Follow interest, support the stay, encourage a return
When reception is busy, an offer may go without follow-up and useful information may arrive late. The FastReplyMail automation tools let you prepare rules linking a group of offers, guests or bookings to a message and a moment in their journey.
Follow-up helps resume a direct sales conversation. Pre-arrival emails prepare the welcome; post-departure emails can maintain the relationship. The team defines content and conditions, and the system carries out sends specified by active rules.
Relevant communications can support direct bookings, introduce useful services and give guests a reason to return. These are opportunities for revenue and loyalty; when they encourage direct repeat bookings, they can also reduce distribution costs’ impact on margins.
Start with the right guests, then choose the moment
Automating an indiscriminate send does not make it more interesting. To move beyond “send and pray”, start with what you actually know about guests: stated preferences, recorded property spending, average stay duration (length of stay) and number of bookings.
With CRM, combine these details to build mailing lists of guests with shared characteristics. In guest automation, list subscription can then serve as a selection condition and as the reference event for timing.
For example, a list of returning, longer-stay guests can start a sequence about extended stays and relevant services. Stated preferences and purchased extras can help select guests who might appreciate a dining experience actually offered by the property. The person configuring the journey chooses content, timing and steps.
List filters and automation conditions are separate steps. Not every CRM criterion is directly available in every rule family. A dynamic list updates selection; the rule defines the action and reference event. Spending capacity refers to amounts recorded with the property, not estimates of personal wealth.
See how to build relevant newsletters and lists →
Build a rule and check who it affects
Configuration is restricted to accounts permitted to edit automation, usually property administrators. Name each rule and note its objective to keep its purpose clear as workflows become more detailed.
There are four steps:
- Choose the source: Offers, Guests or Bookings.
- Combine conditions: require all or any to match, including conditions organised in groups.
- Prepare the action: choose a template, subject and content for editable areas.
- Define the timing: specify minutes, hours or days before or after a reference event available for that source.
The system shows how many records match the conditions and a preview of affected records with scheduled times. Check the selection before enabling the rule, making sure the message is relevant to that group at that moment.
Follow up offers with relevant messages
Rules for Offers are part of the base product. Select by status, template, elapsed time without a detected open, send date, arrival and departure, in-house status, accommodation units, adults, children, types, rates and email.
Available actions are resend the same offer, send an email linking to the previous offer or send a new offer with another template. Timing can refer to sending, detected opening, booking, arrival or departure.
For example, configure a follow-up two days after sending if no open is detected, or a second proposal after five days if opened but not booked. These are configurable examples: choose frequency and content suited to your guest relationship.
“Read” and “unread” conditions rely on open tracking, not certainty of human reading. A guest may read with images blocked; an automatic preview may generate an open. “Booked” also depends on importing a booking with an offer reference returned by the connected system.
Explore the personalised offer journey →
Welcome subscribers and build a sequence between lists
With CRM active, rules for Guests can select by list subscription, parameter or tag, date of birth, gender, email and Rewards enrolment. Timing references include profile creation, list subscription and birthday.
Send an email or send an email and move the guest to another list. This builds a funnel: a communication sequence where each step prepares the next, with property-defined timing and content.
One example is welcoming newsletter subscribers: the first message presents what makes the stay special; a later step can explore an experience or invite a quote request. You can also send dedicated birthday messages.
Answers collected through Survey can guide the journey: satisfaction surveys, pre-stay questions or funnel questionnaires can assign values or tags to the guest profile. A preference becomes a selection criterion or a condition directing the contact towards a mailing list through configured rules. The property defines answer, tag and list associations; they do not imply immediate sending or marketing consent.
Funnel sends appear in the source list, identified by the Funnel badge, with sent, opened, failed and unsubscribed statistics. Check selection and consent for the intended journey: a profile or booking alone is not a marketing subscription.
Support guests before and after their stay
Rules for Bookings require the CRM active and use data from configured integrations. Conditions can include booking status, in-house status, started or completed stays, arrival and departure dates, value, nights, type, rate, time since receipt, channel, subchannel and email.
Schedule an email relative to receipt, cancellation, arrival, departure, or online check-in sending or completion. This lets you prepare different content for different moments:
- Before arrival: directions, available services and stay arrangements, selecting relevant bookings and excluding cancelled ones where necessary.
- For online check-in: with Fast Check-In active, an email linking to the form, for example seven days before arrival, and an optional reminder based on completion status.
- After departure: a thank-you and, with Survey available and connected, the questionnaire link.
- After cancellation: a follow-up appropriate to the case and available consent, using cancellation as the reference event.
You can also present a relevant extra service, creating an upselling or cross-selling opportunity. The message describes an offer prepared by the property; it does not itself sell the service. Online check-in completion means form completion and remains distinct from physical arrival.
Explore bookings and online check-in →
Prepare templates and languages for every step
The subject and editable-area content accompany the chosen action template. Dynamic fields insert data relevant to the message type, such as the previous offer or check-in link.
The message language follows the guest’s contact language: the chosen template must exist in that language. Available template languages are Italian, English, German and French; prepare and check the needed versions before activation.
Links to Fast Check-In, Survey and Rewards are inserted through their dynamic template fields according to active products and available connections. Automated sequences also need well-prepared content, current information and a clear action for readers.
Explore templates and content →
Manage timing, sequences and sending volume
Rules are evaluated every thirty minutes; resulting sends are scheduled and dispatched from the queue. Configured timing is relative to the chosen event, without guaranteeing instant execution or delivery to the minute. Booking workflows also depend on imported data availability.
You can connect rules through a parent rule. The option Last in chain prevents generated items from triggering further rules, helping control the end of the journey.
Enable or disable each rule. A duplicate is created disabled so you can review it before use. Deleting a rule also removes its scheduled messages not yet sent.
When a rule involves more than 500 records, processing proceeds in batches of 500 and the volume is flagged in the interface. This does not replace relevant selection: use the preview to keep each send’s recipients and purpose clear.
Monitor sends and distinguish signals from results
For each rule, review the generated items with recipient, subject, scheduled time, actual send time and email status. Automated messages are distinguished from manual ones in lists and statistics by the label Sent automatically.
Tracking records opens and clicks. “Sent” means the SMTP server accepted the message, not confirmed inbox delivery. A detected open does not prove human reading, and a click is not a booking.
These figures help monitor the journey and review rules. To assess sales opportunities, also follow actual conversations and bookings while accounting for offer attribution limits.
An internal reminder reminds the team of a task, such as checking a deposit. It does not automatically message the guest: reminders and automation serve different needs.
Discover tasks and reminders →
Start with a workflow that currently needs manual attention
Automation for Offers belongs to the FastReplyMail base product. Rules for Guests and Bookings require the CRM component. Check-in links and connections to other suite products require the relevant features active and configured; lists and sends follow the property’s package limits.
A demo can start with a follow-up, pre-arrival message or new-subscriber sequence. We define the group, choose the moment and check the preview: a practical way to maintain relationships and save reception time for conversations requiring personal attention.