Automations — Automated WhatsApp Messages and Tasks

Automations take repetitive customer communication off your team’s plate. You choose what to watch (a lead, a trip, a quotation, a hotel voucher, a payment instalment or a WhatsApp conversation), when to act (when something happens, or at a time relative to a date such as the trip start) and what to do (send a WhatsApp message, wait, check a condition or create a task). Sembark runs it for every matching record and records every step.

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Where to Find Automations

Go to Organization > Settings > Automations. The page has three tabs:

• Definitions — your automations, with their start rule, status (Active or Inactive), number of runs and when they last ran.
• Schedules — upcoming (and overdue) scheduled messages, e.g. a payment reminder due tomorrow at 9 AM.
• Runs — every time an automation ran, with its status and a step-by-step trace.

You can also open Organization > Settings > Integrations > your WhatsApp integration > Automations to see and create WhatsApp automations.

Create an Automation from a Template

Automation templates are ready-made automations for the most common moments in a trip’s journey. You only choose the WhatsApp message and, if you like, narrow down which records it runs for.

1. Click + New Automation.
2. Browse the templates under All, or by record type (Trip Plan Request, Trip, Trip Quotation, Hotel Voucher, Trip Instalment, WhatsApp Conversation, WhatsApp Reply), and pick one.
3. Fill in the form (see Template Form).
4. Click Create Automation.

New automations start Active. To change one later, open it and click Edit.

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Template Form

Most templates ask for the same few things:

• Conditions — optional rules to run only for some records, e.g. only B2C trips, only trips to a particular destination, or only when the tag “Honeymoon” was just added. With no rules, the automation runs for every record.
• Messages — one or more messages, sent in order. The first is sent as soon as the automation runs; click Add a wait before this on any message to delay it (in minutes, hours or days). Click + Add Message to add a follow-up, which waits 1 day by default.
• WhatsApp Template — for each message, pick an approved template or click Create new template. A new template starts with a ready-made message for that automation, which you can edit before saving. The preview shows the message with Variables or Sample values, and the picker warns you when a template uses details this automation cannot fill in.
• Sender Phone Number — the WhatsApp number to send from. Only numbers on the first message’s business account are listed.

Templates that run on a date (trip start, trip end and instalment due dates) also ask for:

• Checkpoints — when to send, relative to the date, e.g. 3 Days Before or 1 Day After. Each checkpoint sends the messages once.
• Send Window — messages are only sent between these hours, 09:00 to 21:00 by default. A checkpoint in days that falls outside the window moves to its nearest edge — 9 AM or 9 PM. Checkpoints in hours or minutes are sent at their exact time.

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Who Receives the Message

Messages go to the booking contact — the agent’s contact person on a B2B trip, and the guest on a B2C trip. For trip plan requests it is the lead’s phone number, and for WhatsApp conversations it is the customer who wrote in.

Automation Templates for Leads

Trip Plan Request Welcome

Welcomes the customer as soon as a new trip plan request is created — whether it came from your website, an ad, a call or was added by your team — so they know you’ve received it.

• Runs when: a trip plan request is created.
• Sent to: the phone number on the trip plan request.

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Trip Plan Request Assigned

Introduces the salesperson handling the enquiry, so the customer knows whom to talk to.

• Runs when: a trip plan request is assigned to someone — including by your auto lead distribution rules. Reassigning the lead to someone new sends it again; saving it with the same owner doesn’t.
• Sent to: the phone number on the trip plan request.

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Trip Plan Request Tagged

Messages the customer when your team adds a tag to their enquiry — for example, sends a honeymoon brochure when the “Honeymoon” tag is added, or a visa checklist when “Visa Required” is added.

• Runs when: a tag is added to a trip plan request.
• Sent to: the phone number on the trip plan request.
• Set up: under Conditions, add a rule on Tag Just Added that contains the tag’s name. Create one automation per tag that needs its own message.

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Automation Templates for Trips and Quotations

Trip Created Confirmation

Confirms to the customer that you have started working on their trip.

