Missed appointments are unavoidable. That is a fact that every business needs to keep in mind. Frankly speaking, it is quite impossible to maintain a 0% no-show rate all the time, but keeping an eye on customers’ no-show rate, as well as trying to keep it as low as possible, is necessary for the good of a business.
How to Calculate No-Show Rate
To keep track of your business’ no-show rate, first you need to know how to calculate it. Here is the formula you can use to calculate the no-show rate:
The lower the result of the no-show rate is, the better it means for your business. Then, what does it mean for your business if the no-show rate is high?
Harmful Consequences of No-Shows
If you think that no-shows have no dire effects on your business, you are sorely mistaken. No-shows are very costly for a business. Even one no-show can actually cost a lot; we are talking about lost revenue, wasted time and effort, inefficiencies, and even more workload for you and your staff. Those consequences are the result of only one no-show. Now imagine if there are numerous no-shows, or if the no-show rate is high and keeps growing bigger! How much would your business need to sacrifice and lose?
What You can Do to Reduce No-Show Rate
There are various valid reasons behind customers’ missed appointments, many of which are beyond your control. However, as a service provider, you can actually keep the no-show rate low by simply following these 3 efficient and practical tips:
1. Send reminders!
As had been mentioned, many things can cause customers to miss their appointments. Yet, the most common reason for missed appointments is simply because customers forget about the appointments.
Sending reminders to your customers via SMS or email is going to solve this problem and will significantly reduce the no-show rate. You may think that sending reminders would mean adding more work for you and your staff, but with today’s technology, you do not have to do it manually one by one! A proper appointment booking system is able to send reminders and confirmations automatically, which means you do not need to lift a finger to remind your customers about their upcoming appointments.
One appointment booking system that has this kind of capability is SMARTAPPOINTMENT™ from Business Smart Solutions. SMS notification is a beneficial feature of this elaborate and advanced system, which will help remind your customers of their appointments with your business. No extra effort is needed from your part; yet, you will see a significant decrease in the no-show rate because of this feature.
2. Make cancellations and rescheduling easy for your customers
As bad as this sounds, cancellations are actually better than no-shows. Here is the reason: When customers cancel their appointments beforehand, you would be informed and you can open the now empty time slots for other customers. On the other hand, when your customers do not show up to their appointments without informing your business in advance, you cannot offer their time slot to other customers. Therefore, you should ensure canceling and rescheduling are easy for your customers.
Usually, canceling and rescheduling would be too much of a hassle for your customers. They prefer not to show up rather than to go through all those troubles. With SMARTAPPOINTMENT™, however, your customers can independently cancel and reschedule their appointments with just a few taps on their mobile devices, which can be done anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, this appointment booking system is equipped with centralised configuration feature and seamless website integration, which means when somebody cancels or reschedules their appointment, you or your staff can easily set the slot to become available for other customers to fill in. Making it easy for your customers to cancel or reschedule their appointments will definitely lower the no-show rate.
3. Evaluate no-show rate regularly
Last but not least, it is only sensible to calculate and evaluate your business’ no-show rate regularly if you want to maintain a low no-show rate. If calculating the no-show rate manually is too much work for you, what you need is a system that can do it for you.
By implementing SMARTAPPOINTMENT™, you can get access to comprehensive statistics and KPI reports, including the no-show rate. Therefore, keeping track of your business’ no-show rate should not be a problem anymore!
To know more about SMARTAPPOINTMENT™ and its beneficial features that will help you reduce the no-show rate, you can reach out to us at info@bss.com.au.
