Clients’ care is the top priority for any practice. However, numerous priorities must be squeezed into your day’s work as a business owner. From managing your employees to processing payments, it is normal that you get overwhelmed by the number of things on your to-do list.
Fortunately, there’s SMS, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones. SMS reminders for appointments are an increasingly popular way to help patients remember their upcoming appointments. Studies have shown that SMS reminders can significantly reduce appointment no-shows and can be an effective way to improve patient engagement and satisfaction.
There are several key benefits of using SMS reminders for appointments:
It’s automatic.
Manually sending out appointment reminders can be quite a heavy task on your admin staff. These employees would also be on their feet since they have to keep the client records updated, sort through billings, and communicate with employees as they enter your business.
Indeed, if you want a more effective way of sending appointment reminders, it would be better to use an SMS Appointment service to avoid wasting valuable human resources. You can trust a service to notify your clients about their meeting with you. If you want competent and trustworthy services, consider Esendex SMS services for your business needs.
Most people receive and read their message.
As mentioned in the introduction, more and more people have phones nowadays, even little kids! Indeed, almost everyone reads their messages since most of the population today are on their phone. A survey conducted in 2022 showed that Americans check their phones about 344 times a day. Over half of Americans can’t go longer than 24 hours without checking their cell phones.
The good thing about SMS technology is that it’s available even on the oldest mobile phones. There’s also no need for clients to download an application, making it highly convenient even for the most senior clients you have.
It’s easy to add to your client’s calendar.
When all the information is in their text message, it becomes much easier to copy and paste it to a calendar reminder since there’s a physical reminder. Compared to calling a patient to confirm and notify them about their appointment, the client would have to find a pen and paper first or try to remember what time and date were discussed. It’s easy to get distracted and forget what was spoken of when you rely on calls.
It offers better privacy.
Those beside you won’t be able to read the text message. Unless someone nosy would physically try to peek at your text messages over your shoulder, they won’t know the contents of the SMS. It’s different from a phone call since people may hear your conversation in a room, especially when the room is quiet.
In many cases, it would mean that clients would have let the call go to voicemail to avoid answering the call in front of their colleagues since they don’t want to let other people know about their personal business.
It isn’t invasive.
When calling a client and notifying them about their appointment schedule, there may be times when they are busy driving. It would be difficult for them to answer their phone while driving. Also, even if they’re available, they may not have the energy and social capacity to answer the phone. Introverts may let the call go to voicemail due to their shyness.
There is less psychological pressure to respond immediately with text messages. There’s no need for clients to drop everything they’re doing and answer the phone call. SMS services give clients the chance to think of their response first, check their schedule, and respond when they’re ready to make an accurate decision on their scheduling.
SMS appointment reminders are accurate.
Since SMS reminders are a type of software, it’s automated. It minimizes the risk of human error in the workforce. Indeed, mistakes happen in a business; a staff member may call the wrong number, forget to write down key details about the client’s appointment, etc. However, with SMS reminders, there’s little to no chance for vital information to get lost, accidentally deleted, or sent to the wrong person.
It allows clients to reschedule.
When a business communicates with a patient through a call, there may be a chance that a person may be too scared and nervous to reschedule. Using an SMS appointment service reduces the chance of your clients not showing up since they can quickly reschedule through text.
Text messaging can give clients the strength and confidence to reschedule since you would only communicate through text, increasing effective communication and user engagement.
Final Thoughts
As a business owner, you would have to stay on top of numerous things. Having software like SMS services technology for your appointment needs can help lessen the load and worries you and your admin staff may have. It’s also a good option if you want to read clients better.
