As Business Texting becomes more and more prevalent in today’s world, innovators are coming up with new and creative ways to communicate with customers via SMS. For instance, business texting is commonly used for marketing purposes, but it can also be a game-changer in terms of customer service.
One way business texting is being used for customer service is through appointment reminders. Appointment reminders also benefit the business itself! Customer no-shows cost your business time, manpower and ultimately, money. However, less than 5% of scheduled appointments result in cancellations after the customer receives a text reminder.
Although business texting is pretty much limitless in the value that it can provide in various industries, this article will examine the top 5 industries that should be sending appointment reminders via texts.
Top 5 Industries that Should Use Business Texting to Send Reminders
1. Hair Appointments
If you run a salon, you know how detrimental late cancellations can be to your business. Of course, you probably warn clients of “late charges” they may be responsible for in the event of a late cancellation, but it’s unlikely that charge will cover the cost of having an unfilled appointment. Not only does your business lose money in that scenario, but your stylists will, as well.
Cancellations can happen for any number of reasons. Many hair salons are booked up weeks in advance or offer clients the opportunity to make their next appointment at the conclusion of their last. Unless the client immediately puts this date in their own calendar and schedules alerts, there is a good chance they may just forget or end up with a conflict!
To decrease the number of late cancellations, send clients gentle appointment reminders in the week leading up to their appointment using automated business texting. Send a confirmation text a few days before the appointment, and ask the client to respond with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ If they reply ‘yes,’ set up your automated system to remind them once more- perhaps the day prior. If they reply ‘no,’ clear that appointment in the stylist’s schedule so it can get filled as soon as possible.
Also, set up your business texting automation to ask clients if they would like to reschedule their cancelled appointment. You can either allow them to reschedule via text or send them a link to your web page.
2. Restaurant reservations
Reservation cancellations can also result in a loss of revenue for restaurants and their waitstaff. Most restaurants have a policy in place for the length of time prior to a reservation in which the reserved table will remain ‘closed.’ This gives your hosts a timeframe in which to stop seating a particular table to ensure that it is ready for the reservation. This allows you to provide better customer service, but it also can create some issues when a reservation does not show.
When this happens, the amount of time that the table remained empty will result in a loss of revenue for your restaurant, as well as for the server. This problem gets compounded on an especially busy night.
With business texting, you can simplify the process for customers to either confirm or cancel their reservation. Many people will make reservations at one or more restaurants on weekends or holidays, for example, so that they have a back-up plan, but then they forget to cancel the reservation(s) they are not attending. Remind them!
Set up an automated service to remind customers of their reservation, and ask them to confirm with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Include a sense of urgency to your texts, and remind them that your restaurant experience is not to be missed! If they respond ‘yes’ to confirm, then it’s business as usual. If they respond ‘no’ however, you can begin using that table in rotation again to seat hungry customers and make sure your servers get paid.
3. Healthcare
It goes without saying that doctor’s offices literally run on appointments. Some offices are willing to see walk-ins, but walk-ins are always contingent on appointment openings. The last thing you want is to turn people away on an especially busy day only to have several appointment cancellations. Now, your staff is standing around with nothing to do when sick people could have used that appointment time.
Missed appointments cost the U.S. healthcare system up to $150 billion dollars each year, so it’s likely that your office is no stranger to this occurrence. Utilizing business texting to send patients appointment reminders will not only cut down on this lost revenue, but it will also allow your office to heal more people who need your services.
Try sending text reminders to patients a few days prior to their appointment, as well as the evening before. Remind them in the text the importance of being proactive with their health! Reminders will allow people to rearrange their schedule if they have forgotten about their appointment or cancel in time for your office to try and fill their slot.
4. Real Estate
Property showings are essential to making sales in real estate, and they require a lot of preparation. This can make late cancellations and no-shows especially frustrating.
Use business texting, instead, to remind buyers and sellers alike of important appointments, such as property showings. When texting buyers, it may suit your business to remind them of the demand for a particular property. Of course, you never want to sound pushy, but you do want to add a sense of urgency to encourage people to honor their appointment.
Business texting can cut down on the number of missed appointments and help agents close those sales a bit faster!
5. Automotive
Businesses have found that their adaptation to the changing technological landscape has become critical to their bottom line, and the automotive industry is no different.
In an interview from Dealer Marketing Magazine, Jim Roche, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Managed Services for Xtime, recommended, “First, dealers can provide a very convenient and highly personalized appointment experience, followed by courtesy reminders.” In the same interview, Scott Pechstein, Vice President of Sales for Autobytel Inc., states the importance of using business texting when communicating with customers, especially millennials. Professionals across the automotive industry have realized the value of business texting, as well as the variety of ways it can be utilized, including sending appointment reminders. Not only can business texting be used to personalize the customer experience, but it can cut down on missed service appointments and lost revenue. So, if you haven’t started using business texting to send reminders, you can start today for free!
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