Three reminders per season is a sound schedule: about 90, 60, and 30 days before the ship by date, adjusted to how long your shop takes to produce and deliver. In GoHighLevel, each franchise location has a ship by date for each season, and a Custom Date Reminder sends the reminders relative to that date. The bottom line: the shop's own production time sets the schedule, and the software counts backward from it.
Why date driven reminders fit
GoHighLevel's Custom Date Reminder page says the trigger fires before, on, or after a date in a contact or opportunity date field, does not fire for contacts with an empty date, and lets one workflow hold separate triggers for before and after the date. It also describes an option for reminders that repeat every year. Seasonal signage is date driven: a fall promotion, a holiday display, and a summer banner each have a date the sign must be on site. The reminder schedule is three numbers, and the shop's production and shipping time is the fourth.
This is a suggested schedule, not an industry standard. We did not find a published benchmark for franchise sign reorders, so set your own from your lead times and the brand's calendar.
Fields and schedule
| Field | Use |
|---|---|
| Brand and location | Groups by franchise system |
| Season and ship by date | One date field per season |
| Last order date and items | Suggests the reorder |
| Approver | The person who can sign off |
| Days before ship by date | Step |
|---|---|
| 90 | Reorder notice with last year's order and the new artwork |
| 60 | Reminder with the order deadline and price hold |
| 30 | Final notice, and a call from the account manager |
| Ship by date | Task to check whether the order came in |
Build it in GoHighLevel
- Add each franchise location as a contact, with fields for Brand, Season, Ship by date, and Last order.
- Build a workflow with the Custom Date Reminder trigger on Ship by date, 90 days before, that sends the reorder email with a link to your order form.
- Add triggers for 60 and 30 days before, with an If/Else so locations that have ordered exit.
- Add a task at 30 days for the account manager to call locations that have not ordered.
- Build a workflow with the form submitted trigger for the order form that tags the location Ordered and updates the Last order field.
- Create a Smart List by brand and season so the team can see who has not ordered.
GoHighLevel's Custom Date Reminder page says the trigger fires before, on, or after a date, that in contact based workflows you can choose supported contact date fields and supported opportunity date fields, that it does not fire for a contact whose date field is empty, and that a workflow can hold two triggers, one before and one after the date. It also describes a Match on the year option for reminders that repeat every year, so read that setting's description in your account and test it with a real date field.
What the workload looks like
For example, a shop serving 120 locations with four seasons a year sends 480 seasonal reorder cycles (120 times 4), each with three reminders, or 1,440 messages. A workflow sends them, and staff call only the locations that reach the 30 day mark unordered.
Mistakes to avoid
- Counting from the season start. Count from the ship by date.
- Ignoring production time. Set the first reminder before it.
- Reminding locations that ordered. Exit them on the form.
- Skipping the brand's calendar. Franchisors set promotion dates.
How this was handled before
Sign shops relied on the franchisor's marketing calendar and on account managers who remembered which locations ordered last year. A date field for each season turns that memory into a schedule.
What to measure after launch
Track locations that ordered before the 60 day reminder, before the 30 day reminder, and after. Move the first reminder earlier if most orders arrive after the last one, and later if orders arrive before the first.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. Franchisees usually prefer email for orders, so use text only when they agree. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
How many reminders should I send?
Three is a reasonable start, at about 90, 60, and 30 days before the ship by date. Adjust to your lead times.
Can GoHighLevel remind by date?
Yes, with the Custom Date Reminder trigger on a date field.
Can reminders repeat every year?
GoHighLevel describes a Match on the year option for repeating reminders. Test it with a real date field.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.