According to the new infographic by SpotOn, less than 5% of scheduled appointments are canceled after a client gets a text reminder. Their report also points out text messages have an open rate of 98%. Which makes sense, since you keep your phone on you pretty much all the time, right? According to Pew Research, 95% of Americans have a cell phone of some kind and smartphones make up 77% of that ownership. With all this evidence to back sms appointment reminders, why wouldn’t you use them?
SMS Appointment Reminders Are Affordable
The most obvious reason for using SMS appointment reminders is their low cost and high effectiveness. Appointmentreminders.com charge as little as $9.95 per month. They also offer a free 30-day trial with no credit card required, so you can get a full experience with the program before making any commitments.
Consumers like the convenience and ease of use of text messaging. When they receive a message, they can quickly check it and take the appropriate action. Even better when you require an appointment confirmation from your patients. In fact, text message responses are received within the first 3 minutes. In comparison, it takes email an average of 90 minutes before consumers check it.
Increase Recommendations
According to SpotOn, 28% of customers are more likely to recommend a company to friends if it offers text messaging. Considering SMS messages create a good user experience, this will increase the likelihood of a recommendation.
Millennials like SMS appointment reminders
Are you trying to reach a millennial target audience? 75% of millennials think that texting is a helpful way to receive appointment reminders. In fact, millennials consistently report that texting is unobtrusive and their preferred method of communication.
Reduce no-shows by up to 80%
Multiple studies have proven that appointment reminders decrease no-shows by up to as much as 80%. Could your business profit from increasing your business? Of course it can! Reduce the wasted time and energy of using your staff to confirm appointments who never call back to confirm, and increase your schedule efficiency.
These are only four of the many reasons SMS appointment reminders are great for your business. Don’t wait, start by signing up for your 30-day free trial and see for yourself. You can also try a demo by sending a reminder to yourself to experience the system from the other side.
