The three reminders that matter
Most trade shops need three customer messages per visit, and no more. Each one has a job.
| When | Its job | Ask for a reply? |
|---|---|---|
| Day before, late afternoon | Catch the people who forgot or need to move it, while you can still fill the slot | Yes |
| Morning of (optional, for later windows) | Remind people booked for the afternoon who may have made other plans | No, just say how to reach you |
| On my way | Get someone to the door, put the dog away, open the gate | No |
A confirmation at booking is a fourth message, but it is part of booking, not a reminder. For more on stopping empty trips, see how to reduce no-shows.
Timing: why late afternoon the day before
Send the day-before reminder around 4 or 5 p.m. That is late enough that the customer knows tomorrow's plans, and early enough that the office is still open to take a "can we move it?" call and slide another job into the gap. A reminder at 9 p.m. finds out about the problem when nobody can fix it.
For visits booked more than a week out, add one more reminder two or three days before. For same-day bookings, skip the day-before message: the confirmation does that job.
The on-my-way text should go when the tech actually leaves the last job, not at the start of the arrival window. If the window is 8 to 10 and the tech leaves at 9:15, a text at 8:00 saying "on our way" is a broken promise.
What to put in each message
- Your shop name first. Unknown numbers with no name get ignored or reported.
- Day, date and window. "Thursday, Nov 20, 8 to 10 a.m." beats "tomorrow morning".
- The tech's first name. People open the door for a name.
- What to do before you arrive. Clear the area under the sink, have the panel reachable, put pets away.
- The visit fee, if there is one. A reminder of the trip charge stops the "I didn't know there was a charge" argument at the door.
- One way to change it. A reply word or a phone number. Not both plus a link plus an email.
Sample messages
Examples you can adapt. Keep texts under about 300 characters so they read in one glance.
Day before: "Harbor Line Plumbing: Ava, your visit is tomorrow, Thu Nov 20, 8-10 a.m. Sam Rivera will be your tech. The service call is $89 and he will price the repair before starting. Reply YES to confirm or call us at (555) 010-0199 to move it."
Morning of: "Harbor Line Plumbing: reminder, Sam is scheduled to see you today between 1 and 3 p.m. Please clear the space under the kitchen sink. Questions? Call (555) 010-0199."
On my way: "Harbor Line Plumbing: Sam is on his way and should arrive in about 20 minutes."
The phone number and fee above are examples. Use your own. Anyone who has not replied YES to the day-before text by the end of the business day gets a short phone call from the office.
Text or email?
Text is the better channel for reminders. People read texts within minutes and often never open an email from a contractor. Use email when the customer has no mobile number, asked for email, or when you need to send something longer such as prep instructions or a contract. For property managers and commercial customers, send both: the text to the on-site contact and the email to whoever approves the work.
Get permission to text at booking and read the mobile number back. A reminder sent to a landline or a wrong digit never arrives, and you will not know until the tech is standing at a closed door.
Quiet hours and over-messaging
- Set quiet hours. No customer texts before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. their time. A message that would land outside those hours should wait until morning, not be dropped.
- Cap the count. Confirmation, day-before, maybe morning-of, on my way. Four messages for one visit is the ceiling for most homeowners.
- Cancel stale reminders. If the visit was moved or canceled, the old reminder must not go. Nothing looks worse than "see you tomorrow" for a visit the customer canceled.
- Skip redundant ones. If the tech already sent "on my way", the morning-of reminder is noise.
- Honor STOP at once. Then call that customer instead.
- Keep marketing out. A reminder is not the place for a maintenance plan pitch.
Set it up in one afternoon
- Write your three templates using the samples above.
- Decide your send times and quiet hours, and write them down.
- Add a "permission to text" question to your booking script, and the read-back.
- Assign one person to call the non-repliers at 4:30 each day.
- After a month, count no-shows and late cancellations, and adjust timing.
How SWITCHBOARD handles reminders
In SWITCHBOARD, automatic messages include a customer visit reminder at 5 p.m. the day before, with an optional one two hours before. It goes by text, or by email if there is no mobile number, and it is skipped if the visit was moved or canceled or an arrival text already went. Customer quiet hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. shop time, and a message that falls outside them is moved, never dropped. Every message is checked again at send time for STOP replies and consent. Each rule is off until the owner switches it on. The on-my-way text with a live link comes from the tech app.
Questions people ask
When should I send an appointment reminder?
Late afternoon the day before, around 4 or 5 p.m., so the office can still move the visit or fill the slot. Add a morning-of reminder for afternoon windows and an on-my-way text when the tech actually leaves.
Should appointment reminders be texts or emails?
Texts for most homeowners, because they are read within minutes. Use email when there is no mobile number, the customer asks for it, or the message is long.
How many reminders is too many?
For one service visit, a confirmation, a day-before reminder, an optional morning-of reminder and an on-my-way text is the most most customers want. Cut any message that does not have a clear job.
What time is too late to text a customer?
Set quiet hours, for example 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the customer's time zone, and hold any message that would land outside them until the morning.
What if the customer does not reply to the reminder?
Have the office call everyone who has not confirmed by the end of the business day. That call catches most problems before the truck rolls.