Notification Preferences

When you link a contact to a property, you can control which automated notifications they receive. This lets you send visit reminders to site contacts, invoices to billing contacts, and keep property managers informed—all automatically.

How It Works

Each property-contact relationship has its own notification preferences. When an automation triggers (like a visit reminder), YardPilot checks each linked contact's preferences to determine who receives the notification.

The Flow

1. Event Occurs — A visit is scheduled, quote is sent, or invoice is created
2. Automation Triggers — If the automation is enabled, it starts processing
3. Preferences Checked — YardPilot checks each property contact's preferences
4. Notifications Sent — Only contacts with the preference enabled receive the notification

Multiple Recipients

Unlike basic CRM systems that send to one "primary contact", YardPilot can send to multiple contacts for the same property—each contact gets the notifications they've opted into.

Contact Types & Default Preferences

When you add a contact to a property, their contact type determines which notifications they receive by default. You can customise these defaults for individual contacts.

Billing Contact

Billing contacts receive all notification types by default—they need to stay informed about visits, quotes, and invoices.

Notification Type	Email	SMS
Visit Reminders	✓	✓
Visit Completed	✓	✗
Quote Sent	✓	✗
Invoice Sent	✓	✗
Invoice Overdue	✓	✗

Site Contact

Site contacts (like tenants) receive visit-related notifications only—they need to know when someone is coming, but don't need financial information.

Notification Type	Email	SMS
Visit Reminders	✓	✓
Visit Completed	✓	✗
Quote Sent	✗	✗
Invoice Sent	✗	✗
Invoice Overdue	✗	✗

Property Manager

Property managers receive visit and quote notifications—they need to coordinate access and approve work, but often don't handle payments.

Notification Type	Email	SMS
Visit Reminders	✓	✓
Visit Completed	✓	✗
Quote Sent	✓	✗
Invoice Sent	✗	✗
Invoice Overdue	✗	✗

Emergency Contact

Emergency contacts receive no notifications by default—they're only contacted when needed.

Notification Type	Email	SMS
Visit Reminders	✗	✗
Visit Completed	✗	✗
Quote Sent	✗	✗
Invoice Sent	✗	✗
Invoice Overdue	✗	✗

Managing Notification Preferences

Accessing Preferences

1. Go to Properties in the sidebar
2. Open a property
3. Find the Contacts section
4. Click the email icon or SMS icon next to a contact

The icons indicate current status:

• Filled icon — At least one notification type is enabled
• Empty icon — All notifications are disabled for this channel

Editing Preferences

When you click an icon, a panel opens showing all notification types:

1. Toggle individual notification types on or off
2. Changes save automatically
3. The icon updates to reflect the new status

Notification Types Explained

Type	When It Sends	Email Behaviour
Visit Reminder	Day before a scheduled visit	Always sent
Visit Completed	After your team marks a visit as complete	Optional
Quote Sent	When a quote is emailed to the customer	Always sent
Invoice Sent	When an invoice is emailed to the customer	Always sent
Invoice Overdue	When an invoice passes its due date (if enabled)	Always sent

Required vs Optional Notifications

YardPilot distinguishes between two categories of automated notifications:

Required Notifications (visit reminders, quotes, invoices, invoice overdue) are essential service communications. Customers need these for business operations to function—they need to know when someone is coming, what work is quoted, what they owe, and when payments are overdue. These emails are always sent regardless of preference settings or unsubscribe status.

Optional Notifications (visit completed) provide useful updates but aren't strictly necessary for service delivery. Customers can toggle these on or off based on their preferences.

Invoice Overdue for Billing Contacts

Invoice overdue reminders are primarily sent to billing contacts, who need to know about outstanding payments. Other contact types (site contacts, property managers) don't receive invoice notifications by default.

SMS Always Respects Preferences

SMS notifications always respect contact preferences, regardless of whether the notification is required or optional. This is because SMS is a more intrusive channel.

Common Scenarios

Investment Property with Tenant and Owner

Setup:

• Owner as Billing Contact — Receives quotes, invoices, and payment reminders
• Tenant as Site Contact — Receives visit reminders so they know when to expect the crew

Result: Tenants know when to leave the gate unlocked, owners handle the bills.

Property Manager Handling Multiple Properties

Setup:

• Property Manager as Property Manager — Receives visit reminders and quotes
• Owner as Billing Contact — Receives invoices

Result: Property managers coordinate access and approve work; owners get invoices.

Commercial Property with Receptionist

Setup:

• Business Owner as Billing Contact — Receives everything
• Receptionist as Site Contact — Receives visit reminders only

Result: Reception knows when to expect crews; owners handle financial communications.

