Remember this email address for [contact] or Remember this mobile number for [contact] checkbox in the send dialog. You only see this checkbox if you have permission to update contacts.

• The checkbox is checked by default. When it is checked, SortScape saves the email address or mobile number you enter to the contact when you click Send.
• If you uncheck the box, the message still sends, but the contact record is not updated. Use this when you are sending to a one-off address or number (for example, a shared inbox for a kindergarten or property manager) and you want to keep the contact email or mobile blank so automatic invoice or reminder emails are not sent.
• SortScape remembers your choice for next time. If you uncheck the box once, it stays unchecked the next time you send to a contact without an email or mobile on file. Check it again any time you want to start saving details to contacts.

The checkbox only appears when the contact has no email address or mobile number saved, and when you have permission to update contacts. Administrators and employees typically have this permission; contractors do not. If you do not see the checkbox, you can still send the message, but the contact record will not be updated. See Managing employee permissions for what each role can do.

This applies when sending from visits, quotes, invoices, and other notification screens. It does not apply to bulk notifications sent from a job run, where each contact must already have an email or mobile number on file.

Customer notification templates

SortScape allows you to create message templates so that you can send a standardised message to each of your customers. To help you get started, there are default message templates for both text messages and emails, which you can override with your own custom template. You can create any number of message templates.

Invoice message templates also include Payment received templates when SortScape’s built-in invoicing is enabled. These control the wording of payment receipt emails and text messages sent when invoices are paid in full or in part.

For partial payments, receipt templates can use payment_amount for the payment just received and amount_due for the remaining balance. See Sending payment receipts for invoices.

Template order

When sending text or email messages to customers manually, your team chooses a template from a dropdown. Use the relevant page below, then drag the templates into order. The template at the top of the list appears first in the dropdown.

• Settings → Messaging → Visit messages
• Settings → Messaging → Quote messages
• Settings → Messaging → Invoice messages
• Settings → Messaging → Request messages

Template tags

You can add “tags” to your template so that each message is customised to the person you’re contacting. For example, the tag cust_first_name would get converted to “Sue” if you’re sending a message to Sue Abbott. See the example below.

Message tag example

Hi cust_first_name, we will be at cust_address on job_date. Please call or text me at user_mobile if you need anything. - user_first_name user_last_name

converts to:

Hi Sue, we will be at 18 Banner Road on Friday, 29 January. Please call or text me at 4107748838 if you need anything. - Harold Rasmusun

The full list of notification tags can be found when creating and editing templates.

Multiple mobile numbers on one contact

If a contact has a primary mobile plus extra mobiles, each number receives the same message. Tags such as cust_first_name always use that contact’s name, not a different name per phone label. Phone labels (for example Primary, Owner, Manager) are only for identifying numbers in SortScape; they are not inserted into the message.

To greet different people with different names, each person needs their own contact. Visit SMS still goes to the property’s service contact only. For how to add extra mobiles and labels on a contact, see Mobile phone and extra numbers.

The user_mobile tag

The user_mobile tag inserts the mobile number from the SortScape user profile of whoever sends the message—the number customers see inside the message text when you ask them to call or text you back.

This is separate from the phone number customers see as the sender of the SMS itself. SortScape sends SMS from a system number assigned by our SMS provider, not from your personal mobile or from whatever appears in the message body.

You cannot configure user_mobile to pull from a custom field or an arbitrary number. It always uses the sender’s profile mobile. To change what appears in your templates:

• Use your own number (or update it): In a web browser, open your profile picture or initials (top right) → View profile, then edit your mobile. Profile editing is not available from the mobile app Settings page. Any message you send, including automatic reminders sent from you, will show that number wherever user_mobile appears.
• Use another team member’s number: For automatic visit reminders, set Who it is sent from to that employee. The user_mobile tag will then use their profile mobile.
• Use a number that is not stored in SortScape (for example a shared CRM or office line): Remove user_mobile from the template and type the number directly in the message text instead. Tags cannot reference numbers outside SortScape user profiles.

Recent messages

SortScape provides a message log so that you can view and search all text messages and emails recently sent to customers. Log in as an administrator, then open Settings → Messaging → Sent messages.

Email messages in the Recent Message list may show a status. You can read about the various email statuses here.

If an email was dropped because delivery is blocked for the contact, admins can allow emails to that address again.

View recently sent text messages and emails for all customers

Text message replies

Viewing text message replies

We capture replies customers make to the text messages you sent from SortScape. Only administrators can view customer SMS replies in the Customer Messages inbox (top right in a browser; bottom of the screen in the mobile app).

Employees and contractors do not have access to Customer Messages. See Managing employee permissions for what each role can access.

Non-admin users who sent a text message may still be notified of replies by email or push; see Text message reply notifications below.

If a reply shows on the customer’s phone but not in SortScape

In Australia and New Zealand, if a customer replies to an older text (typically more than about 3 to 4 weeks after that message was sent), the reply may appear on their phone in the same thread but never reach SortScape. Send a new message from SortScape and ask them to reply to that one. See Why didn’t I receive a customer’s SMS reply?.

Text message reply notifications

By default, email notifications about SMS replies will be sent to whoever initially sent the text message and also to all admin users.

If you need those reply notification emails to go to other addresses, open Settings → Messaging → Settings, then set them as the reply-to address.

Email replies

SortScape does not capture customer replies to emails inside the app. The Customer Messages inbox is for SMS (text message) replies only — not email replies.

When a customer replies to an email you sent from SortScape, the reply goes to the reply-to address on that message:

• The sender’s profile email (whoever sent the message), or
• Your account Job email reply-to address, if configured in messaging settings

This includes invoice emails sent from SortScape (for example Xero invoices emailed with Email Xero invoices from SortScape? turned on). Set a shared reply-to address if you do not want replies going to whichever team member sent the invoice. See Invoicing customers.

Check that email inbox (or the shared reply-to mailbox your team uses) for customer email replies.

To review outbound emails sent from SortScape (delivery status, not inbound replies), see Recent messages. The Email status and tracking guide explains each delivery status.

Template format

We currently only support plain text for email and text message templates. Support for HTML and email templates is something that we might add in future versions of SortScape.