How to cut no-shows to almost zero
A no-show costs you twice: the empty slot you can’t fill at short notice, and the client you could have booked into it. Most no-shows aren’t people being rude — they simply forgot, or life got in the way and cancelling slipped their mind.
The fix is boringly reliable: remind people, more than once, on the channel they actually check.
The setup that works
- Instant confirmation (email). Sent the moment they book, with the date, time, location or video link, and a one-tap reschedule link.
- 24 hours before (email). Enough notice to move things around if they need to.
- 1–3 hours before (SMS). This is the one that saves the appointment. Text messages get opened within minutes; marketing emails often don’t get opened at all.
Every message should include a reschedule link. Counter-intuitively, making it easy to move an appointment reduces no-shows — a client who can’t make it will rebook instead of just vanishing.
Add a deposit for the stubborn cases
If a particular service still gets flaky attendance, take a small deposit at booking. Even £10 against the final price changes the psychology completely: the slot now has a cost attached, so people either show up or cancel in time for you to refill it.
Turn it on once
In OpenCalenda, reminders are set per booking type, so you configure the timing once and every future booking is covered — email and SMS, with your own wording. Set it up, then stop thinking about it.
Since switching on the 1-hour SMS, my paid-but-missed sessions went from a couple a week to maybe one a month.
That’s a full working day a month back in your calendar.