Gone are the days when taking an appointment was a cumbersome task as it required appointment seeker to call and book the appointment, if in-case the phone line is busy then trying again and then reminding oneself about the appointment booked. Huh! Yes it was a task. The struggle continued even after that, in the name of waiting for the turn sitting in the queues. If by mistake you forgot the time or the day you have missed the show. Thanks to the recent applications and software that are designed taking the needs, demands of the present time inconsideration now the chances of missing appointment has reduced to a great extent. Nearly all the industries, let it be medical, beauty, education etc are effectively using the appointment scheduling applications and reducing the chances of no show cases owing to the SMS appointment Reminders. Let us see how SMS reminder feature is used by different industries to boost their income.
No matter which industry you are serving or working with you must have had an experience of scheduling appointment for someone and then that person does not appear on the given day and time slot, well! It is really annoying. That slot that the client requested to book could have been used by some other needy customer or patient. On the contrary, looking from the client’s perspective there could be number of reasons for missed appointment like the client totally forgot the booked appointment slot or may have confronted problem because of weather or transportation issue etc. But with the use of Appointment scheduling applications that facilitate the clients and customers with timely SMS or Email reminders the cases of no show or missed appointment has shown drastic fall.
SMS reminders and Reduced no show cases:
The SMS reminders are contributing to some extent to solve the problem of the money and time wastage because of forgetting. These SMS reminders not only remind the client or patient but also give them an option to postpone or cancel the appointment, if in case some emergency has erupted. If you cancel the appointment one day advance it helps to admin staff to arrange that slot for emergency cases.
Reminder for preparation: In some appointments like medical appointment, interview appointment an individual need to prepare some documents. Timely SMS reminders help the appointment seeker to prepare for their appointment like collecting documents, deciding mode of transportation to be taken etc.
Location sharing: if a patient or a client is appearing for the first time, location map or link to Google map can help to solve the problem of finding location and wasting time in locating the venue. Which could be the one reason of no show.
Industries using SMS reminders
Nearly all industries are using the SMS reminders to reduce the chances of no show these industries include:
Healthcare Sector:
Appointment Confirmations:
To decrease the number of unscheduled patient visits, medical offices send SMS reminders to their patients.
Follow-up Appointments:
Industry of Beauty and Wellbeing:
Salon & Spa Appointments: In order to reduce the number of missed appointments, beauty salons and spas notify their patrons via SMS of impending haircuts, facials, or massages.
Service Sectors:
Repair and Maintenance Services:
To cut down on no-shows and boost punctuality, businesses who provide repair or maintenance services SMS clients with reminders the day before their appointments.
Consultation Services: To remind clients of upcoming appointments or consultations, professionals like solicitors or consultants send out SMS messages.
Education:
Parent-Teacher Meetings: To increase parent participation, schools and other educational institutions use text message reminders (SMS).
Exam Notifications: To lower exam absenteeism, educational institutions remind students by SMS when exams are scheduled.
Restaurants and Hospitality:
SMS is used by restaurants to confirm bookings, lower the incidence of no-shows, and maintain effective table management.
Event Reminders:
Prior to scheduled events, conferences, or special occasions, hotels and event venues will notify their guests via SMS.
Automobile Sector:
Service Appointments: To lower the possibility of services being overlooked, auto repair companies text clients to remind them of their planned maintenance appointments.
Test Drive Confirmations: To make sure prospective buyers show up for scheduled test drives, auto dealerships employ SMS.
Finance services:
Appointment Confirmations:
Clients who have planned meetings or financial consultations receive SMS reminders from banks and financial advisors.
Payment Due Alerts:
To cut down on late payments, financial institutions employ SMS to notify clients of impending payment deadlines.
Public Services and Government:
Renewals:
Notifications of Appointments:
Public services using SMS to inform people of their planned appointments for government offices or health facilities, for example.
E-commerce and retail:
Order Confirmations and Deliveries:
To make sure someone is accessible to receive parcels, e-commerce companies remind consumers via SMS when deliveries are scheduled.
Events Held Within:
To sum up, it can be argued that SMS reminders have been shown to be a successful tactic for decreasing appointment cancellations, raising client satisfaction, and increasing operational effectiveness in a variety of business sectors. If you are into any of the professions that require scheduling appointments and you are also baffled by the annoying cases of no shows because of different reasons you can also try SMS reminders and save your precious time and resources. Certainly, this small initiative has proven to be miraculous.
