Marketing opt-in and preferences

Texting and emailing customers is how you win repeat work, but it only works if you do it with consent. Pista tracks each customer's communication preferences and opt-in status so your team can follow up confidently without crossing a line. This article explains how consent works in Pista and how to manage it.

Two kinds of messages

It helps to keep these separate in your head, because the rules differ:

• Transactional messages are tied to a specific visit: estimate approvals, "your car is ready," receipts. Customers expect these as part of doing business.
• Marketing messages are outreach that is not tied to an active RO: service-due reminders, review requests, promotions, and win-back campaigns. These require opt-in consent.

Pista lets transactional messages flow as part of the workflow, while marketing outreach checks the customer's opt-in status first.

Capture opt-in the right way

The cleanest consent is consent the customer clearly gives.

1. On the customer profile, find the Marketing preferences section.
2. Toggle SMS marketing and Email marketing on when the customer agrees to receive them.
3. Note that consent should come from the customer, for example by asking at the counter or letting them opt in from a message.

Tip: Make the ask part of check-in. A simple "Want a text when you're due for service?" gets a clear yes or no, and you record it on the spot. Consent you can point to protects the shop.

Honor opt-outs automatically

When a customer replies STOP to a text or unsubscribes from an email, Pista records the opt-out and stops sending them marketing on that channel. You do not have to track it manually, and your team will see the updated status on the profile. Transactional messages about an active repair can still reach them, because those are not marketing.

Set the preferred channel

Beyond consent, the profile holds the customer's preferred contact method. Use it so outreach matches how the person likes to hear from you. Someone who only checks email should not get a string of unanswered texts, and a phone-first customer should not be buried in email.

How preferences drive your automations

Once preferences are set, the rest of Pista respects them:

• Service reminders and win-back outreach only go to opted-in customers.
• Review requests after a closed RO follow the same consent.
• The unified inbox shows you the customer's status so a quick one-off text does not become an unwanted blast.

Good to know: Keep marketing messages genuinely useful: a real reminder, a real recall notice, a real thank-you with a review link. Consent stays healthy when the messages earn their place in someone's phone, and opt-out rates climb the moment they don't.