If you’ve ever owned a business where people have to make appointments you can understand the frustration of no call no shows. It wastes your time, loses money and leaves a gap in your schedule. Veterinary clinics or one of these places where that happens a lot. Let’s take a look at some ways that customers can be reminded of their pets appointments ahead of time. Here are some ways to cut down on those no call no shows.
Reminder Cards
Reminder cards for veterinarians offices are a good idea because it’s a non confrontational way to try and get people to remember their appointments. There are two ways that you can give out reminder cards. You can either give them to the customers when they make their next appointment at their current appointment or you can mail one to them about a week before they are due. It’s understandable that people tend to lose pieces of papers so reminder cards for veterinarians doesn’t have to be in the form of a physical card. More about that next. Whatever way that you decide to send out reminder cards, it’s a good idea to make sure that they have a second one just before the appointment. You could add an appointment reminder to the back of the vet business cards as well as handing out veterinary appointment cards.
Reminder Phone Calls
If you decide to forgo the reminder cards for veterinarians appointments then you will actually save a little money. A cheaper way to remind customers of their appointments is to give them a phone call reminder. However, an automated message is easy to ignore so you should probably have an actual person calling the customers to remind them of their pets appointments. This is a little bit more confrontational because the customer has to answer right then and there if they are going to be able to make it to their appointment. However, the personal touch of a human being calling them from the office should help customers feel better about it. You could always give them option of giving you a call back by the end of the day if they need to check their schedule. If you do decide to use an automated message, set it up so that the client can press a number depending on whether they are going to be able to make it or not. There are many phone service is available to do this.
Reminder Emails
Well a lot of people send appointment reminders to their junk mail, you may still be able to get through. You could remind customers at their appointments to make sure that your email address is not set to go to junk. Make sure that they know you were not going to send them spam but you will only send them appointment reminders and possible discounts that you will be offering in the future. If you send deals and coupons through email, clients will want to receive those so they will likely make sure that they are getting your emails and thus will receive the reminder email when it is time for their next appointment. You could also set it up that they have to click yes or no on the email and this will let you know if they plan on attending their appointment. There was a company that sent out email reminders but in the email it’s stated that the client needed to call the office if they weren’t able to make it to the appointment. This did not cut down on no call no shows because clients didn’t call to cancel.
Holiday Cards
Well this is not specifically a way to remind clients of their appointments, clients will appreciate getting occasion cards whether it be Christmas or your pets birthday or other pet holiday cards. It will show them that their vet truly does care about them and their pet and is appreciative of their business. This will help clients look forward to appointments and cut down on forgetfulness.
Whether you decide to go with reminder cards for veterinarians or a phone call, make sure that it is personalized and friendly. Your clients need to know that you love and appreciate them.
