How do I remind customers about their appointment?

Every plan gets one reminder email automatically, switched on in Booking settings, so most businesses need do nothing at all. If you want more control, for example a text message, more than one reminder, or a different message on a different trigger, build an automation rule instead. Automation rules are on Pro and up.

Turn on the built-in reminder

1. Open Calendar, then the Booking settings tab.
2. Turn on "Email a reminder before each appointment".
3. Set how many hours before the appointment to send it. It starts at 24 unless you change it, anything from 1 hour to 14 days works.
4. Press Save changes.

The email uses the same day and time wording as the booking confirmation, and points back to that confirmation email for changing or cancelling the appointment. It is not sent for a booking made or moved too close to the reminder moment, since the confirmation, or the email about the new time, only just went out.

Build a reminder rule instead, on Pro and up

Automation rules give you more choices, a text message, more than one reminder, or a different message on a different trigger. This needs Team management turned on. While a rule like this is active, it replaces the built-in reminder email for that customer, so nobody is reminded twice.

1. Open TMS, then Setup, then Automations.
2. Click New automation and give it a name you will recognise later.
3. Pick one of the three appointment triggers:
   • Appointment booked fires the moment a booking is taken, whoever took it: your online booking page, the AI, or somebody on your team.
   • Appointment coming up sends once before each appointment, at the lead time you choose.
   • Appointment missed fires when somebody on your team marks an appointment as a no-show.
4. For "Appointment coming up", set how many hours before the appointment to send. Leave it blank for 24 hours. Anything from 1 hour to 14 days works.
5. Pick an action: send a text, send an email, or create a task for your team.
6. Write the message. You can use {{first_name}}, {{org_name}} and {{appointment_time}}, which prints the day and time in your own timezone, worded exactly as the booking confirmation words it, timezone included, for example "10:00 am PDT".
7. Save. It starts working on the next appointment.

A reminder sent by text shows up in that customer's text conversation in your Inbox. It is paid for from your credit like any other text, and it ends with your business name and a way to reach you.

What happens when plans change

• The customer cancels. Every message still waiting to go out for that appointment is pulled back, including the confirmation email if it has not left yet. Nobody is reminded about a booking they cancelled.
• The customer moves the time. The waiting reminder is pulled back and a new one is lined up for the new time, so they get one reminder, for the right day.
• Somebody marks it done, or a no-show. Nothing is on a clock. An appointment is only ever treated as missed because a person said so, which is why a customer who cancelled over the phone is never told they missed you.

One "coming up" rule at a time

You can have as many "Appointment booked" and "Appointment missed" rules as you like, because they do different jobs: text the customer and open a task for the office, say. "Appointment coming up" is limited to one active rule that messages the customer, so two rules can never put the same reminder on one customer's phone twice. A "Notify a staff member" rule doesn't count toward that limit, because it never reaches the customer, so you can add one beside the reminder to give your team a heads-up too.

When a reminder is not sent

Reminders go out through the same rules as every other automatic message, so some are deliberately held back:

• The built-in reminder is email only, so a booking with no email address on file gets nothing. A rule can send a text instead, which needs the customer's permission first: they have to have texted you, agreed on a call, or been recorded as consenting.
• A customer who has unsubscribed gets nothing.
• A rule's text waits for daytime hours where the customer lives, between 8am and 9pm, so a lead time that lands in the night is not sent.
• A booking taken without a name and contact details on file has nobody to send to.

None of these are silent. The Automations tab shows a plain summary of what was held back in the last 30 days, and why, so you can see "the customer has never texted you" rather than wondering where the message went.

Who can do this

Turning on the built-in reminder is an admin job, on Booking settings, and included on every plan. Building a rule instead is also admin only, and automation rules are on Pro and up.