Setting up triggers to respond to certain events or at a scheduled time can streamline vacation rental business processes by reducing errors and improving efficiency, which in turn reduces the need for manual intervention.
If you haven't yet read the Triggers Overview support article, do that first. And check out our extensive Trigger Examples support article for ideas and instructions for all sorts of guest and staff/team messaging templates and triggers.
As mentioned in the Triggers Overview support article, you need to have an email, channel, or SMS message template created before attempting to create your trigger. If you haven't created a template, go back and do that first.
So, you have your message template created and saved. Now, it's time to create your trigger! Let's walk through the basic creation or configuration of a trigger.
To create a trigger, navigate to Settings > Messaging > Triggers > + Create Trigger.
When creating a new trigger, you first have to determine whether this trigger is an Immediate or Scheduled type trigger. You'll notice that the options and events available to select are changed by toggling between Immediate or Scheduled Trigger Types.
Is the message you send dependent on a specific event, such as a booking, blocked-off time, or an inquiry received? Do you want to respond to an inquiry that is bookable and quotable? Want to send your owner or cleaner a message each time you receive a new booking? Then, you'll want to create an Immediate trigger.
Or do you want your message to be sent at a specific time based on an event? Do you want to send a message the day after a guest arrives? Do you want to send a message to your cleaner the day before a guest's departure to remind them of the upcoming cleaning? These are examples of Scheduled triggers.
It's important to note that triggers (both immediate and scheduled time-based) will never be sent if the trigger conditions are not met. The first time the condition matches, the trigger will send your message once, and will no longer attempt to send your message after that.
Immediate Triggers
Immediate triggers to send the selected message template as soon as an event occurs, such as a booking, blocked-off time, or inquiry is received.
This may be your first interaction with a potential guest in the case of an inquiry or a new guest in the case of a booking, so it's important to start off on the right foot.
But perhaps it's interaction with an owner, cleaner, or maintenance staff in the case of a blocked-off time initiated?
When creating your trigger, determine the event that you want to respond to and what message you want to send in response to that event.
In the Ask Channel Booking Guest Without Contact Info, to Provide Contact Info and Sign Renter Agreement support article, we laid out the scenario of asking a guest without contact information, who booked through a channel, to provide contact info, sign a renter agreement and schedule their security deposit. This is how the trigger would look like for that.
Here are the settings we selected.
- Type: Immediate
- Event: Booking is created
- Add Condition > Listing Site is: Only > Airbnb, Booking.com
- Action: Channel Templates > Request Guest Contact Information and Renter Agreement for Channel Bookings Template
But what do the above settings mean?
The Type and Event fields drive the trigger to send the selected message template as soon as any channel booking is received or recorded in your account.
Since we are targeting "channel bookings" only, we want to add a "Condition" to the trigger that will stop it from sending out messages for other listing channels. This trigger is meant for Airbnb and Booking.com only because they do not share guest information upon booking. Channels like Airbnb and Booking.com don't provide an email address (or even a phone number) for the guest.
How do you request your guest's contact information and have them sign your renter agreement? OwnerRez directly integrates with the native messaging platforms at Vrbo, Airbnb, and Booking.com, so you need to reply on those channel messaging platforms.
How about notifying your cleaners of a new booking via an SMS message for the Beach Barn property? Here's an example of a trigger for that.
Here are the settings we selected.
- Type: Immediate
- Event: Booking is created
- Add Condition > Property is: Only > Beach Barn
- Action: SMS Templates > Beach Barn New Booking Notification for Cleaners
Let's run through the above settings to explain.
Again, the Type and Event fields force the trigger to send the selected message template as soon as a booking is received or recorded in your account. Selecting the Beach Barn property as a "Condition" for the trigger will prevent messages from being sent for other properties. And we chose our Beach Barn New Booking Notification for Cleaners SMS template from the Action dropdown menu. Now, our cleaners will receive an SMS message each time the Beach Barn property is booked!
Scheduled Triggers
Scheduled triggers are designed to send the selected message template at specific predetermined times based on the occurrence of an event. It's important to note that scheduled time-based triggers will never be sent if the trigger conditions are not met. The first time the condition matches, the trigger will send your message, and will no longer attempt to send your message after that.
The right kind of guest communication delivered at exactly the right time can make a huge difference to your guests.
When creating your trigger, determine the event that you want to respond to and what message you want to send in response to that event.
Do you have a gap night offer that you want to send your guests? Often, guests don't realize they have an opportunity to extend their travel time until shortly before their arrival. Let's create a Gap Night offer trigger for the Fancy Condo property to send to guests 7 days prior to their arrival.
