How to Reduce No-Shows with SMS Appointment Reminders

Missed appointments (AKA no-shows) waste valuable time and create awkward, unfillable gaps in your schedule. More consequently, they lower profits. No-show rates in certain medical settings, for instance, can cost practices up to 14% of their anticipated revenue.

Fortunately, you can reduce no-show rates and keep your schedule full with the help of SMS appointment reminders. Short Messaging System (SMS) reminders refresh your customers’ memories when they have an upcoming meeting and are proven to increase appointment attendance.

Missed appointments impact a variety of industries—and never in a positive manner. Any service-oriented business that takes reservations can suffer from missed appointments, but sectors that are particularly susceptible to lost revenue from no-shows include:

• Salons and beauty – Nearly 30% of hair, salon, and beauty appointments are canceled or skipped out on every year. For the average salon, that can put up to $67,000 of potential revenue at risk annually.

• The culinary sector – Restaurants experience no-shows at similar rates of the salon and beauty industry. Up to 27% of would-be diners miss their reservations. In the United Kingdom alone, that amounts to $31 billion in lost revenue annually—without accounting for staff’s wages and the value of wasted food.

• Other service-based businesses – From escape rooms to personal trainers and everything in between, there’s no service business that doesn’t suffer from no-shows. Reserving slots, scheduling staff, and preparing equipment and materials takes time and money—so it’s essential to take every step possible to minimize your no-show rate.

Mozeo offers the ultimate platform for simple, streamlined commercial texting with easy-to-use automation features. So, with that in mind, let’s explore some of the use cases, optimal implementation strategies, and other necessary considerations when utilizing SMS appointment reminders.

Why Use SMS Appointment Reminders?

Perhaps the most effective way to reduce missed appointments is via SMS appointment reminders. SMS reminders are text messages sent to clients prior to your meetings to refresh their memory about the time and details. They’re highly effective as text messages are:

• Almost always opened – Whether it’s a promotional text, response from a friend, or appointment reminder, SMS are opened and read 98% of the time—meaning there's little to no chance your clients will miss your message.

• Instantaneous – SMS messages are delivered in seconds whether the recipient is a block away or halfway across the world. Texts also often contain crucial information that compels recipients to check them at the first opportunity. It’s no surprise that 90% of SMS users open and read their texts within three minutes of receiving them.

• Convenient – SMS is simple and ubiquitous. Pretty much everyone has a cell phone capable of receiving text messages, as there are nearly 8.6 billion cell service subscriptions active worldwide. Nearly all of your customers can get SMS messages, and, more than likely, the vast majority of them send and receive them on a daily basis.
  

Using SMS reminders means fewer missed appointments, better customer rapport, and more revenue.

How to Set Up SMS Appointment Reminders

The first step to setting up SMS appointment reminders for your customers is choosing the right texting platform. Painstakingly checking your schedule against your customer records, finding their number, and typing up a custom message for every appointment is tedious and unnecessary – especially when automation solutions can do the majority of the work for you.

To make the most of your business texting, choose a robust platform such as Mozeo that features:

• Shorthand codes to quickly type up full texts using just a few letters
• The ability to schedule messages ahead of time
• Automated replies for customers who have extra questions about their appointments

To unlock all these features and simplify commercial texting, get started with Mozeo.

Once you’ve signed up for Mozeo, you can import and update your contact list. Ensure you delete any duplicate entries and get your clients’ latest numbers. Appointment reminders just aren’t very useful when they’re sent to the wrong (or a discontinued) number.

You may hit a roadblock when it comes to acquiring new numbers as customers can be reluctant to share their private information. Assure them that SMS reminders will benefit them by helping them keep their appointments and that you won't use their number for any other purposes.

That brings us to another important point when setting up SMS appointment reminders: obtaining consent. Whether you’re sending mass marketing texts or reminding individual clients about their upcoming meetings, you need to get permission from each and every customer before sending them any kind of SMS. You must also give them the option to opt out of receiving messages.

Sending a Test Appointment Reminder

Before you even begin sending SMS appointment reminders, you’ll need to check and test your reminder system. To make sure it works, send out a text message along the lines of:

Dear (Customer), this is a test of (Business’s) SMS appointment reminder system. Please reply with “Y” if you've received this message. Send STOP to stop.

