Why text beats email for reminders
Email open rates for appointment reminders hover around 20–30%. SMS open rates run above 90%, and most texts are read within 3 minutes of arriving. If the goal is actually getting in front of a client before their appointment — not just technically having sent a reminder — text is the format that does the job.
That doesn't mean drop email entirely — it means SMS should carry the reminders that matter most.
The timing that works
- 72 hours before (email): full appointment details and your policy — this one doesn't need to be a text
- 24 hours before (SMS): the reminder that matters most — gives clients time to cancel if they need to, so you can rebook the slot
- 2 hours before (SMS, optional): catches same-day forgetfulness, most useful for short appointments like haircuts
Sending more than this starts to feel like spam and can actually increase opt-outs. Three well-timed touches beat five nagging ones.
Message wording that gets a response
A good reminder text is short, specific, and gives the client an easy way to act:
Hi Sarah, this is a reminder of your haircut appointment tomorrow at 2:00pm with Jordan at Northline Studio. Reply CANCEL if you need to reschedule.
Notice what this does:
- Names the client, service, time, and staff member — no ambiguity about which appointment
- Includes your business name (texts from an unknown number get ignored or reported as spam)
- Gives a one-word way to act, rather than forcing them to call
Opt-in rules in Canada
Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) governs commercial electronic messages, including SMS. Appointment reminders tied to a service the client actually booked are generally treated as transactional rather than promotional — but the safest approach is still explicit consent at booking (a checkbox or a clear statement that booking includes reminder texts) and an easy opt-out on every message. Don't reuse appointment-reminder consent to send unrelated marketing texts — that's a different consent category.
What to do when someone doesn't respond
Silence isn't confirmation — most clients simply don't reply to a reminder they have every intention of keeping. Treat a non-response as normal, and reserve a phone call for high-value appointments where a no-show would be particularly costly (a long spa treatment, a new-client consultation).
How this looks in Pulse
Pulse sends SMS and email reminders on a schedule you control, with consent collected at booking. Clients can reply to reschedule directly, and every reminder is tied to the real appointment record — no separate system to keep in sync.