Sending a reminder email may help you remind your clients of their appointments, but sending a friendly reminder email will go a long way in establishing a relationship between you and your clients.
First, let’s discuss why you need to send a reminder email in the first place.
Your time is valuable, and a client who fails to show up for a scheduled appointment without notice robs you of something you can never replace. In a previous article, we discussed how no-shows can impact your bottom line. [https://www.greminders.com/articles/how-cancellations-and-no-shows-can-hurt-your-revenue/] Implementing automated reminders can help reduce the number of no-shows you’ll experience throughout the year.
Why Do People No-Show
No matter who your clients may be or what they do, people lead busy lives, and it’s very common for individuals to forget about events they have scheduled. Some ignore events and don’t bother to call or email you to let you know. They don’t consider how valuable your time is, as rude as that may sound.
Some individuals may have scheduled an appointment with you based on an impulse they had at the time. Their enthusiasm may wane between the time they schedule their meeting and the time the meeting actually takes place. This can lead to no-shows as well. We’ll discuss how to use reminder emails to retain their enthusiasm later in this article.
Bottom line is this: if you want your clients to stop forgetting about their appointments with you, learning how to write a friendly reminder email to them is essential.
When Should Clients Be Reminded
Regardless of the type of appointments you schedule with people, the right time to send your friendly reminder email is important to determine. Your ideal timing will depend not only on your clientele, but your business practices and culture.
GReminders has found that the most common practice regardless of business type is to first send a request for confirmation 24 hours before the appointment start time. This serves not only to remind your client of their appointment the next day, but it gives you enough time to fill in that appointment time if they need to cancel or reschedule.
Following that, a second reminder message can be scheduled to send if they fail to confirm with you in a timely manner. Setting the second reminder to send a couple of hours before the appointment start time if you haven’t heard back from the client gives them one more nudge and another opportunity to salvage the appointment.
Alternately, you can schedule the second reminder email to send a few minutes prior to an online meeting to ensure that the client has the web link on hand. With GReminders Custom Criteria feature, you can set up all of these types of reminders using client reminder email templates so the right message goes to the right clients according to their confirmation status.
7 Steps to Writing the Perfect Friendly Reminder Email
1. Reiterate the details of the upcoming appointment
The primary purpose of a friendly reminder email is to help your client remember that they have an upcoming appointment with you. Include details about when and where the appointment will take place to jog their memory. If they had forgotten, they will appreciate the reminder as well as your consideration in reminding them.
2. Make the subject stand out
Your email subject line could be the difference between an opened and an unopened email. Be sure to draw attention to your email by mentioning the upcoming appointment in the subject line. Opening with the word “Reminder” followed by the purpose, date and time of the appointment ensures the recipient knows this is in relation to their scheduled meeting with you. This will better ensure that the client opens and reads your reminder email.
3. Set the right tone
Formal or informal? That’s the main question you need to ask yourself when crafting your perfect friendly reminder email greeting and message. How you answer will determine what kind of opening and language you use to set the tone for your email. Rule of thumb: “Dear” and “Good Afternoon” are more formal; “Hi”, “Hello” and “Hey” are laidback. Whichever approach you choose, make sure you consider which is appropriate to help you build rapport with your audience.
4. Convey the reason(s) for the email
If the purpose of the email is merely to remind your client of their upcoming appointment with you, you can keep it short and simply relay the appointment details. If there are other things you require from the client in advance of the meeting (intake forms filled out, documents gathered, agreements signed), include these as a part of the email so that your client can be better prepared and you can both make the most of your time together.
This may also be the time to remind clients of any cancellation policy you have. Giving them that courtesy can go a long way in cultivating a good relationship with them.
5. Request action (confirmation)
To be considerate of everybody’s time, a request for a confirmation that the client is still on for the appointment is more than appropriate. You may even wish to offer your clients the option to cancel or reschedule via a link. Check out this article from GReminders to learn more about how to do just that.
6. Edit for errors, clarity and conversational flow
First, proofread your email for spelling and grammar. There are services available that will check these for you, but it’s always best to double-check–AI isn’t infallible.
Next, make sure you’re not muddying your message with unnecessary sentences or unrelated tangents. And finally, to check for readability, try reading your friendly email reminder out loud–if it sounds weird, it will read weird, too.
7. Closing
Your sign-off should be in line with the tone of your greeting and your message. If need be, include legal verbiage below all else. End on a positive note. And finally, be sure to include your contact information in your signature.
Tips and Tricks
The following suggestions will help you write a more effective friendly email reminder.
Keep it short and sweet–the quicker you iterate the purpose of your message and the more succinct you make it, the more likely your client will feel that you value their time.
Offer multiple ways to respond–everyone has a favorite method of communication. Giving your clients options to use their preferred reply method ensures a higher likelihood of receiving a response, and puts them at greater ease.