Here are the settings we selected.
- Type: Scheduled Time
- Event: 7 days before Booking has arrived at 9:00 am
- Add Condition > Adjacent Available Nights Status on > Either Arrival or Departure > Gap of > 1 to 1 nights
- Add Condition > Property is: Only > Fancy Condo
- Action: Email Templates > Fancy Condo Gap Night Offer
But what do the above settings mean?
The Type and Event fields make the trigger send the selected message template at a specific time, at 9:00 am 7 days prior to your guest's arrival in the trigger above. We added the "Conditions" of only offering the Fancy Condo property with 1-night gaps available either before or after the guest's departure. And we chose our Fancy Condo Gap Night Offer email template from the Action dropdown menu. The above trigger will now automatically send, if available, Fancy Condo guests an opportunity to book additional nights to their reservation!
How about sending a quick check-in to guests who booked through a listing channel the morning after arrival to see if their stay is going alright? OwnerRez directly integrates with the native messaging platforms at Vrbo, Airbnb, and Booking.com, so it's easy to set up a channel "Booking" type template to check in with guests.
Here are the settings we selected.
- Type: Scheduled Time
- Event: 1 days after Booking has arrived at 10:00 am
- Listing Site is: Only> Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo
- Action: Channel Templates > Morning After Arrival Check-in With Channel Booking Guests
Let's run through the above settings to explain.
The Type and Event fields make the trigger send the selected message template at a specific time, at 10:00 am, 1 day after your guest's arrival in the trigger above. We added the "Conditions" of only sending this channel template to channel bookings coming from Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. We chose our "Morning After Arrival Check-in With Channel Booking Guests" channel template from the Action dropdown menu. The above trigger will now automatically send our selected message template to check in with guests the morning after their arrival to see if everything is alright and if they have any questions!
Events
Choosing the appropriate event to trigger your message is the first and foremost step in event selection.
Event selections are conditional upon your choice of either an Immediate or Scheduled Time Trigger Type. What does that mean?
When you choose a Scheduled Time Trigger Type, you can only select from some Booking and Blocked-off Time events.
But if you choose an Immediate Trigger Type, you can select from various Booking, Blocked-off Time, or Inquiry events. So, if you are trying to create a trigger to respond to an inquiry, you'll have to choose an Immediate Trigger Type.
Watch the Event options change as we toggle between Immediate and Scheduled Time Trigger Types.
Sending a message to guests asking them to leave you a great review? That's a Scheduled Time > number of days After Booking has departed trigger event. Want to notify your owner of a new booking? That's an Immediate > Booking is created trigger event.
Still stumped? Check out our extensive Trigger Examples support article for ideas and instructions for all sorts of guest and staff/team messaging templates and triggers.
Conditions
You have the option to add Conditions to your trigger, which can provide additional criteria for the trigger to send our selected message template. The "Trigger > Conditions" section provides the highest level of flexibility by allowing the addition of many extra conditions.
It's important to note that all Conditions must be met for a trigger to send our selected message template. By adding Conditions to a trigger, you can determine whether it will actually send our selected message template.
The optional Condition selections are the same whether you are creating an Immediate or Scheduled Time Trigger Type.
Let's review each section of the Conditions so you can get an idea of the capabilities of adding a Condition to your trigger.
Applicability
The Condition > Applicability section only has two choices: Listing Site and Property.
Need to have a guest who booked on a specific listing site sign a renter agreement and schedule a security deposit, but not for other listing sites? You can add that Condition here. You can make those choices by clicking on + Add Condition > Listing Site > Listing Site is > Everything but or Only.
Notice how we chose Airbnb and Vrbo by choosing the "Listing Site is > Only" option? You could select "Everything but" depending on your desired condition. We also deleted the Condition altogether by clicking on the trash can at the end. Don't like your Condition? Trash it and start over.
Want to send messages that only apply to one of your many properties or to all of your properties but one? You can add that Condition! By choosing + Add Condition > Applicability > Property > Property is > Everything but or Only, you can make those choices.
Statuses
There are ten Condition > Statuses to choose from. We won't cover all of them, but we want to mention some of the more common Statuses that may apply to your vacation rental business.
The Security Deposit Status is an important one. You may want to add a Condition > Status for that one. Want to be sure that you don't send out guest arrival door codes until the guest has their security deposit scheduled? You can add that Condition.
Want to be sure that you don't send out guest arrival door codes until the guest has signed your renter agreement? That Condition > Status can be added, too.
Another important Condition > Status is the Email Address On File Status. Sending your email message to a real email address is imperative. Let's see what that Condition > Status looks like.
