Customer segments

Last updated September 21, 2026

A newsletter can go to everyone, or to everyone who has used one of your services. That is enough for an announcement and not much else. The messages that actually bring people back are narrower: the twenty customers who used to come every six weeks and have not been in since March, the groomer customers who have never tried the walking service, the handful who have spent over five hundred pounds.

A segment is a name and a few rules. Everything a rule can ask about — visits, spend, services used, pets, whether they are already booked in — comes from records you already keep, so there is no list to maintain and a segment cannot go out of date.

A segment is a question, not a list

It is worked out fresh at the moment you send. Somebody who books next week drops out of your “not booked in” segment without you touching anything.

Unsubscribes cannot be overridden

Anyone who has opted out, or who has no usable email address, is removed after the rules have run. There is no combination of rules that can put them back, and the list screen shows how many were removed for each reason.

Every rule must be true

Rules stack: “has ever booked grooming” and “last visit was more than 12 weeks ago” means both, not either. If you want two different groups, make two segments.

One thing worth knowing: a customer who has never been in is never matched by a “last visit” rule. Otherwise every old enquiry would be swept into a message about how long it has been since we saw them. Use Never booked at all for those.

Name it for what it isLapsed groomer customers. Dog owners. Big spenders.

Add your rulesPick from the list; put a number, a service or a species in the box beside it where one is needed.

Check the countThe list shows how many people are in it right now, and how many were dropped for opting out or having no email.

Use it on a newsletterThe segment appears in the “Send to” list on any newsletter.

Example

A groomer builds “Lapsed regulars”: has ever booked grooming, last visit more than 12 weeks ago, not booked in already. It shows 34 people. A short note with a booking link goes to those 34 instead of to all 600, and the ones who come back were always the ones worth asking.

FAQ

Can a segment email somebody who unsubscribed?
No. Opt-outs are removed after the rules run, so no rule can reach them. The count beside each segment tells you how many were removed that way.

Is the list fixed when I save the segment?
No, and that is the point. It is recalculated every time you send, so it is never out of date.

Does “total paid” mean what I invoiced or what I received?
What you have actually received. Money invoiced and money in the bank are different numbers, and only one of them is a sensible thing to base a mailing on.

Why is my “not been in for a year” segment missing people?
Anyone who has never booked at all is deliberately excluded from “last visit” rules. Add a second segment using “Never booked at all” if you want to write to old enquiries.

Can I match on any rule rather than all of them?
No — every rule has to be true. It keeps the screen readable and what a segment means obvious. Two groups means two segments.

Do cancelled bookings count?
No. A cancelled appointment is not a visit, so it does not count towards the number of bookings, the last visit date, or which services somebody has used.