How to Send an Appointment Reminder Text Message and Reduce No-Shows by 75%

Do appointment no-shows plague your business? When customers fail to show up for important appointments, it could cost your business hundreds or thousands of dollars annually. Fortunately, there is an easy, simple, and cost-effective method for drastically reducing the number of appointment no-shows.

An appointment reminder text message is the best way to drive attendance. In fact, the most successful businesses and organizations have been using text messaging for many years with a ton of success. Put simply, if you haven't invested in a robust text marketing platform for your business or organization, you are behind the curve.

If you are just getting started with appointment reminder text messaging, there are a few practical steps you can take to make system adoption and management easy. Following these steps doesn't necessarily guarantee success in the long term, but it will certainly point you and your business in the right direction.

4 Steps To Send an Appointment Reminder Text Message

In most cases, partnering with an experienced text message marketing provider is the first step every business should take to create appointment reminder text messages. As an industry-leading text marketing provider, we've partnered with more than 210,000 businesses, nonprofits, and organizations worldwide. Of course, we might be a little biased when we say that we deliver the best text marketing solutions for the world's most successful businesses.

After you've found the right provider, here are the next four steps you should take to start sending appointment reminder text messages right away.

1. Select a Template

Start by selecting a text message template. Most service providers offer default templates, or you can create your own. If you're planning on using this message over and over again, it's a good idea to create a template for reuse.

When crafting your message, consider the following:

Simplicity: Is the message easy to read? Have you included information related to the appointment date, time, and location? Are recipients able to confirm or reschedule their appointment?

Frequency: Did you send the reminder a few days in advance of the appointment? What happens if recipients don't respond to your text message?

Here are some great appointment reminder examples worth copying:

Hello! Your appointment today is at 2:00 PM. Please arrive 10 minutes early - Dr. Allergy, Chattanooga (555) 123-4567. Please call or reply if you need to reschedule.

Hello! You are meeting with Scott C. at 2:00 PM tomorrow to view the property on Lakeview Drive. Reply if you need to reschedule.

Hello! You are scheduled for a tire rotation at 2:00 PM tomorrow. Smitty's Tire is located at 123 Rio Grande Ave, Chattanooga. Reply to reschedule.

Hello! Reminder: Your scheduled appointment with Dr. Allergy is 01/02/03 at 2:00 PM. Please bring an updated insurance card. Reply to cancel or reschedule.

2. Add Personalization Tokens

Addressing your customers by name is a nice touch. EZ Texting's software allows you to upload your contact's name and appointment information right into the system. This allows you to easily personalize each individual message.

Here's an example of personalization tokens in use:

Hello {FirstName#} {LastName#}! Your scheduled appointment with Dr. Allergy is 01/02/03 at 2:00 PM. Please bring an updated insurance card. Reply to cancel or reschedule.

In this example, the recipient's first and last name is automatically inserted into the merge fields. In a recent study, this kind of marketing personalization generated a 202% increase in engagement. It's a simple and easy way to reduce no-shows and avoid the headaches of missed appointments.

3. Create a Send Date

When do you want your appointment reminder to go out? Partnering with a text marketing provider allows you to schedule reminders days, months, or weeks in advance. This kind of automation can save you and your business a ton of time, energy, and capital – simply set it and forget it. We recommend sending an appointment reminder immediately after the appointment is scheduled, one month before the appointment, one week before the appointment, and one day before the appointment.

4. Wait for Confirmation

Finally, wait for the appointment confirmations to roll in. The easiest way to conduct appointment confirmation and cancellations is through a Sub-Keyword. This will trigger a custom response. Additionally, you'll receive a notification stating that the contact has either confirmed or denied the appointment. Additionally, you might include a hyperlink to an appointment confirmation or scheduling page.

Master Appointment Reminder Text Messaging With EZ Texting

As mentioned, an appointment reminder text message is one of the most effective ways to reduce appointment no-shows. It's simple and easy to get started and doesn't cost your business an arm and a leg. If you haven't already invested in the power of text messaging for your enterprise, small business, or organization, you could be missing out on a valuable opportunity to connect with prospects and customers.

A text reminder program makes it easy to schedule personalized and timely reminders to your contacts to boost engagement and increase business effectiveness. To really fine-tune your text appointment reminders, we recommend downloading our free guide. In this guide, we'll give you all the expert tips industry-leading businesses follow to generate.

Photo: Getty/anandaBGD