Engaging Appointment Reminder Text Message Templates for Your Business

No-show appointments are a common problem for appointment-based businesses like salons, real estate or medical centers. 

When customers schedule an appointment but don’t show up, employees end up wasting valuable time they could have used to serve other clients. That’s, of course, money down the drain for the business.

There are probably other reasons for customers ditching appointments, but forgetfulness is definitely one of them. In fact, a whopping 37.6% cite this as the top reason for not showing up:

That’s why appointment reminder text messages are important. Just look at these statistics. A staggering 90% of text messages are read as soon as they’re delivered. That’s probably why appointment reminder text messages can also easily reduce no-shows by 38%!

Want to reduce your business’ no-show rate? Let’s discuss appointment reminder text messages in detail.

What is an appointment reminder text?

An appointment reminder text is a message sent via SMS to remind customers of booked appointments. The primary purpose of these texts is to prevent no-shows, lateness, and last-minute cancellations. It usually includes essential details about the appointment, like the time, date, and location.

It may also include any other specific instructions customers need to follow, such as documents to bring or directions to a venue. 

Types of effective appointment reminder texts

Now that you understand what they are, let’s review some types of appointment reminder texts you can use.

1. Personalised friendly reminder text

The personalised friendly reminder text does exactly that: give a gentle reminder without being invasive or pushy. This is a good first message to send after casual appointments or with repeat clients booking appointments regularly. 

Like all other appointment reminder text message types, this SMS type should include the basic details about the scheduled appointment.

Just make sure you address recipients by name to ensure a sense of familiarity. Personal details like this make your message stand out, grabbing the recipient's attention.

Your text message reminder should also be personalised to your brand. Use a friendly tone that aligns with your brand identity. A friendly tone is essential so clients don’t feel ambushed by your message. Using a tone that reflects your brand also gives an instant reminder of who the text has been sent by. 

If you’re doing things right, the text should encourage them to look forward to the appointment and ensure they can make it.

2. Confirmation request

If you have a strict schedule, you may need to use booking confirmation requests to ensure appointments are fulfilled or rescheduled. An appointment confirmation text should read like a normal reminder text, using the client’s name and, of course, including appointment details.

However, you must also include instructions for the recipient to confirm or cancel their appointment. As shown below, a simple text back of “Yes” or “No” is an effective system.

Adding this interactive element can make your reminder texts more effective. If customers take the time to confirm their appointment, they are more likely to follow through and turn up on time. The act of confirming also helps ensure they remember the appointment.

Having customers actively confirm their appointments also gives business owners like you peace of mind. You can concentrate on current appointments rather than worrying about potential no-shows. When a customer cancels their appointment well in advance, on the other hand, you can also immediately make this slot available to others.

3. Follow-up reminder text

Sometimes a customer may not respond to your initial reminder or confirmation request, which can be frustrating. However, you can use a simple follow-up reminder text to re-jog their memory. This gives the customer another chance to confirm, cancel, or reschedule their appointment.

In this follow-up reminder text, just include all the relevant appointment details again. You don’t need to ask them to confirm or cancel the appointment if you already did that in your previous text. You don’t want to sound pushy.

Don’t forget to use a friendly and laid-back tone. Also, personalise your text. 

This type of text message should be sent close to the appointment date. Three to five days before the appointment works well. It is close enough but still gives the client time to cancel or reschedule if necessary. It also gives you time to make the necessary adjustments for your business.

4. Last-minute reminder text

Last-minute reminders are the last resort when it comes to appointment reminder text messages. This type of text should be sent on the morning of the appointment. It should read something like the example below.

Referring to the time of the appointment in these terms, “in 2 hours,” creates a sense of urgency in the recipient. It will catch your customers’ eye, reminding them of details like what time they need to leave home. This is the kind of effect you need for a last-minute reminder.

It is not advisable to use this type of text as your sole appointment reminder text. As it’s a last-minute reminder, it doesn’t give you much time to fill a newly vacant slot if a client cancels. 

As a final tip, whatever the types of appointment reminder text messages you decide to send, consider using phone number validation tools. Like email finder software that helps you verify email addresses, these tools can help you validate customer phone numbers. This will ensure your appointment reminder texts reach the intended recipients. You wouldn’t want to divulge sensitive appointment details to a stranger!

Appointment reminder text templates

You can use AI software to create your appointment reminder text messages. Even if there are generative AI risksassociated with using such tools, they can be easily overcome. For example, text from AI tools may lack that personal and human touch, which is important when interacting with clients. All you need to do then is check the tool’s final output, and ensure the necessary personalisation.

