More Blog Posts
How to Write the Perfect Appointment Confirmation Text
If you want to alleviate most of the problems with booking and maintaining an appointment schedule you need to send appointment confirmation texts.
If you want to alleviate most of the problems with booking and maintaining an appointment schedule you need to send appointment confirmation texts.
Confirmations make everyone’s lives easier. Think about what happens when you don’t confirm something.
You go to a Starbucks drive-through and order a Venti, five-shot, half-full Americano. There’s a long queue of cars, so the employee waves you through before confirming what you ordered.
You collect your order and drive off and at the next traffic light reach for a sip––only to realize that your drink is a hot chocolate.
Not getting your caffeine fix is a relatively minor inconvenience. There are horror stories on travel forums about not receiving a flight confirmation email or text, and then not being able to fly.
Similarly, text message appointment reminders and confirmations can prevent minor misunderstandings and chaos if you run a business that provides appointment services.
Plus, they’re easy to send and can be a gamechanger: as one study found, once an appointment is confirmed, there is a 90% chance it will not be missed or rescheduled.
If you’re ready to send your first appointment confirmation text, we have good news. We’ve done all of the legwork for you, providing confirmation text examples and guidance on what you need to write the perfect booking confirmations.
An appointment confirmation text is a message sent by SMS minutes, hours, or days before an appointment. Recipients can reply or follow a link to confirm or reschedule. They’re often used by doctors and dentists, veterinarians, salons, dentists, and any other business that offers appointments.
You might be thinking, “Why should I send texts and not emails?”
While 90% of text messages are opened within the first three minutes of being received, over two-thirds of emails are never opened. (Phone calls show a much lower success rate than either email or SMS.)
Wondering what to say when confirming an appointment by text?
There are certain elements you absolutely need to include in your confirmation message for appointments. After all, your recipient is expecting confirmation details for their appointment, like the appointment date. With that in mind, all texts must include:The date, location and time of the upcoming appointment
1. The date, location and time of the upcoming appointment
2. Options for canceling or rescheduling
3. Who the text message is coming from–you shouldn’t assume someone has your number saved
If you want to take your appointment confirmation texts to the next level, then here are 11 additional tips:
4. Use your customer’s name to make your message more personal
5. Keep your SMS confirmations brief
6. Reinforce the benefits of attending and using language that is inviting
7. Let appointment holders know their spot is vital in your schedule and that their actions will affect other customers
8. Include a clear call to action (CTA) such as reply “Yes” or “C” to confirm
9. Provide a link to reschedule or send separate reschedule appointment text messages
10. Send your messages so that you have ample time to fill the appointment but not too far ahead that you need to send a second confirmation
11. Automate your message to send on a recurring basis to avoid anything slipping through the cracks
12. Use an appointment reminder template to save you and your team time
13. Give your customers the option to call you
14. Let customers know they can opt out from your messages
Next we provide three confirmation text samples and provide some more information on how to set an appointment through text.
These confirmation text message samples are meant to give you an idea of how to confirm an appointment by text or what to say when confirming an appointment.
Your confirmation message texts’ voice and tone will vary depending on your brand and the service you provide.
If you’re sending appointment confirmation texts for a nail salon, you can be more informal.
If you’re texting about a medical appointment, you’ll likely want to be more formal. The same goes for business meeting confirmation text messages.
Without further ado, here are our appointment confirmation text examples.
This text is for a dentist confirming a teeth whitening appointment. It considers the service, the time of year, and reminds the patient of the benefits of attending. It also includes all of the essential elements.
The following communicates clearly that by confirming their appointment, they will be locking in a block of time meant just for them—and that others will be counting on them to follow through on that confirmation.
It’s much easier for your customers to reschedule an appointment at a time that suits them than it is for you to go back-and-forth checking availability.
Not only that but providing a link to reschedule increases the chance that someone will pick a new time and date rather than cancel the appointment entirely.
While it’s unlikely, you’ll prevent every single cancellation or last-minute request to reschedule, using a channel with 98% open rates to confirm appointments will drastically improve your attendance rates.
Now that you have the skinny on what’s involved in sending a text reminder that people will respond to (and several appointment confirmation text message samples), nothing is stopping you.
If you’re looking for a platform to send these appointment SMS , sign up for a 14-day free trial of SimpleTexting. Every account comes with a complimentary, text-enabled number. You can even
Drew Wilkinson is a copywriter at SimpleTexting where he focuses on customer education and hopes to show you every way possible that SimpleTexting can transform the way you communicate with your audience.
More Posts from Drew WilkinsonStay up to date on the latest marketing trends, tactics, and strategies when you subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
Read the guide on reducing missed appointments for doctors and dental offices using medical appointment reminders.
IntelyCare has gone from strength to strength, raising an impressive $45 million at the start of this year. As the company expands across America, here’s how it’s using text messages to communicate with its database of nurses.
ReadWhile HIPAA does not explicitly prohibit sending text messages, for texting to be HIPAA compliant, there are specific rules you have to follow.
Read
Start a text marketing campaign or have a 1-on-1 conversation today. It's risk free. Sign up for a 14-day trial and get access to all of our features.