Configure Survey Settings
How to configure automated survey email delivery, email templates, timing, token expiration, review platform links, and per-activity survey overrides.
Survey settings control how and when survey emails are sent to customers after their booking. These are location-level settings that apply across all surveys for that location.
When to use this
- You are enabling the survey feature for the first time at a location.
- You want to change when the survey email is sent (e.g., 2 hours after vs. 24 hours after the booking).
- You need to customize the email subject, body, or branding.
- You want to add links to external review platforms (Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor) in the survey email.
- You need different surveys for different activities.
Steps
1. Open survey settings
Go to Marketing > Surveys and click the Settings tab (or gear icon). If this is your first visit, default settings are created automatically.
2. Configure all settings
The settings page contains the following options:
General settings
| Setting | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enabled | Off | On/Off | Master toggle. When off, no survey emails are sent regardless of other settings. |
| Default Survey | None | Any active survey | The survey that is sent to customers unless overridden at the activity level. If not set, the system falls back to whichever survey is marked as "Default" in the survey list. |
| Delay Hours | 24 | 1 -- 8,760 (1 year) | How many hours after the booking is completed before the survey email is sent. For example, set to 2 for a quick follow-up, or 24 to give customers a day to reflect. |
| Token Expiration Days | 30 | 1 -- 365 | How many days the unique survey link remains valid. After this period, the customer sees an "expired" message if they try to open the link. |
Email template settings
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Email Subject | "How was your experience with us?" | The subject line of the survey email. |
| Email Body | See below | The body text of the email. Supports template variables for personalization. |
The default email body is:
Hi {{customer.name}},
Thank you for visiting us! We'd love to hear about your experience.
Your feedback helps us improve our service.
Thank you!
{{company.name}}Available template variables
Use these placeholders in the email subject or body. They are automatically replaced with actual values when the email is sent.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
{{customer.name}} | The customer's full name from their profile or booking. |
{{customer.firstName}} | The customer's first name. |
{{company.name}} | Your company name. |
{{location.name}} | The location name. |
{{survey.name}} | The name of the survey being sent. |
{{survey.url}} | The unique survey link (automatically included as a button in the email template -- you typically do not need to place this in the body text). |
The email body text you write here is inserted into a branded HTML template that includes:
- Your company logo at the top.
- A hero section with a "We'd Love Your Feedback!" header.
- Your custom body text in a white card.
- A prominent "Take Our Quick Survey" button linking to the survey.
- Review platform links (if configured).
- Your company contact information at the bottom.
The template automatically uses your brand colors from your checkout theme settings.
Activity scope
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| All Activities | On | When on, survey emails are sent for bookings of any activity at this location. |
| Activity IDs | Empty | When "All Activities" is off, only bookings for the listed activities trigger survey emails. Select specific activities to limit which bookings receive surveys. |
Review platform links
These URLs are optional. When provided, the survey email includes buttons linking customers to your profiles on external review platforms, encouraging public reviews in addition to the private survey feedback.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Yelp URL | Full URL to your Yelp business page. Must be a valid http:// or https:// URL. |
| Google URL | Full URL to your Google Business review page. Must be a valid http:// or https:// URL. |
| TripAdvisor URL | Full URL to your TripAdvisor listing. Must be a valid http:// or https:// URL. |
Activity survey overrides
By default, all activities at a location use the same default survey. Activity survey overrides let you assign a specific survey to a specific activity, so customers who book that activity receive a tailored survey instead.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Activity Survey Overrides | A mapping of activity IDs to survey IDs. When a booking is completed for an activity that has an override, that specific survey is used instead of the default. |
To set an override:
- Go to the activity's settings or use the survey settings page.
- Select the activity.
- Choose the survey to use for that activity, or clear the selection to revert to the default.
To remove an override, set the survey to "Use default" (null). The override entry is removed and the activity falls back to the location's default survey.
3. Save settings
Click Save. The system validates:
- Delay hours is between 1 and 8,760.
- Token expiration is between 1 and 365 days.
- Any provided review platform URLs are valid HTTP or HTTPS URLs.
4. Send a test email
Before going live, send yourself a test email:
- On the survey settings page, find the Send Test Email section.
- Enter your email address.
- Optionally select a specific survey (otherwise the default survey is used).
- Click Send Test Email.
The test email:
- Is sent immediately (ignores the delay hours setting).
- Has a
[TEST]prefix in the subject line. - Contains a real, functional survey link that expires in 1 day.
- Has no booking attached (the booking context fields appear as "Test Customer").
Use this to verify your email template, branding, review links, and the survey submission flow end-to-end.
Tips
- Start with a short delay (2-4 hours) if your experiences are brief, or a longer delay (24 hours) if you want customers to have time to reflect.
- Keep token expiration at 30 days for most cases. Shorter expirations (7 days) create urgency but may miss customers who check email infrequently.
- Add at least your Google review URL. The survey email prominently displays review platform links, which can boost your public review count alongside the private feedback.
- Always send a test email after changing the email body or subject to verify the formatting and variable replacement.
Related guides
- Create a Survey -- build the survey that gets attached to the email.
- Link Surveys to Bookings -- understand the workflow that triggers delivery.
- View Survey Responses -- see the feedback that comes back.
- Checkout Customization -- branding settings that affect survey email appearance.