Not every customer will reply, but you should get enough of a general response to know if your system is working. Then, you can begin sending out appointment reminders and reducing your no-show rate.It’s also important to reflect on the efficacy of your SMS system by collecting user feedback. To do so, you can send surveys to your recurring customers asking questions such as:

• Have SMS reminders helped you keep more appointments?
• On a scale of one to ten, how convenient do you find (your business’s) SMS reminders?
• Would you recommend your friends and family sign up for SMS reminders?
  
  

Once you’ve got some actionable feedback about your system, update and alter it until it meets your customers’ suggestions. Of course, if you follow our list of best practices for implementing SMS reminder systems, it might be perfect right from the get-go.

Best Practices for SMS Appointment Reminders

SMS reminders can significantly decrease the amount of missed appointments for your business—that is, if they’re set up and operated properly. To optimize your SMS reminder system and minimize unplanned gaps in your schedule, consider the following best practices:

• Personalize reminder messages – Include the customer’s name and, if relevant, the branch of your business (or location) where you’ll be meeting. Over two-thirds of consumers expect personalized communication from the brands they interact with. A few simple personal details can make them more likely to open your message and make their appointment—so don’t skip out on customization!

• Time your messages effectively – Reminding your customers about their appointments a month ahead of time might cause them to forget before the date. Similarly, messaging too late runs the risk of them not reading it in time. The sweet spots for sending messages are 24 hours before your scheduled appointment then again about one hour before it’s set to start.

• Keep it clear and concise – SMS reminders don’t need to contain much: just the client’s name, details about your appointment, and a bit of information about your business. They’re certainly not invitations to send advertising messages; instead, segment your contact list and create specific groups explicitly for marketing messages.

• Provide easy options for rescheduling or canceling – No one likes a canceled or rescheduled appointment, but they're better than no-shows. Allow customers to alter their reservations via text message or online and use a texting platform with automated responses to send them alerts verifying the change.

These best practices will help you optimize your messages and reduce missed appointments. The exact contents of your messages, however, will vary depending on the industry you operate in.

Potential Uses for SMS Appointment Reminders

Many different kinds of businesses leverage SMS reminders to reduce no-shows. If you operate in any of the following (or similar) sectors, consider implementing them in your business:

Healthcare

As previously mentioned, SMS reminders have been proven to increase appointment attendance. They can enhance the chances of a patient making their time slot by up to 50%.

To ensure your patients don’t miss out on their assessments, procedures, and follow-ups, use a remainder message similar to:

Dear (Patient), this is a reminder of your appointment at (Clinic) at (time and date). Be sure to (any special instructions). See you tomorrow! Reply STOP to stop.

Salons and Spas

As noted, spas and salons put nearly a third of their income at risk every single year due to cancellations and no-shows. To reduce missed haircuts, pedicures, facials, and more, send messages akin to:

Dear (Customer), you have a (type of service) scheduled for (time and date) at (Salon or spa). Please arrive 15 minutes early as we’re excited to make you feel fantastic! Reply STOP to stop.

Professionals Services

Lawyers, financial advisors, and similar professionals spend a high percentage of their time in appointments. Unfortunately, despite the high price of their time and the status of many of their clientele, not every customer makes their scheduled meetings. To ensure more clients arrive at your office when they’re supposed to, send them messages like:

Dear (Client), you have a meeting with (Professional) at (location) at (time and date). Please (any special instructions). Thank you and see you then. Reply STOP to stop.

Educational and Coaching Services

From tutors to personal trainers, there are plenty of other kinds of businesses that operate via persistent appointments—and are therefore subject to potential no-shows. To get more students in for their study sessions and exercise fanatics workouts, use SMS reminders like:

Dear (Client), you have a (type of service) tomorrow at (time) with (Company). Be sure to (special instructions). Have a good day, and see you then! Reply STOP to stop.

Leverage Mozeo to Facilitate Your SMS Appointment Reminders

Any type of service business that offers appointments is susceptible to no-shows. Missed appointments equate to missed revenue, which reduces your bottom line and makes it more difficult to keep your business profitable.

SMS appointment reminders refresh clients’ minds about upcoming meetings and make them more likely to attend. They make your revenue streams more predictable and increase scheduling efficiency for your business.

To implement SMS reminders in your business, utilize Mozeo to simplify your texting needs. Mozeo offers all of the key features necessary to create effective SMS reminder texts—including automated replies, message scheduling, contact segmentation, and more.

Begin using Mozeo today to reduce no-shows and bolster your bottom line.