Settled routines and how customers settle

What it is#

Customers like the same person on the same day. When a customer's visits have been placed with the same team member on the same weekday a set number of times in a row, the diary settles them there. From then on it keeps that team member and weekday for them wherever it can.

This happens in automatic mode only ("Let the diary plan itself"). In self mode ("I place visits myself") nothing settles.

When to use it#

You do not have to do anything: settling happens by itself. Change the setting if customers settle too quickly or too slowly for your business.

How to do it#

Go to Settings, under Scheduling.
Set Visits before a customer settles on a team member and weekday. It can be from 1 to 5, and is 2 unless you change it.
Press Save scheduling.
To see where a customer stands, open the customer's record and look at the property. It says either that the routine is settled, with the team member, the weekday and the date it began, or that it is not settled yet.

What your customer sees#

Nothing directly. They simply get the same team member on the same day more often. Each visit confirmation gives the day and whether to expect you in the morning or the afternoon, never a clock time.

What happens next#

The diary checks every night, after it plans, whether any service has now settled. A settled visit gets first pick of normal working hours, and its usual team member and weekday are tried first.

If the usual day is full, closed, has no hours or the team member is on leave, the visit goes elsewhere for that week. The diary marks it Off pattern and can tell you why.

Only confirmed or done visits with a team member count towards settling. These do not count:

a visit covered by someone else because the usual team member was on leave;
a visit placed and confirmed today, which counts from tomorrow;
after the diary has moved a routine, any visit confirmed before the move.

No customer settles onto a team member and weekday that is full in 2 or more of the next 4 weeks.

Good to know#

Lowering the number can settle customers the next time the diary plans. Raising it does not unsettle anyone.
If you set the Days or Team member rows on a regular service yourself, the diary follows your choice first.
You can be told when a customer settles and when a visit is off pattern. Both notices are off unless you switch them on in your notification settings.
When a settled day becomes full most weeks, the diary may move a routine to make room. See rebalancing.
In self mode, each customer's regular slot keeps their team member and day instead. You set it the first time you place a visit, by answering Yes, every visit to Is this the customer's regular slot?

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What a settled routine is and how a customer settles