No-shows cost small businesses thousands of dollars a year and appointment reminders are a proven solution to this problem. While manually reminding customers of their appointments is doable when you’re small, it quickly becomes unmanageable as you grow. Here are 8 signs that you are ready to automate your reminders.
1. You Want to Reduce No-Shows
Is your no-show rate increasing? Are patients missing appointments? Is it hitting your revenue? These are the first signs that you need to change something–and fast.
2. You Notice Errors
Susan shows up on Monday at 1:00, but her appointment was at 10:00. It turns out her reminder card had a missing zero. So she suffered an inconvenience and you suffered a no-show. Unfortunately, repetitive tasks are an invitation for human error. Automate your reminders to come straight from your scheduler, and you can prevent miscommunications.
3. You Run Out of Time
At the end of the day your staff cannot finish reminding customers of their appointments because they run out of time. Although you expected to send one reminder per day, they are slipping to once every two-to-three days. Automated reminders allow you to set up a schedule that works on its own.
4. You Don’t Want to Hire More Staff
This ties into #3. If your staff is too busy to handle manual reminders, hiring another employee is your most expensive option. Automate your reminders to free up your existing staff. Then, they can focus on more skilled tasks.
5. You Want to Project a More Professional Image
Let’s face it, even the most enthusiastic person will not sound very positive after performing hundreds of monotonous, repetitive calls. Pre-recorded reminders project a professional image every time.
6. Your Customers Want Text Messages
Don’t hire someone to type text messages on a tiny, non-secure, cell phone all day. For customers that prefer text messages, automated appointment reminder text messages are your best bet.
7. You Like Your Monday Appointments
The most effective way to provide reminders for Monday appointments is to deliver them on Sunday, but your office is closed. Fortunately, you can set automatic reminders to go out even when your staff is away.
8. You Want a Paper Trail
You’re concerned about tracking opt-outs and providing audit trails. Automating your reminders can drastically simplify tracking and compliance.
Get more from your automated appointment reminders!
Bridge™ Engagement can help you get more from your patient reminder campaign. Whether you’re trying to reduce no-shows, save time, avoid errors, or save staffing dollars — Rectangle Health can help.
Are you ready? Try scheduling a demo.
