Appointments are a normal part of any business. You may need to set an appointment to interview an employee, negotiate a deal, or follow up on a contract. The purpose of your meeting doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that you use the right tools and strategies to make sure your attendees show up.
The good news is that setting up appointments is relatively easy. There are many great tools available to simplify the process. But one area that often gets overlooked is the appointment confirmation message. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to include in those messages.
The Importance of an Appointment Confirmation Message
An appointment confirmation message is not optional — it’s a mandatory part of setting appointments. People lead busy lives, and there are distractions everywhere. The longer you wait to remind them about an upcoming appointment, the higher the chance that they’ll forget about it altogether.
A confirmation message keeps your appointment on top of their mind. And it also allows you to share other important details about the upcoming meeting. For example, suppose you have scheduled an appointment to interview a new employee. In your appointment confirmation message, you could provide directions to your office. You could also give instructions on how to get into the building.
Research shows that 80% of Americans check their phones within fifteen minutes of waking up and go through their phones, on average, 150 times per day. That means that there’s a lot of opportunities to send your reminders using text messages. By sending the right message at the right time, your business will reduce missed appointments and save time in the process. So what exactly should you include in your reminders? Let’s take a look at some of the most critical parts.
The Components of an Appointment Reminder
The essential parts of a reminder include the contact’s name, as well as details of the event. The contact’s name is especially critical because it adds personalization to your appointment confirmation message. Personalization, as you may already know, has many benefits for your business.
According to a survey by Infosys, 74% of businesses that implemented personalized marketing saw increased sales. The same study also revealed that 61% of those businesses also saw an increase in profit, and 55% saw an increase in loyalty.
Additional research also shows:
- 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands who provide relevant offers and recommendations.
- 72% of consumers in 2019 only engage with marketing messages that are customized to their specific interests.
- 80% of those who consider themselves frequent shoppers say they only shop with brands who personalize their experience.
These stats show the importance of personalization from a sales perspective. But they also apply to appointment reminders. Something as simple as adding your attendee’s name can go a long way in improving your attendance rates. It can also make your brand seem more personable, which is always a good thing.
Other details to remember when creating your messages
Once you’ve addressed your attendee by their name, you need to think about what else to tell them. It’s always a good idea to keep things short and straight to the point. For example, let’s say you’re sending an appointment reminder for an upcoming doctor’s appointment. Rather than sending a long message, you can simply include the date, time, and location of the appointment.
Here Are a Three Templates You Can Use for Your Follow Up Reminders
- Dear [customer’s first name], this is a reminder from John at [business name] about your appointment on [date] at [Start time] for a [Services]. If you need to reschedule, please call or text [Phone number]. We prefer 48 hours for rescheduling or cancellations. See you soon!
- Just a reminder from John at [business name] about your appointment on [date] at [Start time]. To reschedule, please call 888-888-888.
- To [customer’s first name], this is a friendly reminder from [business name] about your appointment for your [Services] on [date] from [Start time] till [End time]. If you need to reschedule, please call 888-888-888.
You can get creative and modify your messages to fit your brand’s voice and tone. The most important thing is that you include a date and time for your appointment. It may seem like obvious advice, but you would be surprised by how many times people forget this small detail.
Make Your Reminders Convenient
In addition, it’s also important to have a link where users can quickly reschedule their appointments. As we mentioned earlier, people are busy, and they have things to do. If something comes up last minute, you want to give them a quick way to reschedule without having to go through a complex process.
Another vital thing to remember is that text messages should be used in addition to other channels. In other words, you should also be sending out reminders through email and other channels.
Choosing the right text messaging platform will also take a lot of guesswork out of the entire process. With the right platform, you can create templates to send out to your contacts. You can monitor the performance of each of your text messages and find out which types of appointment reminders get the most replies.
As you experiment with different types of reminders, you’ll also discover the best times to send a reminder. This will help you increase your attendance rates and also reduce the number of unsubscribes from your messages.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a local business or a large enterprise, you’ll benefit from appointment reminders. In today’s busy world, it’s easy for your messages to get lost in all the noise. Appointment reminders help you reach your customers when it’s most convenient and helps keep your attendance rates high.
Text messages are one of the most effective channels for reminders, but you’ll need to track everything for the best results. That’s why a text messaging automation tool like TextMagic is essential. It will allow you to figure out what works and what doesn’t quickly.