Why a note from you matters
I arrive unannounced. You can fix that.
When you add someone, I email them, straight away unless you ask me to hold it. It comes from hello@bookwithdoris.com as “Doris for [Organization]”, the subject line is “[Your name] has added you to [Organization] on Doris”, it says what they can now do and how to check with you, and inside is a button that signs them in with no password. Even so, to someone who has never heard of me it is an email from a domain they cannot check, and that is the shape of the emails they have been told never to click.
A short note from you, a few days ahead, is what makes mine land. It has to come from the address they already know, the one the rota or the newsletter comes from. That address is the whole reason it works. I can’t send that one for you, and I shouldn’t: sent from anywhere else it is just another stranger.
What to say
Five things, and then stop.
- What is changing, and roughly why.
- When. A date, even an approximate one, so nobody is surprised.
- What my email will look like: who it is from, what the subject says, and that the button is safe to press.
- What they will be able to do for themselves, so it reads as a gain rather than a chore.
- Who to ask if something looks wrong.
The letter below covers all five. Replace the parts in square brackets, and write your organization’s name exactly as you typed it into Doris: it is quoted in the subject line they will be looking for.
Timing
Send yours first. Then add people.
My welcome email goes the moment you add each member, unless you choose “Hold it until I’m ready” when you add them. So send your note today, and add your members on the day you said you would. A gap of two or three days is plenty. Longer than a fortnight and people forget they were told.
Holding it is for setting up. Add everyone, put their regular bookings in the diary, then press “Send invitations” on the Members page. Nothing goes until you do, and the email they get tells them how many bookings are already waiting for them. I never send a held email on my own.
Two people the letter does not reach. Anyone who already uses Doris with another organization gets no email at all: yours simply appears when they next sign in, held or not, so tell them that instead. And if you run a hall, someone hiring the space once for a party never gets an account; you take that booking yourself.
Your letter
One letter, whichever way I work for you.
Pick how your rooms are booked and the letter below changes to match. The two extra lines are off until you tick them: add one only if it is true of your organization.
SubjectRoom bookings are moving to Doris from [date]
No extra lines added. Tick them above if they are true of your organization.Extra lines added: price and statements.Extra lines added: approvals.Extra lines added: price and statements and approvals.
Hello everyone,
Keeping everyone’s room diary straight has become a big job for one person, so we are changing how we take bookings. From [date], room bookings at [Organization] will run through Doris, an online booking diary, and you will be able to book your own room without going through the office. We can still put a booking in for you, but we think you will find it easier to do it yourself. This note is so you know what is coming before it arrives.
What changes for you
- You book your own room, on your phone or computer, from a grid of session slots. Pick a day, a room and a slot, and it is yours. No need to ask anyone.
- Regular sessions go in once. Tell Doris the day, the time and how many weeks, and it books the whole series.
- The diary cannot be double-booked. The moment a slot is taken it is locked for everyone else, so the room is yours when it says it is.
- You can always see your bookings. Cancel one yourself if plans change, or add it to your own calendar.
- Where a room is charged for, you see the price before you confirm, and you can see what you have spent so far under Account. A statement arrives showing what you have used and how to pay.
- Some rooms need one of us to approve a booking first. Those show as pending until we say yes.
What to expect
On [date] you will get an email from hello@bookwithdoris.com, sent as “Doris for [Organization]”. The subject will be “[Your name] has added you to [Organization] on Doris”. It is genuine, and if you reply to it I will see your reply. Press the button and you are signed in on that phone or computer, with no password to set up. The button only works the first time; after that you sign in at app.bookwithdoris.com with your email address and a code it sends you. If the email lands in your junk or spam folder, move it to your inbox first, then open it from there.
Until then there is nothing to do. We will give Doris your name and email address, and nothing else.
If anything looks wrong, reply to this email or ring me on [phone].
