Auto Book

The dog goes home and nobody asks when it's coming back. Auto Book books the next groom as soon as the current one is paid for, so the owner leaves with a date and you don't have to remember to rebook.

Open in app: Auto Book · Grooming Care settings

Before you start

Each pet needs a care cycle, such as every 6 weeks, and at least one completed groom at your shop. Auto Book works out the next date from those two things. See Grooming Care to set care cycles.

What happens after you turn it on

1. The groom is finished and paid. Auto Book books the pet's next groom straight away, for the last groom date plus the care cycle. It doesn't wait until the date is close. A pet groomed on 1 March on a 6-week cycle is booked for 12 April that same day, once that week's roster is published.
2. The booking is confirmed. It goes in your calendar as a confirmed appointment, paid at the visit, even if you normally approve online bookings yourself.
3. The owner gets a message with the date and time, asking them to contact you if they need a different time.
4. Before the visit, the owner gets your usual appointment reminders, at the times set under Appointment reminder in Notification settings. If you haven't changed them, that's 1 day and 2 hours before.
5. That groom is finished and paid, and Auto Book books the one after.

Auto Book never books for today, and never books a pet that already has a groom booked. If a pet on a 3-week cycle already has a groom at week 4, Auto Book books nothing at week 3: it books the one after the week-4 groom. When you set up or resume Auto Book, a line under the pet says so, for example "Lulu already has a groom booked for 4 Nov. Auto Book books the one after it." The pet's Auto Book status reads Auto Book on · Books the groom after 4 Nov, and the owner sees the same on their Auto Book page.

Turn on Auto Book at checkout (web app and Seglo appointment app)

After you take payment for a groom, the checkout shows Plan the next groom. Under Auto Book, switch it on for the pets, or choose Book next to pick one date and time yourself instead.

Set up Auto Book from the owner's record (web app and Seglo appointment app)

1. Open the owner from Clients and go to their Auto Book section.
2. Choose Set up on the web app, or the + button in the Seglo appointment app.
3. Under Which pets?, tick the pets. If a pet has no care cycle yet, set one in Care cycle for pets without one.
4. Under Which service?, keep Same services as this visit or pick from recent visits or all services.
5. Choose Start Auto Book.

Owners can also turn it on themselves from their account for pets that have a care cycle and a completed groom. You get a notification when they do.

Book owners with more than one pet

When you tick two or more pets, you're asked How should these pets come in?

• Always together: one visit for all of them, on one shared care cycle. Setting Care cycle for all selected pets changes each pet's care cycle to match. If they can't all fit on one day, nothing is booked, and the visit waits for you to choose a time.
• Arrange each pet separately: each pet keeps its own care cycle and may come in on different days.

Give Auto Book more days to find a time

By default, Auto Book only books the suggested date. If that day is full, it can't book. To give it room, open Settings → Grooming Care → Auto Book dates and set Days after the suggested date, from Suggested date only up to 14 days. Auto Book tries the earliest day first. It never books before the suggested date.

What owners can change

• Move a groom: owners can reschedule an Auto Book appointment from their bookings, the same as any other booking. Your cancellation deadline applies. The pet stays booked at the new time.
• Cancel a groom: Auto Book doesn't book a replacement. The same happens when you cancel it or mark it as a no-show. The pet shows in Needs follow-up until someone books it, or until its next groom is completed.
• Turn Auto Book off: owners can turn it off and on from their account. Bookings already made stay.
• Change the care cycle: owners can't. They ask you.

Fix a visit Auto Book couldn't book

Sometimes Auto Book can't book a visit. The day may be full, there may be no time that fits pets coming together, or no roster may be published for that week.

An unpublished roster isn't a problem until it's close. Auto Book waits and books once the roster is out. If it's still not published 14 days before the date, Auto Book stops waiting and asks you.

When Auto Book needs you, you get a notification straight away. If nobody has fixed it a day later, you get one reminder each morning for up to a week. The pet also shows in Needs follow-up on Grooming Care.

To fix it on the web app: open Clients → Grooming Care → Auto Book and filter Needs a time. Choose the visit, then pick a time in A new time for…. Days without room show Fully booked this day. The visit is booked as soon as you pick a time. To skip a visit instead, use Skip under Auto Book visits that need a time in Requests.

In the Seglo appointment app: choosing a time for an Auto Book visit isn't available yet. Open Clients → Grooming Care → Follow-up and book the pet's next groom from there.

Pause or stop Auto Book

On the owner's Auto Book section, open the ⋯ menu:

• Pause: nothing new is booked until you choose Resume. Confirmed bookings stay, and you see them before you confirm.
• Stop: Auto Book ends for that owner. Confirmed bookings stay. You can set it up again at their next visit.
• Change care cycle: changes how often that pet comes in. The next booking follows the new cycle. Existing appointments aren't moved.

Archiving a pet takes it off Auto Book. Archiving the owner's last pet on it ends Auto Book. See Client profiles.

Good to know

• Owners hear from Seglo when a groom is booked, not when one is due. There's no "time for a groom" message. Use Needs follow-up for pets that aren't booked.
• The time and groomer can change between visits. Auto Book books a time that fits on the day; it doesn't hold the same slot.

Related

• Grooming Care — care cycles, suggested next grooms and Needs follow-up.
• Notification settings — reminder times and the messages owners receive.
• Booking policies — the deadline for online changes.
• My bookings — what owners see and can do in their account.