Send automatic Course Cancellation emails when Courses are cancelled

Steps to send an automated Cancellation email to my Delegates for their cancelled Course

1 Create your Cancellation confirmation Email Template
2 Create your Course Cancellation Workflow
3 Test and enable your Course Cancellation Workflow

Related Help Guide Pages

Additional Workflow Related Help Guides

Learn how to send an automated cancellation confirmation emails

Sending an automated email to your Delegates when their course is cancelled is essential for ensuring clear communication and a professional experience. These cancellation emails serve several important purposes: they immediately inform Delegates that the course will not be taking place, prevent any unnecessary attendance, and demonstrate your organisation's commitment to keeping them informed. By promptly notifying Delegates of cancellations, you help manage their expectations and maintain their trust.

To provide an excellent customer experience, it’s important to send out these cancellation emails as soon as the course is cancelled. Quick notifications can help Delegates feel assured that they are informed in a timely manner, reduce any potential confusion, and allow them to make alternative plans.

With accessplanit’s automated email system, you can effortlessly send customised Course Cancellation Emails that include all the necessary details and a personal touch.

Follow this guide to learn the best practices and steps for setting up and sending Course Cancellation Emails efficiently and automatically!

Create your Cancellation confirmation Email Template

The first step is to create an Email Template, using merge fields and HTML branding Email Templates allow you to to create consistent communications to send via the Platform

Top Tip!

accessplanit platforms come with many pre-built Email Templates to save you time! These pre-built templates include a ‘Delegate - Course Cancellation’ Email Template which you can use or copy from.

Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
From the Administration Menu, click on the ‘Email Templates’ option (the menu is in alphabetical order)
This will take you to your ‘Email Templates’ DataGrid where you can view, edit, and add Email Templates
Click the ‘Add Email Template’ button
This will open the Email Template Form
Give your Email Template a ‘Name’
We recommend labeling your Email Template with the name of the anticipated recipient followed by a description of the email, such as 'Delegate - Course Cancellation'
Select which Module your Email Template relates to, as this email will contain information about your Delegates, you should select ‘Delegate’
Leave the ‘Email Type’ selected as ‘Normal’ as this is a transactional email, not a marketing email
Leave the ‘Creation Mode’ as ‘Free Text’ as you will be defining the content of your Email directly in the Email Template rather than first building Text Templates
Add in a ‘Subject’ for your email
We recommend including the name of the Course within the subject to catch the recipient’s attention in their inbox, you can do this by adding the merge field @@CourseOrAliasName into the Subject text box
Add in the ‘Body’ of your email
If you copied the content from an existing Email Template, you can paste this content into here!
If you need to apply branding to your email, please see our dedicated guide: Add Company Branding to Email Templates
Merge Fields will vary depending on which module is selected.
Use the ‘Field' drop-down option in the text editor to include merge fields such as the Course Label and Status within your Email Template

Here are some example Merge Fields that may be useful in your Admin Statistics Email Template:
@@CourseOrAliasName
@@CourseDateStartDate{ddd dd MMM yyyy}
@@CandidateForename
@@CandidateSurname

To test your Email Template, click the ‘Preview and Test’ button at the bottom of the window
Select a Preview Object by clicking the ‘Select’ button
This will open a pop up window where you can select which Delegate you would like to test your Email Template with
Select your Preview object and press ‘OK’
You will now see an a preview of your Email Template, populated with the information of your selected Delegate
If an area is blank where a Merge Field is placed, this could mean that there is no information stored for this Delegate/Placeholder under the Field the Merge Field is related to
To check that the Email displays correctly when it is sent, send a sample of the Email to yourself by providing your email address and clicking the ‘Send Email’ button
Once you are happy with your Email Template content, press the 'Save & Close' button

Create your Course Cancellation Workflow

Workflows are used to automate communications, this is the step where you will define the circumstances needed for your Delegate Cancellation email to send, when it will be sent, and who it will be sent to!

Top Tip!

accessplanit platforms come with many pre-built Workflows to save you time! These pre-built templates include a ‘Delegate - Course Cancellation’ Workflow which you can update or clone.

Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open your Workflows DataGrid
This will open the Workflows DataGrid
Click the ‘Add Workflows’ button
This will open the Workflow Details page
From the new Workflow form, enter a ‘Title’ for your Workflows
We recommend labelling your Workflow with the name of the anticipated recipient followed by a description of the email, such as “Delegate - Course Cancellation”
Select the same Module that you used for your Email Template (for this Workflow you need the ‘Delegate’ module)
Leave the Trigger Event set as ‘Saved’ this Workflow should be generated when a Course is first ‘saved', not when it is ‘deleted’
Provide a useful Description so that your team know what this Workflow is for
Leave your Workflow inactive for now
It will be set to active once you have finished setting everything up!
Click the ‘Save’ button in the top right to create your Workflow
After you have saved your Workflow with those details, you will be able to access the management menu on the left to add further information
From the Workflow Management menu, click to open the ‘Settings’ page for this Workflow
This will open the Workflow Settings page

Optional - The ‘Required Role’ option is where you can set that only Training Administrators or only Super Administrators are able to view and edit this Workflow, if this option is left blank, it means both Super Admins and Training Admins can both view and edit this Workflow
Add Rules to your Workflow to decide which Courses will have this Statistics email triggered
Here are some common rules used for automated Statistics Emails, you can include any combination of these, as required:

a. Only send when the Delegate status has Changed, this means the status has changed from one to another, e.g. from ‘booked’ to ‘cancelled’

b. Only send to Delegates who have the status of ‘Cancelled’, this rule will mean that Delegates with the status of Booked, On Hold, Completed or No Attend will not receive have this email generated

c. Only send when Course Status is in ‘Cancelled’

d. Only send to Delegates on a head course or a non-sessional course

If you think that you may require Advanced Rules for your Workflow, please see our dedicated section within our Workflows Overview page
Leave the ‘Matching Rules’ checkbox checked

