The timings that work
- On booking: immediate confirmation with the date, address and policy.
- Seven days before: useful for long appointments so clients can rearrange childcare or work.
- Forty eight hours before: the key one, because it lands inside your cancellation window.
- Two hours before: a short nudge with the address and parking note.
What to put in them
Date, time, service, address, what to arrive with, and a single link to reschedule. Every reminder without a reschedule link becomes a phone call you have to take mid-appointment.
SMS or email?
Email is fine for confirmations and receipts. SMS wins for the forty eight hour and two hour nudges because it gets read within minutes. If your clients live in WhatsApp, use it, but keep one channel as the reliable fallback.
Refill the slot fast
When somebody does cancel, post the free slot the same hour. Last minute openings sell well precisely because they are last minute, and a same day fill turns a lost booking into a normal day.
Put this into practice
Bookwan gives you a booking website, deposits, reminders and your calendar in one app. 15 days free, no card needed to start.
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