[Your name]
[Organization]
SubjectBooking the hall is moving online from [date]
No extra lines added. Tick them above if they are true of your organization.Extra lines added: price and statements.Extra lines added: approvals.Extra lines added: price and statements and approvals.
Hello everyone,
Looking after everyone’s bookings by hand has become a big job, so we are changing how we take them. From [date], bookings at [Organization] will run through Doris, an online booking diary, instead of [the paper diary / the shared calendar / a message to me], and you will be able to book the space yourself, at any hour, without waiting for one of us. We can still put a booking in for you, but we think you will find it quicker to do it yourself. This note is so the change does not come as a surprise.
What changes for you
- You book the space yourself, on your phone or computer. Pick the day, the room or hall, and your own start and finish time, and it is booked. No waiting for someone to check the diary.
- A weekly class or a monthly meeting goes in once, as one booking for the whole run. If a week clashes with something already in the diary, Doris tells you which one rather than losing the lot.
- Nobody can double-book you. Once your booking is in, that space is yours for that time and the diary will not let anyone else take it.
- You can always see your bookings. Cancel one yourself if plans change, or add it to your own calendar.
- Where a space is charged for, you see the price before you confirm, and you can see what you have spent so far under Account. A statement arrives showing what you have used and how to pay.
- Some spaces need one of us to approve a booking first. Those show as pending until we say yes.
What to expect
On [date] you will get an email from hello@bookwithdoris.com, sent as “Doris for [Organization]”. The subject will be “[Your name] has added you to [Organization] on Doris”. It is genuine, and if you reply to it I will see your reply. Press the button and you are signed in on that phone or computer, with no password to set up. The button only works the first time; after that you sign in at app.bookwithdoris.com with your email address and a code it sends you. If the email lands in your junk or spam folder, move it to your inbox first, then open it from there.
Until then there is nothing to do. We will give Doris your name and email address, and nothing else.
If anything looks wrong, reply to this email or ring me on [phone].
[Your name]
[Organization]
SubjectDesk booking is moving to Doris from [date]
No extra lines added. Tick them above if they are true of your organization.Extra lines added: price and statements.Extra lines added: approvals.Extra lines added: price and statements and approvals.
Hello everyone,
Keeping track of who is in on which day has become a big job, so we are changing how we take desk bookings. From [date], desk bookings at [Organization] will run through Doris, an online booking diary, and you will book your own desk without going through the office. We can still book one for you, but we think you will find it easier to do it yourself. This note is so you know what is coming before it arrives.
What changes for you
- Book a desk for the day, or for a run of days, in a few taps on your phone or computer. Tell Doris when you are coming in and it finds you a free desk.
- If you come in on a regular pattern, set it up once and keep the same desk each time.
- You can see how many desks are free on any day, and Doris stops taking bookings the moment we are full, so a desk you have booked is yours.
- You can always see your bookings. Cancel one yourself if plans change, or add it to your own calendar.
- You see the price before you confirm, and you can see what you have spent so far under Account. If you are on a membership plan, the days it includes are counted for you. A statement arrives showing what you have used and how to pay.
- Some spaces need one of us to approve a booking first. Those show as pending until we say yes.
What to expect
On [date] you will get an email from hello@bookwithdoris.com, sent as “Doris for [Organization]”. The subject will be “[Your name] has added you to [Organization] on Doris”. It is genuine, and if you reply to it I will see your reply. Press the button and you are signed in on that phone or computer, with no password to set up. The button only works the first time; after that you sign in at app.bookwithdoris.com with your email address and a code it sends you. If the email lands in your junk or spam folder, move it to your inbox first, then open it from there.
Until then there is nothing to do. We will give Doris your name and email address, and nothing else.
If anything looks wrong, reply to this email or ring me on [phone].
[Your name]
[Organization]
Next
When the day comes, add them.
Type a name and an email and they are in. I send the welcome email you have just told them about, and if it goes astray their member page always has a fresh sign-in link you can hand over.