Why people miss appointments they wanted
Very few no-shows are people who changed their mind. Most forgot, had something come up and could not find your number, or were never quite sure the booking went through. Each of those has a cheap fix, and none of the fixes should depend on someone remembering to send a message on a busy morning.
What the system sends, and when
- The booking is confirmed on the spotA text and an email with the date, time, address and what to have ready.
- A reminder the day beforeWith a reschedule link, so a conflict becomes a new time instead of an empty slot.
- A reminder the hour beforeShort, with the address and your number. For in-person jobs, a note that you are on the way.
- No reply to the day-before message?A task appears for your team to call. The system does not guess; it hands it to a person.
- Missed anyway?A friendly text that evening offering the next two open slots. Most people rebook without a phone call.
What it looks like on the leak map
No-shows sit at the third gate, between booked and customers. In the illustrative model the close rate moves from 50% to 60% when reminders and rebooking are automatic. Your audit swaps in your real no-show rate; most owners are surprised by it once it is counted.
What you need
- A calendar or booking tool the system can read, such as Calendly or Google Calendar.
- A text number for the business.
- Your reschedule policy in one sentence: how late is too late, and what happens then.