How Can Text Reminders Help Your Businesses?

A text message appointment reminder is a great way of keeping customers on track. With an open rate of 99%, and 97% of all messages being read in the first 15 minutes, SMS texting is a simple and effective way to communicate.

In this article, we’ll look at how a reminder text can help your business and customers before providing some examples.

What is a Text Reminder?

A reminder text is an SMS message sent automatically. Its purpose is to remind customers about an upcoming appointment they have with your company. This could be anything from a hair appointment to a meeting at the bank.

However, a reminder text doesn’t just need to be for appointments. They’re also useful for customer feedback and follow-ups. Essentially, any automated message you’d send related to appointments (before and after) can be turned into a reminder text.

The way they work is pretty simple. You can use an appointment reminder template, which you upload onto your business’s SMS texting software. Then, you set up a schedule to send the messages automatically a day or so before the customer’s appointment.

Of course, you can send one manually on any phone, providing you have a template for an appointment reminder. It’s less efficient and risks you forgetting, but it’s still possible.

Key Benefits of Text Reminders

A reminder text is a pretty useful addition to any business. Here are the main reasons why:

Reduces No-Shows

This is an obvious one. Reminding customers of their appointments can reduce no-show rates by up to 38%, as one study found. Along with reminding customers about upcoming appointments, you can use the same platform to reschedule them. This also helps reduce no-shows because it makes everything more convenient for the customer.

Increase Efficiency

SMS texting allows you to reach your customers directly through the most efficient channel. Most people have their phones on them all the time, and sending an appointment reminder means they’ll get it almost immediately.

Optimize Use of Business Resource

Similarly, a customer’s mobile number is one of your most valuable resources. By extension, so is any kind of text messaging service. Sending reminder texts is therefore a great way of using this channel optimally.

Expand Your Customer Base

Text reminders allow you to be efficient without being pushy. Also, you can use them to reschedule or follow up on missed appointments. All this boils down to better customer service, which, in turn, helps you expand your customer base.

Better Gathering of Customer Feedback

But a reminder text doesn’t just need to be for appointments. You can remind customers to give feedback, and they’re more likely to do so. SMS messages have a response rate of 45%, compared to email’s response rate of 6%.

Why Do Customers Love to Receive Appointment Reminder Texts?

The benefits of appointment text reminder appointments for customers should already be clear. Even so, here’s why they work so well from the client’s side:

• Less Disruption. A text message is easy and can be opened at any time. It’s more efficient than an email and less intrusive than a phone call.
• No More Missed Appointments. This is a no-brainer, but an appointment reminder should jog the customer’s memory that they’re meant to be seeing you in the next few days.
• Better Preparation. Similarly, receiving reminders allows the customer to keep their appointment in mind, meaning they can prepare their day more efficiently.

There aren’t many downsides to the concept of reminder texts. Of course, for them to work best for your customers, remember these best practices:

1. Don’t Make Them Pushy – the message should be polite.
2. Don’t Make Them Too Long – a standard SMS is 160 characters; you shouldn’t need more.
3. Personalize Them Where Possible. For example, include the customer’s name and the name of the person their appointment is with.

Appointment Reminder Examples

Let’s go over a template for an appointment reminder, along with the other situations where these messages help. Of course, you’ll need to tailor these to your specific needs, but they should be enough to get you started.

Appointment Confirmation

Hi [name]. Thanks for booking your appointment with [name] on [date]. We look forward to seeing you!

If you need to change your appointment, respond to this message with ‘reschedule’ or ‘cancel’.

Upcoming Appointment Reminder

Hi [name], this is a quick reminder that your appointment with [name] at [company] is coming up on [date].

If you need to make any changes, respond to this message with ‘reschedule’ or ‘cancel’.

Missed Appointment Follow-Up

Hey [name]. Sorry we didn’t see you on [date].

If you’d like to book another appointment at a more convenient time, respond to this message with ‘book’ or give us a call on [phone number].

We look forward to hearing from you!

Reschedule Confirmation

Hi [name]. This is a quick reminder to confirm your appointment rescheduling.

Your new appointment is at [time] on [date]. We look forward to seeing you.

If things change, give us a call on [phone number].

Feedback Request

Thanks for your time, we hope everything was to your satisfaction.

We’d be grateful if you could leave us some feedback about your experience. It really helps us to know what we did well or what we could improve in the future.

Simply follow this link to reach the feedback form. Thanks in advance!

Start Sending Text Reminders Today Using Textr Team

Textr Team offers all the SMS texting features you need to efficiently run a business. It offers unlimited SMS/MMS and call minutes and customer tagging. You can also bring your whole team on board for efficient communication.

And, of course, it’s perfect for setting up text reminder appointments. You can use Textr to set up all kinds of SMS campaigns in a streamlined process. It allows you to send bulk messages with ease, generate leads, and turn them into sales.

So, download the app on mobile or for your web browser today to begin your 7-day free trial. See what Textr Team can do for your customer relationships!