03 Oct Best Practices for SMS Appointment Reminders
SMS appointment reminders are perfect for businesses looking to reduce no-shows and late customers. However, many companies don’t know how to utilise SMS appointment reminders correctly, limiting their reach and effectiveness. Fortunately, we’ve put together a guide to teach you a few tips and tricks so you can get the most out of your SMS appointment reminders.
We’re one of Australia’s leading SMS messenger companies. Our advanced contact management systems and SMS encyclopaedias make it easy to keep your customers informed and remind them about important appointments and events that allow your business to thrive. If you want to grow your up-and-coming business while keeping your clients up-to-date on upcoming sales, deals, specials, and more, contact us today!
What Are SMS Appointment Reminders?
SMS appointment reminders are helpful text messages that remind customers about upcoming commitments, sales, and other important events regarding your company. It allows clients to confirm, cancel, or reschedule appointments swiftly and easily while preventing no-shows that can adversely affect your business. They work great for salons, dental clinics, and personal trainers looking for innovative ways to keep their clients informed and grow their budding enterprises.
Automated SMS appointment reminders provide numerous benefits, including but not limited to the following:
- Diminishes front office staff stress
- Increases potential revenue
- Keeps customers informed
- Enhances customer satisfaction
- Increases communication efficiency
- Saves time, resources, and money
Seven Practices for Efficient SMS Appointment Reminders
Although SMS appointment reminders can do wonders for any growing business, structuring them elegantly and efficiently is often easier said than done. However, utilising some of the effective messaging strategies below will help your SMS appointment reminders reach their full potential.
1. Keep Information Brief and Straightforward
The best SMS appointment reminders are informative and straightforward. They are brief messages informing clients about upcoming commitments that may have slipped their minds. Efficient SMS reminders only require crucial information about their appointment like:
- The date
- Appointment time
- Company name
- Company address
- Reason for appointment
- Confirmation requirements
Adding too much fluff to an SMS appointment reminder will make it jumbled and hard to read, significantly reducing its efficiency. Avoid creating a wall of text or including trivial information involving their appointment. You want a short one or two-line reminder that doesn’t resemble an SMS encyclopaedia.
2. Time Your SMS Appointment Reminders Correctly
Correctly timing your SMS appointment reminders will ensure optimal results. You must give clients enough time to incorporate their appointments into their day or reschedule if necessary. It’s best to send clients SMS reminders 24 hours before their appointment so they can adjust their schedule accordingly.
However, your industry will dictate the best time to send SMS appointment reminders. For example, medical clinics often send SMS reminders the night before their patient’s morning appointment, while restaurants deliver theirs to customers the morning of their dinner reservation. We recommend researching your industry to learn the best time to send SMS appointment reminders.
3. Don’t Bombard Customers with Numerous SMS Appointment Reminders
Most people only need one or two SMS messages to remind them of their upcoming appointments. Sending out too many SMS appointment reminders will annoy customers and make a terrible impression that might drive them towards a rival business.
Start by sending one SMS appointment reminder to each of your customers and measure engagement. If clients continue to miss appointments, increase the SMS message frequency until no-shows diminish or disappear entirely. However, sending more than three SMS appointment reminders can do more harm than good, so try to keep them to a minimum.
4. Personalise SMS Appointment Reminders
Personalising SMS appointment reminders helps you form relationships with customers while painting your business in a positive light. It provides a more human experience, making customers feel welcomed and appreciated while obtaining your services.
Avoid sending generic, monotonous SMS messages that don’t directly address the client. Incorporating your client’s name and other essential information about their appointment will instil trust and make their experience more enjoyable.
Just remember not to add too much fluff to the SMS appointment reminders. Overly personalised messages can turn off customers and make them feel less genuine or insincere.
5. Utilise Two-way Communication
Enabling two-way communication is one of the best ways to enhance customer engagement and reduce your no-show rate. It allows clients to verify their appointments and alert you if scheduling conflicts arise. This enables you to plan your schedule more efficiently and adjust appointments to fit your customers’ wants and needs.
Incorporating a response request also enhances convenience for both parties. They make verification and rescheduling appointments easier than ever while eliminating potential no-shows.
6. Use Automation Software
Keeping up with dozens of SMS appointment reminders isn’t easy. That’s why many business owners purchase sophisticated automation software to send SMS messages for them, reducing their stress and no-show rates.
Automation software allows you to program individual send-out times and responses to make the process smoother and less time-consuming. It handles the entire process for you, allowing you to focus on other essential tasks to grow your company. Professional automation software also prevents you from forgetting to send out important SMS appointment reminders during hectic work weeks, helping your business achieve its full potential.
7. Stay Informed on SMS Compliance Laws
It’s crucial to note that there are numerous SMS appointment reminder restrictions that business owners must know before sending them out to clients. For example, SMS reminder messages are permission-based and require customer consent. Sending them out without your patrons’ permission often results in costly fines and angry customers that typically take their business elsewhere.
Frequently researching SMS compliance laws is one of the best ways to ensure SMS appointment reminders and marketing strategies stay within restrictions. Understanding these restrictions enable you to craft your SMS messages accordingly and more efficiently, preventing expensive fines that will reduce your company’s reputation.
Creating a detailed messaging policy will ensure your business abides by your state’s SMS messaging laws. Commercial SMS messaging policies often include the following:
- Instructions on obtaining, storing, and updating customer permission
- An outline showing what to include in SMS appointment reminders
- A list of authorised staff that send SMS messages
- Instructions on dealing with customers that don’t respond to confirmation texts
- How to ask customers to opt-in SMS appointment reminders
A thorough messaging policy or SMS encyclopaedia will allow your employees to adhere to Australia’s complex SMS restrictions while teaching effective strategies to persuade clients to sign up for your appointment reminder texts.
Contact TouchSMS for Effective SMS Communication Strategies and Associated Services
TouchSMS is Australia’s go-to source for high-quality SMS communication software and strategies that can take your up-and-coming business to extraordinary new heights. Our first-class SMS appointment reminder software makes alerting your customers of important commitments simple and stress-free, making late clients and no-shows a thing of the past. Our software has helped countless Australian businesses communicate and verify appointments with customers more efficiently, and it can do the same for you at a price that fits your budget.
Don’t rely on an outdated SMS encyclopaedia that won’t connect you with your clients. Contact us at 1300-794-419 and see what our sms software can do for you today!