Minimize their pain points–presumably that’s the point of your meeting. Be direct in asking for a response and ensure that everybody’s pain points are reduced.
Treat adults like adults–don’t shame your clients if they failed to respond the first time. Give them the benefit of the doubt and gently remind them without impoliteness or rudeness.
Don’t apologize–you’re allowed to ask for confirmation of an upcoming appointment. It’s nothing to apologize for or feel bad about.
The Most Common Mistakes in Writing Friendly Email Reminders (and what to do instead)
Sounding Generic
Folks don’t like to think they’re receiving email messages from a computer program, even if that’s the case. To sound less robotic in your friendly email reminders, use a personalized greeting, be polite and professional, and sign off warmly.
Not Requesting an Action
Be clear in what you want the person to do when you reach out with your email reminder. Confirm the appointment? Click a link to join your meeting? Fill out paperwork to prep for your meeting?
Waiting Too Long to Follow Up
If your reminder is a follow-up to a meeting you’ve had with a client, be sure not to let too much time pass before following up. This will ensure your interaction is more fresh in their mind and will increase their receptivity to your request.
Using “Follow-Up” or “Following Up”
Whether you use this commonly overused phrase in your email subject or your opening line, it doesn’t really add any value. Be sure that when you follow up, you’re offering something helpful to your client or customer.
FAQ
Why are Email Reminders Important?
Email is the primary way we communicate in business these days. Folks are used to receiving messages from the businesses they use to let them know about important updates and information that may be of interest to them. But since email now inundates us all, reminders sent via email do run a risk of being missed by the recipient. Spam blockers create an even bigger hazard that your reminder email will end up somewhere other than your client’s inbox. For these reasons, we include the next question:
Should you use Reminder Texts instead of Emails?
Text reminders have a much higher open rate than email reminders, as this study shows. Text message open rates are nearly 5 times higher than email open rates and text response rates and 7 times higher than email response rates. Therefore if you’re considering one method or the other, sending text reminders will almost always win out over sending email reminders. Although if you don’t have to choose between the two, why not utilize both?
Is a Friendly Reminder Professional?
A well-crafted reminder email will be appreciated by the recipient if it is intended to help them keep their meaningful appointments and remember deadlines. Keeping it friendly prevents you from sounding bossy or impatient, which nearly everyone appreciates.
Do Reminder Emails work?
The biggest takeaway from sending friendly email reminders is this: time them well and use them sparingly. The first reminder email is the most impactful, and subsequent reminder emails decrease in effectiveness the more you send. So be sure that if you’re itching to send a second or third reminder email, you’re only sending it to folks who have not yet responded to your initial email reminder. Lest you wish to come across as pushy and annoying, in this case, less is more.
You can learn more about setting up reminders based on confirmation status here.
Email Reminder Templates
Because GReminders is reminder software that syncs with your Google, Microsoft Office 365 or Outlook Calendar, we’re going to focus on reminder templates dealing with meetings and events.
Business Meeting Email Reminder Templates
Whether in person or online, a friendly reminder email prior to the meeting is a professional way to ensure attendance and meeting preparedness. It can also serve to provide the location or online meeting link, a much appreciated courtesy.
Template #1 Request for confirmation
Subject: Reminder re: Your appointment with {{company.name}} at {{event.time}} on {{event.date}}
Dear {{invitee.firstname}},
Reminder, you have an appointment with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}} at {{event.time}} on {{event.date}}. To confirm simply click {{event.confirmlink}} or call {{user.phone}} to reschedule.
Kind Regards,
{{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
{{user.email}}
{{company.name}}
Template #2 Reminder with Zoom link
Subject: Reminder -- Zoom coming up in 10 minutes with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
Dear {{invitee.firstname}},
Just a friendly reminder that your appointment with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}} is coming up in 10 minutes. Click the link to join our Zoom meeting: {{event.zoomlink}}
Kind Regards,
{{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
{{user.email}}
{{company.name}}
Template #3 Reminder with Driving Directions
Subject: Reminder -- Your Meeting with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
Dear {{invitee.firstname}},
Just a friendly reminder that your appointment with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}} is coming up at {{event.time}} today. Here are driving directions to our office: https://maps.google.com/maps?q={{ event.location | url_encode }}
Kind Regards,
{{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
{{user.email}}
{{company.name}}
Template #4 Reminder with Link to Upload Documents
Subject: Reminder -- Please upload your documents prior to Meeting with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
Dear {{invitee.firstname}},
Just a friendly reminder that your appointment with {{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}} is coming up at {{event.time}} today. Please be sure to upload your documents prior to the meeting start time here: www.dropbox.com/xxxxx
Kind Regards,
{{user.firstname}} {{user.lastname}}
{{user.email}}
{{company.name}}