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Playbook: automate appointment reminders

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On this page
  1. Before you build anything
  2. What you'll need
  3. The flow
  4. Steps
  5. Message templates
  6. If you run a clinic
  7. Mistakes to avoid
  8. How you'll know it's working

Say you run a salon, and every Friday someone spends 40 minutes texting 30 customers about next week's appointments. Then half of them don't answer, and you spend Monday morning wondering who's coming.

Reminders are one of the easiest things to automate, and usually the first one worth doing. Expect an afternoon of work, plus a week of watching.

Before you build anything

Check what you already have. Many booking tools (Square Appointments, Acuity, Calendly, and a lot of industry-specific ones) include reminders. If yours does, turn that on and you may be done in ten minutes. Look in the settings for "reminders" or "notifications." Don't build what you already own.

If your tool has no reminders, or you keep appointments in a calendar or spreadsheet, read on.

What you'll need

  • A list of appointments with the customer's name, mobile number, date, and time, in one place
  • Phone numbers that are clean, with the same format on every row (see cleaning up a customer list)
  • Customers' permission to be texted
  • A way to send texts automatically. Options are a booking tool with built-in texting, or a service such as Twilio connected with an automation tool like Zapier or Make. Check current prices before you pick. Pricing changes often.

The flow

How appointment reminders flowFour steps top to bottom: your appointment list, a text goes out the day before, the customer replies C to confirm or R to reschedule, and the list updates so you can see who still needs a call.Appointment listA calendar or sheet with name, phone, timeDay before: a text goes outSent automatically at the same time each dayCustomer repliesC to confirm, R to rescheduleList updatesYou see who still needs a call
The appointment list feeds a text the day before. The reply updates the list so you can see who needs a call.

Steps

  1. Pick where appointments live. One place only. If they're in three places, fix that first. It's the most common reason reminders fail.
  2. Clean the phone numbers. Ten digits, same format. A single bad number won't break it, but a column of mixed formats will.
  3. Get permission. Add a line to your booking form or when you take the appointment: "Can we text you a reminder? Reply STOP anytime to opt out." Keep a record of who agreed.
  4. Write the message. Short, with the business name, the time, and a simple way to reply. Examples below.
  5. Choose when it sends. The day before at about 10 in the morning works for most. Add a second reminder two hours before only if no-shows are a real problem. Never send before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
  6. Set it up. Whether it's a setting in your booking tool or an automation, keep it as plain as possible. One trigger, one text.
  7. Test with your own phone. Make a pretend appointment with your number. Check the time, the wording, and the reply.
  8. Decide where replies go. If a customer writes back "Can't make it," who sees that and when? Pick a person and a spot. This is the step people skip, and it makes the whole thing worth having.
  9. Watch it for a week. Look at each day's texts. Did they go out? Were any wrong?
  10. Write it down. A short handoff page so someone else can fix it if it stops.

Message templates

Copy and adjust. Keep them short.

Hi Maria, this is Corner Salon. A reminder that you're booked tomorrow
(Thu) at 2:30 PM. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. Reply STOP to
opt out.
Reminder from Gulf Plumbing: we're coming tomorrow between 9 and 11 AM.
Please make sure someone's home. Need to change it? Call 555-0100.

Notice what's missing: no "We look forward to seeing you!" and no long policy. The less text, the more people read it.

If you run a clinic

Keep reminders vague. Say "You have an appointment tomorrow at 2:30 with Dr. Lee," not what it's for. Health information has its own rules, so check with whoever handles your compliance before you put anything specific in a text. If you aren't sure, say less.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Texting at the wrong time. An 11 p.m. reminder annoys people and gets you complaints.
  • No way to reply or opt out. Customers need one, and in the US there are rules about texting people. Get consent, honor STOP right away, and check your texting service's terms. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer.
  • Wrong time zone. If your tool is set to the wrong zone, the "tomorrow at 2:30" is off. Test it.
  • Old phone numbers. A reminder to a number that changed hands is awkward. Clean the list now and then.
  • Duplicates. If someone's in the sheet twice, they get two texts. People notice.
  • Nobody reads the replies. A reminder system you don't watch is worse than none, because customers think they've told you something.

How you'll know it's working

Look at no-shows and last-minute cancellations over a month or two, compared with before. You don't need exact numbers. Notice whether Monday mornings feel different. If the Friday texting hour is gone and you know by Thursday who's coming, it worked.

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