Holiday Home with Neighbour Contact

Setup:

• Owner as Billing Contact — All notifications enabled
• Neighbour as Emergency Contact — No notifications (defaults)

Result: Owners stay informed; neighbours aren't bothered unless you manually contact them.

Overriding Defaults

Individual preferences always override contact type defaults. This is useful when:

• A billing contact prefers SMS reminders instead of email
• A site contact doesn't want any notifications
• A property manager needs to receive invoices for a specific property
• An emergency contact should receive visit notifications for a particular property

Example: Property Manager Who Handles Billing

1. Add the contact as Property Manager (receives visits and quotes by default)
2. Click the email icon to open preferences
3. Enable Invoice Sent and Invoice Overdue
4. Save

Now this property manager receives all notifications including invoices—but only for this property.

Unsubscribed Contacts

When a contact clicks "Unsubscribe" in an email, their behaviour changes depending on the notification type:

• Optional emails (like visit completed notifications) are no longer sent
• Required emails (visit reminders, quotes, invoices, invoice overdue) continue to be sent because they contain essential service information
• SMS notifications are no longer sent for any type

This approach respects anti-spam laws while ensuring customers still receive critical service communications.

To check if a contact is unsubscribed:

1. Open the contact's profile
2. Look for the "Unsubscribed" badge
3. If present, optional emails and all SMS won't be sent to this contact

Required Emails Still Send

Even unsubscribed contacts receive required emails like visit reminders, invoices, and overdue reminders. If a customer truly doesn't want any communications, disable their notification preferences at the property level instead.

Missing Contact Information

Notifications are only sent if the contact has the required information:

• Email notifications require a valid email address
• SMS notifications require a phone number

If a contact is missing the required field, they're automatically skipped for that notification type—no error occurs, and other eligible contacts still receive their notifications.

Permissions

Role	View Preferences	Edit Preferences
Owner	✓	✓
Admin	✓	✓
Office	✓	✓
Field	✗	✗

Field workers don't need to manage notification preferences—this is an office/admin function.

Client Portal Self-Service

Customers can manage their own notification preferences through the client portal. This reduces your admin workload and gives customers control over their communications.

How It Works

1. Customer logs into the client portal
2. Clicks their profile dropdown in the top right
3. Selects Notification Preferences
4. Sees all properties they're linked to
5. Toggles individual notification preferences

What Customers Can Control

Customers can enable or disable any notification type for each property they're linked to:

• Visit Reminders (email and SMS)
• Visit Completed (email and SMS)
• Quote Sent (email and SMS)
• Invoice Sent (email and SMS)
• Invoice Overdue (email and SMS)

Changes made by customers are immediately synced with your CRM—you'll see the updated preferences when viewing the property contacts.

Required Emails Notice

The client portal displays a notice explaining that required emails (visit reminders, quotes, invoices, invoice overdue) are always sent even if they toggle the email preference off. This helps set customer expectations.

Best Practices

Set Up Contacts Correctly

• Choose the right contact type when adding contacts to properties
• Defaults handle most cases—only customise when needed
• Use Billing Contact for whoever should receive invoices

Review After Setup

When setting up a new property with multiple contacts:

1. Add all contacts with appropriate types
2. Review the default preferences
3. Customise only where needed
4. Test by scheduling a visit and checking who receives reminders

Keep Contact Info Current

• Update email addresses when they change
• Add mobile numbers for SMS notifications
• Remove outdated contacts to avoid confusion

Don't Over-Notify

• Site contacts usually don't need invoice notifications
• Emergency contacts rarely need any automated notifications
• When in doubt, use the defaults—they're designed for common scenarios

Troubleshooting

Contact Didn't Receive Notification

1. Check preferences — Is the notification type enabled for their channel (email/SMS)?
2. Check contact info — Do they have an email address or phone number?
3. Check unsubscribe status — For optional notifications (visit completed), have they unsubscribed? For SMS, unsubscribed contacts won't receive any messages. Note: Required emails still send to unsubscribed contacts.
4. Check automation status — Is the automation rule enabled in Settings > Automations?
5. Check email logs — Go to Communication > Email Logs to see delivery status

Multiple Contacts Received Same Notification

This is expected behaviour. If multiple contacts have the same notification type enabled, they all receive it. This is useful for keeping multiple stakeholders informed.

Changed Preferences Not Taking Effect

Preference changes apply to future notifications only. If an automation was already scheduled before you changed preferences, it will still send. Check Communication > Email Logs for scheduled emails that haven't sent yet—you can cancel them if needed.

Related Topics

• Built-in Automation Rules — Configure which automations are enabled
• Creating Custom Rules — Create custom automation rules
• Email Delay Setting — Configure delay before emails send
• Communication Templates — Customise notification content