Use this guide to review automated customer communications, understand what can trigger them, and troubleshoot messages that are missing, unexpected, duplicated, or outdated.
Overview
Automated customer messages in myKaarma help dealerships communicate with customers at key points in the service journey without requiring a team member to send every message manually.
Depending on your dealership’s products and configuration, automations can be used for communications such as welcome messages, appointment reminders, service-status updates, no-show outreach, and follow-ups for declined services.
Each automation is generally based on four elements:
- Trigger: The event that starts the automation, such as opening a repair order or reaching an appointment reminder time.
- Eligibility: The conditions that must be met before the message can be sent.
- Timing: When the message is sent after the trigger occurs.
- Template: The text or email content the customer receives.
Understanding these elements makes it easier to manage automated communications and troubleshoot messages that were not sent, were sent unexpectedly, or were sent at the wrong time.
Common automations
| Automation | Typical trigger | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome message | A repair order opens and the customer is associated with an eligible advisor | “Welcome to [Dealership]. I’ll be assisting you with your service visit today.” |
| Appointment reminder | An appointment reaches the configured reminder time | “Reminder: Your appointment is tomorrow at 9:00 AM.” |
| Appointment confirmation response | Customer responds to an enabled reminder | A customer may confirm, request to reschedule, or request cancellation. |
| Service-status update | An inspection or workflow reaches a configured status | “Your inspection is complete. Review your recommendations here: [Link].” |
| No-show follow-up | An appointment becomes a no-show | “We missed you today. Use this link to schedule a new appointment: [Link].” |
| Declined-service follow-up | A declined recommendation becomes available for follow-up | “Would you like to schedule the service recommended during your last visit?” |
Some follow-ups are managed through ServiceConnect automation rules, where your dealership can define the message, timing, channel, and follow-up cadence.
Before changing an automation
Confirm:
- Which automation sent, or should have sent, the message.
- What event triggered it.
- Which customer and vehicle were involved.
- Whether the message is a text or email.
- When the message was expected to send.
- Whether the customer has valid contact information and is eligible to receive the message.
- Whether another automation or manual message could produce similar wording.
Change one setting at a time and test with dealership-approved test data whenever possible.
Examples
Welcome message
A repair order opens for Alex and is assigned to an eligible service advisor. myKaarma automatically sends the configured welcome message.
Some dealerships may use different welcome wording for new and returning customers.
If the welcome message does not send, confirm that the repair order was received correctly, the advisor is properly associated with it, and the customer is eligible for messaging.
Appointment reminder
Jordan has an appointment scheduled for Friday at 10:00 AM. Based on the dealership's reminder configuration, myKaarma sends a reminder before the appointment.
When reminder-response automation is enabled, the message can also allow the customer to:
- Confirm the appointment.
- Request rescheduling.
- Request cancellation.
A cancellation request does not necessarily mean that the appointment is immediately canceled. Review the appointment status and follow your dealership's process.
No-show follow-up
A customer's appointment passes without a completed visit and becomes a no-show. If a ServiceConnect no-show automation is active, a follow-up can be sent automatically after the configured delay with a link to schedule another appointment.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Check |
|---|---|
| Message did not send | Confirm the trigger occurred, the customer was eligible, valid contact information was available, and the automation was active. |
| Message sent unexpectedly | Review the triggering event, automation conditions, timing, and other active rules that could send a similar message. |
| Customer received duplicate messages | Check for multiple active automations, repeated trigger events, duplicate records, or a manual message sent near the same time. |
| Message has old or incorrect wording | Confirm which automation and template generated the message and whether the intended template change was saved before the trigger occurred. |
| Follow-up sent too early or too late | Review the delay and allowed sending window configured for the automation. |
| Wrong customer received the message | Review the customer record, contact information, vehicle or appointment association, and source data before making changes. |
Need help?
If an automated message is still behaving unexpectedly, contact myKaarma Support and include:
- Dealership name
- Customer or repair-order reference
- Automation or message type
- Expected trigger
- Expected send time
- Actual result
- Date, time, and time zone
- Screenshot of the relevant message or status
Remove unnecessary customer information from screenshots and never include payment-card information or other sensitive data.
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