Tags
If you've leveraged the versatility of Tags, you can add Tag Conditions to your trigger too.
But you won't be able to use Tags as a Condition unless you already have some tags set up, so see our Tags support article to learn more.
Have a message template for Spanish-speaking guests? You can add that tag to your Conditions to send your Spanish-language message to your guests.
Have a property that offers a Boat Rental? You can add that tag to your Conditions to send your Boat Rental Offer message to your guests.
Conversely, you can limit by adding the Condition that the "Tags does not contain any of" and select a specific tag. Want to be sure a returning "Problem guest" doesn't get any special offer messages? You can limit your trigger by adding the "Tags does not contain any of" and select that tag.
Dates
There are 16 Condition > Dates to choose from. We won't cover all of them, but we want to mention some of the more common Condition > Dates that may apply to your vacation rental business.
Have a Special Offer message you want to send all your guests staying during your Low Season? You can add that Condition.
Have a message that you want to get out to your Mid-term rental guests about an Off-street Parking Offer? You can add that Condition, too!
Want to send a message offering a Mid-stay Cleaning Offer to guests that stay 10 days or longer? Let's see what that Condition looks like.
Guests
Finally, there are There are 4 Condition > Guests to choose from: Number of Adults, Number of Children, Number of Guests, and Number of Pets. We won't cover all the possibilities, but we want to offer some ideas of what you could use for the Condition > Guests.
Do you have a property with 3 beds but offers air mattresses or roll-away cots for any additional guests over 6, but less than 8? First, you should make that very clear in your Property Description so nobody is disappointed with an air mattress or cot. But you could alert your maintenance staff or cleaners by message prior to arrival that they need to make those air mattresses or roll-away cots available for the upcoming guests. You can add those Conditions.
Is your property pet-free, but you do have a friend who offers local pet boarding in your area, and you want to offer that service to guests before you cancel their reservation? You can add that Condition, too! Your message would have to be carefully crafted to state that your property is pet-free but before you have to cancel their reservation, you have an alternative for them by offering local pet boarding services.
Want to send a message with a Special Activities Offer for your guest's children? Let's see what that Condition looks like.
Action
The Trigger Action section is fairly straightforward. You simply select the message template that you want the trigger to send from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
As mentioned in the Triggers Overview support article, you need to have an email, channel, or SMS message template created before attempting to create your trigger. If you haven't created a template, go back and do that first.
Depending on the Type and Event selected, different message templates will become available in the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
Let's look at an Immediate Type Trigger first. Notice how only Booking, Blocked-off Time and Inquiry messages templates are available in the Action dropdown list depending on which event (Booking, Blocked-off Time or Inquiry) we select?
But when we choose a Scheduled Time type trigger, the Action dropdown list offers only Booking and Blocked-off Time messages because the only events offered for Scheduled Time triggers is Booking and Blocked-off Time.
Don't see your message template in the Trigger > Action dropdown menu? There could be a couple of reasons for that.
- Generally, only Booking, Blocked-off Time, and Inquiry type message templates are available from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
- Immediate type triggers offer Booking, Blocked-off Time and Inquiry message templates in the Trigger > Action dropdown menu depending on the Event selected.
- If a Booking event is selected, only Booking type templates are available for selection from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
- If a Blocked-off Time event is selected, only Blocked-off Time type templates are available for selection from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
- If an Inquiry event is selected, only Inquiry type templates are available for selection from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
- If an "Inquiry is received" event is selected, the And section is revealed, allowing you to Create a quote (required if your inquiry template includes quote details), Mark the inquiry answered, or Mark the inquiry read.
- Scheduled Time type triggers offer Booking and Blocked-off Time message templates in the Trigger > Action dropdown menu depending on the Event selected.
- If a Booking event is selected, only Booking type templates are available for selection from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
- If a Blocked-off Time event is selected, only Blocked-off Time type templates are available for selection from the Trigger > Action dropdown menu.
And
Let's review the And section. When an "Inquiry is received" event is selected, the And section is revealed.
- When you choose Create a Quote in the And section, you will be able to reply to inquiries with a bookable quote automatically with your trigger. "Create a quote" is required if your inquiry template includes quote details and includes the quote field code {QHCTAB} in the email message template body. That quote field code {QHCTAB} is important to include because it's required if you select "Create a Quote." You won't be able to create and send your quote without both!
- Mark the inquiry answered means just that. When your trigger sends your message template, the inquiry is marked as answered. Some users prefer to leave this option unchecked, especially if a message template was sent by the trigger after business hours, allowing them to review the inquiry in the morning.
