Best practices: Payment-related automated messages

For reservations where payments are collected in Guesty, use Automated Messages to notify guests when payment hasn't been received.

Our guide below will cover which Auto Message you should include in reservation payment-related scenarios.

Different types of payment-related scenarios and Auto Messages to create

You can easily follow up with a guest about their reservation's payment status with Auto Messages.
The following are several different types of Auto Messages we recommend including in your workflow, based on various payment-related scenarios.

1. Send a message regardless of payment status

You could start on good terms with guests by sending a confirmation message regardless of whether or not payment was received.

We recommend you create the following two Automated Message templates:

1. Within the booking confirmation message, include a note about their payment being processed.
   Make sure to mention in the booking confirmation message that a payment confirmation email will follow shortly.
   In this message, you can mention that you'll send them a message when the payment is completed.
2. A message to confirm payment was received.
   Make sure to schedule this for a specific amount of time after booking confirmation.

2. Notify a guest if a payment has failed

If a reservation has been received without payment, you can create an Automated Template that will only be sent after confirmation if the balance is more than zero.

When you create this type of Auto Message, make sure to do the following:

• Add the "Reservation was fully paid" sending condition to the message, and set the toggle as "Yes"
• Schedule the message to be sent an hour or two after confirmation
  This provides adequate time for the payment to be processed — otherwise, the message won't be sent.

3. Send a message to let guests know they have a remaining balance

If a reservation still has a remaining balance, create an Automated Template that will only be sent after confirmation, if the balance is more than zero.

In this case, make sure to add the "Reservation was fully paid" sending condition to the message, and set the toggle as "No".

We recommend you include two types of Auto Messages:

1. An initial reminder message
   To notify the guest that there is still an amount to pay, you can schedule an Automated Message to be sent a few days after confirmation.
2. A notification message of their reservation cancellation
   To notify the guest that the reservation will be canceled since the payment hasn't been received, you can schedule another Automated Message for a specific number of days later.

4. Only send guests check-in instructions when payment has been received

To ensure that check-in instructions are only sent after a guest has paid for the reservation, schedule an Automated Message to be sent if their payment has failed.

When you create this type of Auto Message, make sure to do the following:

• Schedule the message to be sent an hour after confirmation
  Since processing the payment may take a few seconds longer in some cases, it's safer to send the message at least an hour after confirmation to avoid any unnecessary conflict.
• Mention that check-in instructions are only provided if payment has been made successfully
  This will encourage guests to provide their new payment details.
• Request a different payment method
  You can also include how their reservation will be canceled if they don't provide a new payment method after x amount of time (depending on the cancellation policy).

Additional tips for payment-related Auto Messages

Keep the following tips in mind when you're creating payment-related Auto Messages:

1. If you'd like to create a message that will be sent to a guest if payment isn't fulfilled, add the "Reservation was fully paid" sending condition to your Auto Message and set the toggle as "No".
2. To help put your guest's mind at ease, you can also schedule a message to be sent exactly upon confirmation to let the guest know that the payment is being processed.
   In this message, you can mention that you'll send them a message when the payment is completed.
3. Don't use the "Reservation was fully paid" sending condition when sending check-in instructions for Airbnb reservations since they are only marked as fully paid 24 hours after check-in.
4. When creating payment-related Automated Messages, take the last-minute reservation scenarios into consideration.
   Learn more about creating Auto Messages for last-minute reservations.