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4 Easy Appointment Reminder Email Templates: Friendly, Formal, Enthusiastic, Short
Automated reminders are an important tool for any healthcare practice or other appointment-based business. That’s because cutting down on missed appointments is the fastest way to increase your revenue, and automated notifications are the easiest way to cut down on no-shows.
Many businesses choose to combine email reminders with text message reminders, which have the highest open rates, and/or phone calls, which are particularly good for older patients or clients. But emails offer their own advantages, including greater ability to convey your tone and reinforce your brand identity. In this blog post, we’ll use 4 email templates to look at different tones you can adopt while reminding your clients of their upcoming appointments:
- Friendly
- Formal
- Enthusiastic
- Short
Automated appointment confirmation emails are an effective and affordable way to reduce your business’s no-show rate, thereby increasing revenue and having happier customers. Not to mention happier staff members, because by having a service like Reminderly send emails on their behalf, you’ll save them all kinds of time and hassle.
Basic components of reminder emails
Effective subject line. Since 85% of people say they want appointment reminders, it’s likely that the large majority of your clients want to get appointment reminder emails from you. That said, just about everyone’s inbox is inundated these days, and in the midst of all that junk, people often miss emails they’d like to read. For that reason, it’s important that you have a clear and effective subject line. In the templates below, we’ll look at ways to convey tone via your subject line.
Customer name. Reminderly can automatically insert your customer’s name at the start of the reminder email. Since many email programs show the first line of an email in snippet view before it’s been opened, this is a quick way to grab their attention.
Business name. Placing your business name and/or the name of the provider the person will be seeing early in the email is another effective way to get your client’s attention and avoid your email being missed.
Appointment date and time. Pretty self-explanatory: the crucial details you are asking your patient or customer to confirm.
Confirmation prompt. Ask your client to reply to the email to reschedule their next appointment. This gives you ample time to fill these appointments with other patients and customers.
Cancellation policy. This one’s optional but worth considering. Since emails don’t have the space limitations as text messages, you can include a brief summary of your cancellation policy at the bottom of the email.
Getting the timing right
Reminder emails should be sent far enough in advance that they help your customers remember their appointments and leave them enough time to cancel without incurring a penalty, which simultaneously leaves you enough time to fill the spot with someone else. (Reminderly offers an automated waitlist manager to help out with that aspect of appointment scheduling.) But reminder emails shouldn’t be sent so far in advance that the person is liable to forget again.
The best approach is to experiment until you find a rhythm that seems to work for most of your clients. For instance, you might send an initial reminder 3 days prior to the appointment and a quick reminder follow-up 24 hours in advance. Or an email 3 days prior and one day prior, as well as an sms reminder an hour before the appointment.
Once you’ve landed on a rhythm that works, stick with it. Your clientele will appreciate the reminders and come to depend on their consistency—a great recipe for brand loyalty.
Let’s move on to the 4 email reminder templates, seeing how the tone or voice works differently in each case.
The “friendly” email reminder template
Subject line: Please confirm your upcoming appointment at <business name>
Hi <customer name>,
Thanks for booking with us. Here’s a friendly reminder about your upcoming appointment with <provider name> on <day of week, date> at <time>.
If you need to cancel, give us a call at <phone number> and we’ll be happy to help you reschedule.
As a new patient, if you’re able to fill out these intake forms <form link> ahead of time, that’s helpful, but it’s also fine to do them when you arrive.
Thanks so much,
<business or staff member name>
A few things to note about the above “friendly” email reminder template:
- Approachability soothes nerves. Especially for healthcare appointments, anxiety is a major reason for no-shows. Conveying a mellow, approachable tone can help your patients feel more relaxed about coming in.
- Easy ask. Asking your patients or clients to do something beyond confirming, like filling out intake forms or other important documents, can come across in a very lowkey way when using a friendly tone. This is in contrast to the “formal” tone (see next template), where you’re going for a direct and business-like voice.
The “formal” email reminder template
Subject line: Your upcoming appointment with <business or provider name>
Dear <client name>,
Your upcoming appointment with <business name and/or provider name> is on <day of week, date> at <time>.
If you need to cancel or reschedule, call us at <business phone number>.
Please arrive 10 minutes ahead of your scheduled time and bring your insurance card. Copays are due at time of appointment.
Thank you,
<business or staff member name>
Cancellation Policy: For cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice, the full rate will be charged to the credit card on file.
A few things to note about the above “formal” email reminder template:
- Succinct, professional voice. This tone is well-suited to many medical practices, legal or financial firms, or any other type of business in which the relation of customer to provider tends to be formal.
- Space for extra info. This template includes the cancellation policy. It’s phrased in a way that’s straight to the point, in tune with the rest of the email. Other things you might consider including in your template are pricing info, directions, parking instructions, or payment information.
The “enthusiastic” email reminder template
Subject line: Can’t wait to see you soon at <business name>!
Hey <customer name>,
Are you as excited as we are about your upcoming appointment with <business name and/or provider name>? We’re looking forward to seeing you on <day of week, date> at <time>, and we know you’re going to end up feeling great about the <product or service>.
Given how hectic everyone’s schedule is these days, would you do us a favor? If you need to cancel or reschedule, no problem! Just give us a call at <business phone number>.
See you soon!
<business or staff member name>
PS - have you heard about our upcoming seasonal specials?!? They’re hot. Check out <this link> on our website for more details, or just ask when you’re here for your appointment!
A few things to note about the above “enthusiastic” email reminder template:
- Works well with humor. Easy to work in jokes about what the client will be getting—blindingly white teeth from a dental cleaning, so much relaxation from a massage people will think you came from a cocktail hour, etc.
- Blends easily with marketing efforts. Since enthusiasm is one of the main currencies of marketing copy, adopting this tone puts you in a good position to mention sales, special events, and so forth as part of your reminder emails. Be careful not to go overboard though—you don’t want your customers to start screening out your confirmation emails because they can’t differentiate them from marketing emails.
The “short” email reminder template
Subject line: <Business name> appointment confirmation
<Patient name>,
Your upcoming appointment with <business name and/or provider name> is on <day of week, date> at <time>.
Please confirm here <confirmation button> or cancel here <cancellation button>. If you need to reschedule, please do so here <reschedule button>.
<business or staff member name>
<business phone number>
A few things to note about the above “short” email reminder template:
- Short and sweet. Don’t worry about being too succinct. Most people will only scan the email in any case, so as long as you’ve got the necessary details and call to action, you’re all set.
- Similar to formal, but with the focus on brevity. Because you’re trying to make this email as quick a read as possible for your clients, there isn’t much space for jokes or tone-setting. You also don’t want to add extra info (cancellation policy, extra links, etc.) like in the “formal” template above.