- Mark the inquiry read means just that. When your trigger sends your message template, the inquiry is marked as read. Again, some users prefer to leave this option unchecked for the reasons stated above. The choice is yours.
While it's tempting to create a Guest type message template, Guest type message templates cannot be sent with triggers. Guest type message templates can only be sent manually.
Retry
A Trigger Retry is only available for Scheduled Time triggers. If selected, trigger Retrys means just that. The Trigger will retry or attempt to send your message hourly and will only send your message if all Conditions are met.
Triggers configured with a retry will never send your message multiple times. Your message will either be sent once when the conditions are met or not at all if the scheduled time is missed.
Scheduled time based triggers will attempt to send every hour during the retry window. If the conditions fail to match, the scheduled time based trigger will wait an hour and check the conditions again.
It's important to note that scheduled time-based triggers will never be sent if the trigger conditions are not met. The first time the condition matches, the trigger will send your message, and will no longer attempt to send your message after that.
"Do not retry" is the default selection, but you can add a Retry for one of the following: Until cutoff time, For a number of days, Every day until arrival, or Every day until departure.
Triggers can be missed either because it's a last-minute booking or because the criteria didn't initially match. By adding a retry to your trigger, you're giving your message template a second chance to be sent. If your scheduled time trigger is unable to meet the conditions within the retry time window, that trigger will no longer attempt to send your message.
Retry options can be set to retry the trigger with various settings that allow you to define how often the trigger will try to send your selected message template if the conditions are not yet met. For instance, if the retry setting is set to "only run once," that trigger will not try again if the first scheduled time is missed because the Conditions were not met.
Until cutoff time
What exactly does the "Until cutoff time" mean? Until cutoff time means the last hour, your trigger will attempt to run every hour to try to send your message on the very day it is scheduled to be sent from the scheduled time you set to the time you set in the Retry up until time, but no days after that.
For example, you set the "Until cutoff time" to 9:00 PM. This means that if this trigger does not meet all other conditions by 9:00 PM only on that scheduled day, the trigger will not send your message, nor will it try to send your message again the following day. Adding the "Until cutoff time" retry option, will only attempt to send your message on that scheduled day until 9:00 PM. If the trigger conditions are met at 10:00 PM, your message will still not be sent because it missed your cutoff deadline.
For a number of days
On the trigger for your Ask Your Channel Booking Guest Without Contact Info, to Provide Contact Info and Sign Renter Agreement, you may want to add a Retry to send your selected message template "For a Number of Days > Retry for 10 days between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM" to remind the guest to complete your renter agreement or risk cancellation by you, the host. This trigger would run hourly to attempt to send your message between the hours of 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM for 10 days after a booking was created. If you want to configure a trigger to send your message daily, you will have to configure a separate trigger for each day with the condition of "Renter Agreement signed status is No."
Maybe you let your Channel Booking Guests for whom you do not have contact information for up to ten days to complete that request before you cancel their reservation (That requirement should be clearly stated in your Property Description Override for that channel listing.)? Of course, you'd want to add a Renter Agreement Signed Status to this trigger so it sends your selected message template correctly. And you could add an additional trigger sent to yourself a message to follow up on this specific booking to decide whether you want to cancel it. The Retry would look like this.
Every day until arrival
Another example could be that your guest arrives on Saturday, and you want to send your guest Arrival Information. You've set your trigger to send your guest arrival information 3 days ahead of their booking arrival on Wednesday. But what happens if your booking is a last-minute booking on Thursday? Without adding a retry, your guest who booked last minute on Thursday will not receive any guest arrival information. By adding the retry of "Every day until arrival > Between 9:00 AM and 11:00 PM each day," depending on the time your guest booked last minute on Thursday, they will receive your guest arrival information either late Thursday or Friday morning because your trigger retry will attempt to send your message hourly all conditions are met right up to 11:00 PM Friday evening (but not after 11:00 PM or any time after that).
Every day until departure
You can configure your trigger to attempt to send your message every day until departure with specific conditions and add the retry of "Every day until departure > Between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM. That trigger retry would look like this.
Description
Adding text to the Description field can prevent confusion as you add more and more triggers over time. If no text is added to the Description field, the template name is added as the default trigger description.
If you choose to add text to the description field, your trigger will have both the template name followed by a dash and the description text following that, as noted below.
Getting Started
Check out our extensive Trigger Examples support article for ideas and instructions for all sorts of guest and staff/team messaging templates and triggers.
If you still have unanswered questions about triggers, see the Triggers - Common Issues & Questions support article.