That said, here are some appointment reminder text templates that can also help you get started.

Gentle, friendly text for casual settings

Hey there [Name]!

Just a quick reminder about your appointment with us tomorrow at [time]. If you can’t make it, please call to let us know. See you then!

Thanks!
[Business Name]

This is a great template option if you want to keep things laid back. It is short and to the point, ideal for businesses like barbers or beauty therapists.

Confirmation request in formal business setting

Hello [Name],

This is a reminder about your important appointment with us on [date] at [time]. Kindly reply with a “Yes” if you can attend. If you cannot attend, text “No.” 

Thank you,
[Business Name]

If you are in a more formal business setting, you need a more professional-sounding template like the one above. The formal language and tone may suit corporate businesses or medical service providers.

Last-minute text reminders with detailed instructions

Hi [Name],

Here are final instructions to follow for your appointment in two hours.
●Bring [x} with you.
●Arrive [X] minutes early to [get signed in/ complete paperwork].

​​​​​​​Thank you,
[Business Name]

The template above is great for more complex appointments that require detailed instructions. It can be used for medical or physiotherapy appointments.

Benefits of appointment reminder text message

We mentioned a few benefits your business can reap if you leverage appointment reminder text messages. 

Let’s recap those  benefits and mention a few more for good measure!

• Message appointment reminders help to prevent lateness. It may not seem like a big deal if a client is a few minutes late. However, this can have a knock-on effect for a busy service provider with a packed schedule. One customer turning up even just five to 10 minutes late can disrupt the next appointment, and so on.

If your next client can’t wait 10 minutes, you’ll lose out on a customer. Or you may need to rush your services for the late customer to get back on schedule, leaving them dissatisfied with the customer experience.

• SMS appointment reminders can also prevent cancellations.  Less than 5% of appointments are cancelled when the client receives a text reminder. A timely appointment reminder text message allows customers to arrange their schedules and ensure they get to their appointments on time.

• Appointment reminder text messages allow for rescheduling. Even if clients do need to cancel, a reminder SMS message provides the opportunity to reschedule. That way, you’re still retaining your customers and not losing out on revenue.  
  

• Text reminders help to avoid no-shows. This is a huge benefit for appointment-based businesses. A no-show means you miss out on income from the scheduled appointment, which is frustrating in itself. You also miss out on the chance of filling that time slot with another client. 

On the other hand, an appointment reminder text allows clients to cancel their appointments if needed. This opens up the time slot you can immediately fill, helping prevent wasted time and lost income.

Manage appointment reminders efficiently

We know appointment reminder text messages are something your business should consider. The thing is, sending these text reminders manually isn’t an option with the many clients you have to communicate with. That would just take a lot of time.

This is where TIMIFY comes in.

TIMIFY is a system that automates the sending of these messages so your communication team doesn’t get overwhelmed. They can just schedule a series of customised confirmation and reminder messages via SMS (and even via email) and the platform will send those out to the right clients at the right time. With this kind of automation, you can also prevent incidents of team members forgetting to send important appointment reminder text messages.

But that’s not all.

TIMIFY also directly benefits your own potential customers with the great user experience it provides. The user experience is important. If your aim is to sell event tickets, having a platform that allows you to announce your event isn’t enough. You also need that platform to make it easy for potential attendees to buy those tickets in the first place.

With TIMIFY, potential customers can easily browse available appointments at their leisure, and choose the time and date they're most likely to be able to attend with just a few clicks. If they need to cancel or reschedule, they can do it online 24/7. That helps further reduce the strain on contact centres.

Everything on the platform is also kept up to date in real time. So, if there is a cancellation or reschedule, the slot immediately and automatically becomes available online for others. That’s a good thing for your business as well. That means you’re also informed of existing appointment slots and client availability at all times. 

Want a tool that can manage your appointment reminders at the highest efficiency, especially at scale, and delights potential clients at the same time? Then TIMIFY is your best bet.

Conclusion

Appointment reminder texts can be a highly valuable asset for businesses. Service providers can lose a lot of revenue through unfulfilled appointments. However, if used properly, appointment reminder texts can help you reduce no-show rates and prevent revenue loss.

As discussed, from the friendly reminder text, to the confirmation request or the last-minute nudge, personalisation and timing are key.

Now it’s time to get to work and  utilise these different options to craft your own engaging reminder texts. You’ll see excellent results in no time.