Zanda (Power Diary): recall automations for lapsed clients

Zanda (the system that used to be Power Diary) approaches lapsed clients from the other end. Instead of a report you run when you remember, it has a recall automation that watches every client and fires when they've gone a set number of days without booking again. That's the right shape for stopping the dormant list from growing. It also has a few rules that aren't obvious until you read them.

Everything below is quoted from Zanda's knowledge base article on recall automations.

What triggers it

"A recall automation is triggered a set number of days after a client's last booked appointment, but only when the client has no future appointments scheduled" (Zanda, Setting Up a Recall Automation). It's "processed every day at 2:00 PM (14:00) local time for each account for eligible clients."

Zanda's own examples of what to use it for: "a 30-day rebooking reminder after a treatment appointment, a 90-day recall for ongoing care, or a task for your admin team to contact clients who have not returned after a specific appointment".

Setting one up

1. "Navigate to User Menu > Account Settings > Communication > Automations".
2. "Click on '+ Add Automation'".
3. "Give the automation a name (e.g. '3 month recall')".
4. "Select the 'Recall' Automation Type."
5. Set the conditions. All must be met, and the client must have no future booking. The documented conditions: "Days after Appointment Date", "Appointment Location", "Appointment Flag", "Client Status", "Client Type", "Client Classifications", "Telehealth Status".
6. Choose the "Action Type": "SMS, email, or task", and pick the communication template. Zanda has "Pre-built templates" for recall SMS and email.
7. Save. "The automation will start sending in the next daily batch for client's that meet the conditions going forward."

On matching: "Within a single condition (e.g. multiple Client Classifications), the system applies OR logic ... Across different conditions ... the system applies AND logic." So two classifications selected means either; a classification plus a status means both.

"Going forward" is worth pausing on. The article says it starts sending in the next daily batch for clients who meet the conditions. Whether a new "90 days" rule fires for someone who was already at day 200 when you created it isn't stated in the words quoted; build the rule, check who it picks up the next day, and adjust.

Two traps in the docs

No-shows don't trigger it. "They are not triggered by appointment status, such as No Show or Cancelled. To follow up after specific appointment outcomes, such as missed, cancelled, or attended appointments, use a Post-Appointment Automation instead." A client who no-showed their last appointment and has nothing booked will get a recall N days later as if they'd attended. That's the wrong message for them; the no-show follow-up is a same-day job, and on Zanda it's a different automation.

No service and no practitioner conditions. "Recall automations do not have a Service condition" and "do not have a Practitioner condition, so a recall cannot be limited to one practitioner's clients on its own." Zanda's workaround is documented: create a Client Classification for the practitioner under Account Settings → Clients → Client Classifications, apply it in bulk from "Tools > Bulk Update" (filter by Primary Practitioner or Assigned Practitioners, Get Clients, select, Add classification, Apply Update), then use that classification as the recall condition, and "Keep the classification up to date as clients come and go." The article also explains why an appointment flag isn't a reliable substitute: flags are account-wide and the recall looks back at an appointment that already happened.

Is that worth doing? Yes, because a recall that says "it's Sam, your physio" gets answered and one from "the practice" doesn't. The classification is the only way to route it.

A list, if you want one

The recall automation is the list; it just acts on it a person at a time. If you want to see the whole lapsed base at once, the article doesn't describe a report for that, so it isn't quoted here. The task action is a middle path: set the action to "Task", and each eligible client "will appear in your main Tasks dashboard with no assigned user", which gives your front desk a rolling to-do list of people to ring or text personally.

Consent, carers and the message itself

Zanda includes a consent line, but about carers: if a client's contact has "Send all automation communication" switched on, "make sure you have the contact's consent to receive communications on behalf of the client." The Spam Act and the OAIC aren't named in the article.

The automation decides when. The template decides what, and that's where the lane is set. A recall tied to the appointment the client had and is due to follow up, no offer, is where the OAIC says consent can reasonably be implied (OAIC). Put a promotion in the pre-built template and it's marketing. Either way the SMS needs your practice name and a STOP line that reaches someone (ACMA). The rules guide has the wording.

What to do on Zanda

Set a 90-day recall with SMS from the practitioner (via the classification workaround) and a second at 104 days as the follow-up. Set a Post-Appointment Automation for no-shows separately. Then look at who the daily batch picked up and check the replies came to a number someone watches. Zanda will catch each client as they drift, every afternoon at 2. The conversation after "yes, when?" is still a person's job, and the reactivation guide covers what that job looks like.