Confirmations and reminders
WhatsApp confirmation when an appointment is booked, reminders beforehand, and how they work with WhatsApp's 24-hour and template rules.
3 min read
A buyer who doesn't turn up for a viewing costs your agent half a day. Confirmations and reminders keep the appointment front of mind, put the address and time at the contact's fingertips and make it easy for them to tell you in advance if something changes.
How it works
- An appointment is booked. The assistant on the phone, the bot on WhatsApp or your team in the calendar books a viewing, valuation or office meeting.
- The confirmation goes out straight away. A WhatsApp message with date, time, address and the agent's name. A task can also be created for the agent to check the booking.
- Reminder 1 day before. The contact is asked to confirm ("I'll be there" / "Reschedule").
- Final reminder 2 hours before. With a location link.
Timings are set for your agency during setup. For a 09:00 appointment, for example, the "2 hours before" reminder goes at 07:00, so the sending window is set accordingly.
What the contact sees
Sample confirmation:
Hi Ahmet, your viewing with Atlas Emlak is booked for Saturday at 11:00. Address: Moda, Kadıköy. Reply here if you need to change it.
When the contact replies to a reminder:
- "I'll be there": the reply appears in the conversation; depending on your setup, the appointment can be marked as confirmed.
- "Reschedule" or any free text: the conversation goes to your team or to Conversation AI. If the bot is on, it can offer a new time; otherwise an agent replies. See Manage appointments.
Tip
To make sure "I can't make it" replies aren't missed, you can have a notification sent to the agent. Contact your consultant.
The WhatsApp 24-hour window and templates
WhatsApp's rule is clear:
- You can send free-form messages within 24 hours of the contact's last message to you.
- Outside that window, any message your office starts must use a template approved by Meta.
Confirmations and reminders usually go out outside the window: the contact may have phoned and never messaged you, or the appointment is days away. So these messages are set up as approved Utility templates. Our team writes the templates and submits them for approval during setup.
| Template category | Example |
|---|---|
| Utility | Appointment confirmation, reminder, no-answer message |
| Marketing | New listing alerts, nurture messages |
A template goes out exactly as approved; the parts that change per contact (name, date, time, address) fill in as fields. Changing the wording needs a new approval. See WhatsApp templates.
Note
Adding promotional content to a Utility template ("have a look at our new listings this week") can get it reclassified as Marketing or rejected. Keep confirmations plain.
Changing message texts
Because confirmations and reminders use templates, you can't change their text yourself. If you'd like new wording (for example, adding parking information), contact your consultant; we'll prepare a new template and submit it. For wait times and pausing scenarios, see Turn on, off and edit.
Common issues
The confirmation wasn't sent. The contact may not have WhatsApp, the number may be wrong, or they may have blocked you. Check the scenario's Execution Logs tab. See Automation history and troubleshooting.
The reminder was sent twice. The appointment may have been created twice or its time changed. Check the appointment in the calendar.
I cancelled the appointment but the reminder still went. Cancellations must be made in the calendar; writing "cancelled" in the conversation doesn't cancel the appointment.
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