Setting appointments is just one part of making sure revenue keeps flowing in your service department and showroom, but it can be one of the most critical.

We have seen it time, and time again. Customers make appointments and then don’t show up.

It may seem like a losing battle, but there are some things you can do to make sure you are getting your customers to keep their appointments, and to make sure they come back.

Making Sure Customers Keep Service Appointments

1. Draw customers in.

Before you even start getting leads or appointments, you want to make sure you improve the experience for the customer.

Do you have a way for the customer to easily get ahold of you? Are you offering them a texting platform? Can they expect a quick response?

The best way to start this is to set up a simple call to action on your website. Create a “text us” button somewhere on the page that will allow the customer to click on it and send you a message with any questions they may have about a certain product.

This will take minutes, or even seconds to complete, and its simple and convenient for the customer.

There is no need to have them call in if you make the texting experience on your website easy to use. The customer can just send it right from there, and your sales reps and take over.

2. Improve customer experience.

This may seem like a small thing, but its important to make sure the customer is getting the best experience possible when interacting with your business.

Texting is the way to go!

We found that nearly 9 out of 10 customers would prefer to interact with a business via text. The main reason: simplicity and convenience.

Not only will this allow the customer to interact with you faster, but it will also cut down on the time your employees need to spend on the phone.

They don’t have to play phone tag, hope the customer will call back, or leave countless voicemails. They can send texts in minutes, which then increases the time they can spend bringing in more customers and increasing revenue.

3. Engage with the customer.

While your sales reps are already engaging with the customer, what’s important here is to make sure you are available for the customer.

Example: If you are on a phone call with a customer, and another customer calls in, you may not be able to hang up and pick up the call right away. You will likely have to wait for the call to finish, call the other customers back, and maybe even leave a voicemail.

All of this takes time, and if the customer has to wait for a while, they may not want to keep their appointments.

With texting, you can have chats with multiple customers, seemingly at the same time. AND the customers are also getting the same amount of service and response as they would if they called in to ask a question.

If you are texting customers, you can also send reminders, or multiple reminders, without feeling like you are hounding the customer about an appointment.

You can keep the customer engaged by asking questions and making sure you establish a relationship with them, so they know you are around to help them through the process.

All of this takes less time than if you had to do it over the phone. Texting customers back in seconds vs. calling customers back one by one in minutes or hours.

Text don’t call about appointments.

Cold calling is a time-tested method for gathering leads, but we are certainly seeing a shift.

Adopting a texting platform is what customers are looking for, especially when reaching out to a business for the first time.

The past two years have changed the way people think about their interactions with businesses. They are looking for simplicity and convenience to make sure they get what they want, and your business needs to adapt to make sure you are keeping your appointments, and the revenue keeps flowing.

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