How often do you pick up your phone?
If you’re like most people, the answer is a lot. In fact, 32% of consumers check their text messages 6-10 times per day.
From the newsletters we sign up for to the promotional emails that flood our inbox (clothes, skincare, or whatever your vibe is), emails tend to pile up fast. That means important emails, like appointment reminders, slip through the cracks of our inbox. But text messages are less cluttered and a place we look at at multiple times throughout the day. That’s why opting for SMS as a channel for appointment reminders can be so effective.
Transactional SMS messages that go straight to the recipient’s phone are a great avenue to remind people of their upcoming appointment or send a post-visit survey.
Let’s take a look at how to write an appointment reminder text message that grabs a client’s attention and gets them to take action.
Consumer SMS opt-ins are particularly popular in the healthcare (55%), banking/finance (46%), and e-commerce/retail (46%) industries. But when done right, they can benefit businesses in any niche, large or small.
Similar to how your marketing emails are likely set up, transactional SMS messages can be pre-scheduled to send at a certain time or after a client has taken a certain action. Unlike emails, however, text messages that go straight to the recipient’s phone are more likely to be seen.
Appointment reminder text messages help you:
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“Appointment reminders are phenomenal,” says Greg Schwartz, a self-employed AI and prompt engineering consultant. “Before I turned them on, I had almost 20% of appointments canceled. After turning them on, that went down to less than 1%.” |
Bridget Harris, Founder and CEO of YouCanBookMe, agrees—saying that not only do her SMS meeting reminders have significantly higher open rates, but they’ve also “been instrumental in reducing no-shows.”
The data is clear: Sending appointment reminder text messages can help get your message across quickly, directly, and most importantly, read.
Follow these key considerations and best practices to send strong appointment reminder text messages.
Before doing anything else, ask for permission to text your customers. During the booking process, ask how they want to receive notifications—for example, via SMS, a phone call, or an email (or all of the above).
For example, when we look at Greg Schwartz’s booking page, you’ll see that a phone number is required to make a booking. He’s also included a note on why the phone number is needed, as well as a heads up that the booker will receive an SMS reminder for the call.
You’ll also need to decide what your most important touchpoints are. Do you want to send clients a reminder two days ahead of time, or the same day? How about a post-visit survey? Don’t dilute your high-priority text messages. Pick the most crucial moments to send SMS. Otherwise, like the boy who cried wolf, people will start to ignore them.
Once you’ve mapped out your SMS strategy, follow these best practices to send text messages your clients will want to read:
Ready to see some real-world examples? Take a look at these reminder text message examples that you can use to inspire your own.
If a client needs to schedule their next appointment, send them a text as a reminder. Include a link that takes them directly to your booking page or wherever they can immediately schedule the appointment.
Once an appointment is on the calendar, consider sending an SMS message asking the client to confirm. This can increase engagement while reducing cancellations and no-shows. A simple “Reply Y to confirm,” like this medical appointment reminder text message sample, will do the trick.
In other contexts, like this registration confirmation message from a gym, it might be appropriate to get more personal. Reassure the client that you’re excited to work together and you’re available to answer any questions.
In this appointment reminder text message template, the clinic includes links to additional information on parking and further details about the appointment.
If your character count allows, give the customer all of the information they need to show up prepared and ready to go. You can also briefly state your cancellation policy.
Send a follow-up text a day or two after the appointment asking for feedback. You can ask your client to write a review of their experience. Or provide a link to a web-based survey, like these post-appointment text message examples:
Looking for the perfect follow-up email template for your biz? Check out our guide to crafting a strong meeting follow-up email (examples included).
It might not seem like a big deal to shoot off SMS reminders yourself. But doing this manually is tedious and time-intensive. Especially when you’re running your own business and trying to do a million and one things at any given time.
By going the manual route, you also run the risk of forgetting to send a message. Sending SMS reminders manually just isn’t sustainable—especially as your business continues to grow and scale.
Instead, tap into the accuracy and convenience of automation. YouCanBookMe makes the process easy by offering automatic SMS reminders.
Purchase a set number of SMS credits and add them to your YCBM booking form, allowing clients to select text message as a communication preference. Then write a personalized text, decide when you want it to be triggered, and your client will receive the message on their phone.
Best of all? With SMS reminders, your no-shows are likely to drastically decrease — meaning your clients will show up and let you do what you do best.
Start automating your SMS reminder with YouCanBookMe.