• Runs when: a trip is created.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.

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Quotation Follow-up

Sends the quotation PDF to the customer the moment it is ready, and follows up if they haven’t replied.

• Runs when: a quotation is created and its PDF is ready.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.
• Example sequence: the quotation now, then a second message after 2 days asking whether they would like any changes.

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Trip Converted Confirmation

Sends a booking confirmation as soon as the customer confirms the trip.

• Runs when: a trip is converted.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.

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Trip Tagged

Messages the customer when your team adds a tag to their trip — for example, a “Documents Pending” reminder or a “VIP” welcome.

• Runs when: a tag is added to a trip.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.
• Set up: under Conditions, add a rule on Tag Just Added that contains the tag’s name.

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Trip Start Follow-up

Shares a pre-departure checklist before the trip, or checks in once it is under way.

• Runs: on the trip start date — 2 days before by default. Change the Checkpoints to send it the day before, or 1 Day After to check in during the trip.
• Runs for: converted trips only.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.

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Trip End Follow-up

Thanks the customer after the trip and asks for feedback while it is still fresh.

• Runs: on the trip end date — 1 day after by default.
• Runs for: converted trips only.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.

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Automation Templates for Payments and Vouchers

Trip Instalment Payment Reminder

Reminds the customer before an instalment falls due, so payments come in on time without anyone chasing them.

• Runs: before the instalment’s due date — 3, 2 and 1 day before by default.
• Runs for: unpaid instalments the customer owes you. Once an instalment is marked paid, its remaining reminders are not sent.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.
• Repeat Window (optional): repeat the reminder at a fixed interval between two points, e.g. every 12 hours from the due date until 3 days after it.

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Trip Instalment Overdue Reminder

Follows up on payments that are past their due date.

• Runs: after the instalment’s due date — 1, 2 and 3 days after by default.
• Runs for: unpaid instalments the customer owes you.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.
• Repeat Window (optional): as in the payment reminder.

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Hotel Voucher

Sends each hotel voucher to the guest as soon as it is issued, ready to show at check-in.

• Runs when: a hotel voucher is created. A trip with several hotels sends one message per voucher.
• Sent to: the trip’s booking contact.

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Automation Templates for WhatsApp Conversations

These templates reply inside the customer’s own WhatsApp conversation, always from the number the customer wrote to, so they don’t ask for a sender number. For each message, choose Reply with:

• Approved template — reaches the customer at any time.
• Message you write — a free text reply, e.g. “Thanks {{customer_name}}, where would you like to go?”
• A form to fill in — offers a WhatsApp form: pick the Form and its Opening Screen, and write the Message and Button Label (up to 20 characters).

Written messages and forms only work while the conversation is open, which it is for 24 hours after the customer last wrote. Since these templates reply to the customer’s own message, that is almost always the case.

WhatsApp Conversation Welcome

Greets every customer who starts a WhatsApp conversation with you, and can turn each new conversation into a lead.

• Runs when: a customer opens a new conversation — by writing to you, or by opening your chat from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a link. It runs once per conversation.
• Sent to: the customer who wrote in.
• Create a Trip Plan Request: switch on to create a trip plan request for every new conversation before the greeting goes out. The lead is linked to the conversation, assigned like any other lead, and keeps the ad the customer came from.
• Trip Plan Request Source: the trip source for those leads. Leave it blank for “WhatsApp”.

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To greet customers on each of your numbers differently, add a condition on Business Number and create one automation per number.

WhatsApp Quick Reply Follow-up

Answers automatically when a customer taps a quick reply button on a template you sent — so each choice gets its own answer.

• Runs when: a customer taps a quick reply button.
• Sent to: the customer who tapped.
• Replied To Template: the template whose button was tapped.
• Button: the button to answer, picked from that template’s quick replies, or Any button on the template.

For example, when a customer taps Talk to an expert on your welcome template, reply with your team’s contact details — and create a second automation for another button.

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WhatsApp Form to Trip Plan Request

Turns every submitted WhatsApp trip form into a trip plan request, with the customer’s answers filled in. It sends no message.

