How do I send welcome and win-back emails?

Automatically welcome first-time customers the day after their visit, and invite lapsed regulars back with an optional treat.

Switch on the welcome and win-back emails on the Marketing page, on its Automations tab — the one home for all five automatic emails (welcome, win-back, birthday, thank-you and review request). Both are off until you turn them on. Each row expands to its settings and its email's wording, so everything about an automation is edited in one place.

These automations are Available on Pro plan and above. Both emails only go to customers who opted in to marketing, and they count towards your marketing email allowance.

Emailing customers who haven't visited for a while — two ways

There are two ways to reach lapsed customers, and they work well together:

• Automatically — switch on Win back lapsed customers on Marketing → Automations (steps below). ResoFlow then emails each customer once they've been away 60 or 90 days, with an optional treat — nothing for you to send by hand.
• As a one-off campaign — in the campaign composer's Recipients step, pick Haven't visited for a while and choose 2, 3, 6 or 12 months since their last booking; see How do I send a marketing email?.

Welcome new customers

• Go to Marketing → Automations and find the Welcome new customers row.
• Switch it on with the toggle on the right.
• Click Save changes.

The customer gets one warm "lovely to have you" email at 9am the day after their first-ever visit — the visit must be marked as cleared on the day itself. Each customer only ever receives it once, and repeat visitors are never sent it.

Win back lapsed customers

• On the same tab, find Win back lapsed customers, switch it on, and open the row with Set up and wording.
• Pick the window — After 60 days or After 90 days since the customer was last in. (The setting says exactly what it measures on screen; see the note below.)
• Optionally add a Win-back offer — e.g. "A complimentary dessert on your next visit". When set, a highlighted "Welcome back treat" box appears in the email; leave it blank and the email just sends your win-back message. An Offer small print field appears once you've typed an offer.
• Click Save changes.

A "we've missed you" email goes to customers who haven't been in within your chosen window. Where you record visits, we measure from the day they last actually dined — a booking you marked as cleared, and a cancelled or no-show booking never counts as one of those. Where you don't record visits, we measure from the last date they were booked in instead, so a customer who booked and never turned up still counts as recently seen and won't be chased (a booking they cancelled doesn't count either way). A customer who already has an upcoming booking is never sent a win-back — they're already coming back. It's sent once per lapse: after a win-back, that customer is only contacted again once they've actually been back — and never more than once in any 6 months — so nobody is nagged repeatedly.

Editing the wording

Open the row with Set up and wording and edit the email's subject, heading, body and button right there, with a live preview of the real email beside the fields. Anything you leave alone keeps the polished default copy; Reset to default brings it all back.

What the customer sees

A branded email from your restaurant — a friendly welcome after their first visit, or a "we've missed you" note with the offer box if you set one — plus a button to book a table and an unsubscribe link.

Related: How do I send birthday messages (with an offer)? · How do I send thank-yous and ask for Google reviews? · What can ResoFlow marketing do (and what does it cost)?