Outlook SMS Appointment Reminders

Recently I had been approached by a couple of financial planning advisors in Australia looking for a way to send their clients text appointment reminders directly from Outlook.

If you're in the financial planning game then each appointment matters, can lead to a decent sale and you don't want to loose that opportunity to close a deal.

Appointment Reminder has this ability and it works really well, sending SMS reminders. Each reminder does an extra 30 seconds or so per appointment but it has been a good ROI for these clients.

Steps:

1. Goto http://appointmentreminder.com.au and signup for a FREE trial.
   
   
2. You'll need to download the correct version depending on which version of Outlook you using.  The software supports Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016.
   
3. Once installed go into you calendar and right mouse click on any event in the calendar.  You will see a new option called "create appointment reminder"
   
   
   
   
4.  When you click on create appointment reminder you will need to enter the details of the client so they get the SMS reminder.
   
   
   



Reminder Details Screen



5.  Click save and you're done.

Pretty cool aye? There are also options for changing the wording of the SMS message so it's tailored to your business, ability to send them 24 hours before, 48 hours before or whatever suits your business the best.

If you're wanting to reduce your no show rate or want to add another level of communication with your clients check out Appointment Reminder for sending sms/text reminders.

Text Appointment Reminders

Text Appointment Reminders: The Benefits

Reminding clients of when their appointments is important. While it may seem easy enough, there are many businesses out there who fail to provide reminders – doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, plumbers, lawyers, and even tax consultants. If you have a business where appointments are scheduled, text appointment reminders are a must. This will make it easier for you to manage your appointment, provide reminders, and more. There are some amazing benefits to this service and it is easier to implement than you might think.

Read More: Text Appointment Reminders

SMS Appointment Reminder Templates

I've been helping out a number of businesses to get started with sending SMS appointment reminders.

They have seen a decent decrease in the number of no show's, added better communication to their clients and overall has meant their business is seen in a more positive light.

We generally have been advising clients to send reminders 24 hours before the appointment and ALWAYS asking them to reply if they need to confirm or decline their appointment.

Asking clients to reply  has resulted in about 80% reply rate, which is really great.  By asking clients to confirm really really has reduced the no show rate.

Clients feel more committed to the appointment if they have replied with a yes and less likley to not show, or at least get in contact to re-arrange the appointment time.

Here are some good appointment reminder templates you can use to get started.

Umbraco + Windows Live Writer

Distraction free writing is pretty important when putting together blog posts and I find live writer a pretty good tool to achieve this, means you don’t have your web browser open and aren’t inclined to jump around to other tabs.  You could use another text edit but with being able to publish directly from live writer to Umbraco is pretty neat, also with the ability to upload images it's my number 1 choice for writing blog posts with Umbraco.

Please head over to MatthewSkilton.Me to follow my step by step tutorial on how to setup windows live writer with Umbraco.