It is very unlikely that you will need to make any changes to any of the other settings available in the Settings page, to read more about these options please see our guide Workflow Overview
Once you have added all of your rules, click the 'Save' button at the top right of the page
From the Workflow Management menu, select the ‘Actions’ option
Select the ‘Add Workflow Action’ button
This will open the ‘Details’ section for your Workflow Action
Enter an ‘Action Label’ for your Email Action
We recommend labelling your Workflow Email Actions with the details of the email and when it will send, such as “Delegate - Course Cancellation - 5 minutes after current date time”
Select the Action Name ‘Send Email’
Press the ‘Save’ button in the top right to access the additional settings
Once you have saved, the parameter options for your automated email will become available
The first setting is ‘Action Date’ this is where you define when the email will send
For this Workflow action, its recommended to set this action date 5 minutes after the current date and time to send the email 5 minutes after your Workflow’s criteria is met.
Please see our dedicated section within our Workflow with Email Actions page for more information on Action dates
Check the ‘Send on Action Date Only’ if you do not want an email to send for Delegates that are added to your platform after the email should have sent to receive it
Use the ‘From Address’ options to enter the sender email address for this email
This reduces the risk of your emails being mistaken for spam or phishing attempts, plus, it simplifies you communication – as the recipient of your email will know who to reach out to and where their replies to your emails should go.

Please make sure that you use a real email address as your ‘From Address’, otherwise the emails will likely end up being caught by spam filters.

Use the ‘To Address’ options to select who you would like to receive this email
Select the Email Template that you created earlier from the 'Email Template’ drop-down box
If you would like to include any attachments to this email, click the ‘Add File’ button on the Attachment options, and select your file
Click the 'Save' button to save your Workflow Email Action
Once you have added your Workflow Action, your Workflow is ready to be tested!

Test and enable your Course Cancellation Workflow

Once you have created your Email Template and Workflows it is time to test, testing is a good way to ensure the email sends when you expect and the content of the email displays correctly in your email inbox.

Test your Course Cancellation Content - Single Email Test

This testing approach is best used for Workflows where you want to view/test the content of the email only, if you would like to test that your rules are set up correctly (and that your Workflow will send when expected), please jump ahead to the “Test your Course Cancellation Workflow - Become the Recipient” below.

Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open your Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows by applying filters and/or searching the Workflows DataGrid
Right-click on your Delegate Cancellation Workflow, this will show you the context menu options for this Workflow
Click on the ‘Actions’ context menu option to open the Workflow Actions DataGrid for this Workflow
From the Workflow Actions DataGrid, right-click on your Workflow Email Action and select the ‘Edit’ option
Click on the ‘Preview and Test’ button at the top right of the Workflow Email Action edit page
Select a Delegate from the ‘Preview Object’ option
This will show you a preview of the email and you can check that your merge fields are populating correctly, using the data from your example selected Delegate
To receive a copy of this email, enter your Email Address into the 'Send sample to' option
This is important, as it will highlight to you if there are any formatting issues with your emails.
Click the ‘Send Email’ to send a copy of this Email Template for this Course to your Email Address
If you notice any changes are needed to your Email Template, open the ‘Email Templates’ DataGrid from the ‘Administration’ menu option, edit your Email Template and save. You can then run through these testing steps again.
Once you are happy with the content of your Email Template and Workflow you can set your Workflow to Active!
If you would prefer to test your Workflow rules before enabling your Workflow, please move directly onto Test your Workflow Rules - Become the Recipient in this guide.
Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows, right-click on it to view the context menu options and select the 'Edit' option
Scroll down to the ‘Active’ checkbox and check this box
Click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the page to save your Workflow as active!

Test your Delegate Cancellation Workflow Rules - Become the Recipient

This testing approach is best used for Workflows where you are not 100% confident with the rules of your Workflow, and you would like to ensure that you will not send out your cancellation emails at the wrong time, about the wrong Delegates. With this approach you will start using your Workflow, but all of the Emails will be sent to your email address temporarily.

Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows' menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows by applying filters and/or searching the Workflows DataGrid
Right-click on your Delegate Cancellation Workflow, this will show you the context menu options for this Workflow
Click on the ‘Actions’ context menu option to open the Workflow Actions DataGrid for this Workflow
From the Workflow Actions DataGrid, right-click on your Workflow Email Action and select the ‘Edit’ option
Scroll to the ‘To Address’ option and change the setting from ‘Field’ to ‘Constant’
If there are any existing recipients listed in the ‘To Address’ bar remove these, and type in the email address(es) that you would like to receive your emails to, press enter after you have typed in each email address
Click the ‘Save’ button at the top of your page to save these changes
Repeat steps 4-6 if you have any additional Workflow Email Actions for this Workflow
Once you have set all of your Workflow Actions to send to an administrator’s Email Address you can set your Workflow to Active!
Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows, right-click on it to view the context menu options and select the 'Edit' option
Scroll down to the ‘Active’ checkbox and check this box
Click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the page to save your Workflow as active!
After a period of time, when you are confident that your emails are sending for the right Delegates at the right time, you can then update the Workflow Actions 'To Address' to the correct recipient(s) and Save.

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