• Runs when: a customer submits the chosen form.
• Flow: the form whose submissions create a trip plan request (required).
• Enquiry Source: the trip source for those leads. Leave it blank for “WhatsApp”.
• Conditions (optional): narrow it by an answer, or by where the conversation came from.

The new trip plan request is linked to the conversation. Answers named destination, start_date, no_of_days, no_of_adults, no_of_children and comments fill in the matching lead details; any other answers are kept on the lead as extra details.

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Activate, Deactivate and Delete

Open an automation from Definitions to see its Runs, Schedules and Details. Use the buttons at the top to Edit it (automations created from a template), Deactivate or Activate it, or Delete it. A deactivated automation stops running until you activate it again.

Dry Run

Try an automation on a real record before it goes live. On the automation’s Details tab, click Run Dry Run, enter a Source Record Id (e.g. a trip ID) and submit. Sembark evaluates the automation and records a trace, but does not send messages or create tasks. The dry run appears under Runs with a Dry Run badge.

Runs and Retries

Every run shows its status — pending, running, completed, failed, cancelled or skipped — the record that started it, and when it started and finished. A run paused at a wait shows when it resumes. Use Failed Runs Only and Dry Runs Only to filter.

Click a run to open its trace: Why This Run Started, and each step with its status, what it sent and any error returned by WhatsApp.

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To retry a failed run, choose:

• Resume from Failed Step (recommended) — continues from the step that failed, reusing the steps that already succeeded.
• Start Over — runs the automation again from the beginning.

Either way, Sembark never resends a message or recreates a task that already succeeded. The original run stays untouched for reference.

Sending Limits

WhatsApp limits how many customers each number can start conversations with in 24 hours, based on the number’s messaging tier (shown on the integration’s Accounts tab). Automations leave part of that limit for your team. If a number has used up its limit, the automated message fails with the reason instead of being sent hours late — you can retry it from Runs.

Custom Automations

The templates above cover most needs. For anything they don’t, click + New Automation and pick Custom Automation at the end of the list.

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When

• Source Model — the record type: Trip Plan Request, Trip, Trip Quotation, Hotel Voucher, Trip Instalment, WhatsApp Conversation or WhatsApp Reply.
• Start Type — Event or Schedule.
  • Events: Trip Plan Request — Created, Assigned To Someone, Tags Updated; Trip — Created, Converted, Tags Updated; Trip Quotation — Quotation Created; Hotel Voucher — Hotel Voucher Created; Trip Instalment — Created, Updated, Deleted; WhatsApp Conversation — Customer opened the chat; WhatsApp Reply — Customer tapped a button, Customer submitted a form.
  • Schedule (Trips and Trip Instalments): pick a Schedule Field (e.g. Trip Start Date, Trip End Date, Due Date), add Checkpoints such as 3 Days Before or 1 Day After, an optional Repeat Window, and the Send Window.
• Start Filters — rules the record must match. Group rules with Match all rules or Match any rule, and nest groups for complex logic. Operators include Equals, Does not equal, Contains, In list, Greater/Less than, Before, After, Is empty and Is filled.

Useful filter fields include Tags, Tag Just Added, Trip Source Type (B2B / Agent or B2C / Guest), the WhatsApp Business Account, the ad the conversation Came From, the Button tapped, the Submitted Flow and individual form answers.

Then

Add steps in order, and move them up or down:

• Communication — send an approved WhatsApp template from a phone number to one or more recipients (Customer Phone Number or Booking Contact Phone Number; prefer the booking contact).
• Offer WhatsApp Form — send a form with a message and button, within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.
• Create Task — create a task on the record with a title, an optional due time, and an assignee (a specific user, the record’s owner or its creator).
• Create Trip Plan Request — for WhatsApp conversations and replies, turn the conversation or submitted form into a lead.
• Wait — pause for a fixed time, or until a time relative to a date on the record.
• Condition — check rules; the steps inside the condition only run when they match.

Click Create Automation to save.