When specialists track no shows and/or last minute cancellations, they are more common than most specialists realise. Even if the client re-books for another time, it is still a wasted session where you have not earned any money.  


Associations have reported no show/last minute cancellation rates of up to 20% of clients, as common amongst their members, particularly for those specialists just starting out. Just one no show or last-minute cancellation a week at £50 a session costs a specialist £2,600 a year.


Public behaviour has changed and the public now expects to see availability online, to book AND pay for sessions in advance and to have automated reminders to stop them forgetting. This is evidenced by the success of AirBnB, ClassPass, Personal Training Sessions etc. Indeed it's hard to find an activity you book online which you do not have to pay up front for. 86% of clients want to be able to book online and 97% of those are happy to pay up front.


So how do you minimise them, or at least get paid for them? 


To minimise no shows then SIF Health has automated email and SMS notifications which are proven to reduce no shows. 


For clients booking online then payment is taken at the time of booking and a strict 24-hour cancellation policy is enforced meaning you get paid for no shows and/or last-minute cancellations. It also has the knock-on benefits of saving time during appointments, no trips to the bank to pay cash in and removes the awkwardness for you and your patients of when it comes to asking for money. 


You can even benefit from this for ALL of your bookings by encouraging your clients to book with you through via SIF Health. Even if you add the booking in yourself, SIF Health sends a booking confirmation with a payment request. 


What difference would it make to you if you were paid for no shows / last minute cancellations?


But don't the SMS messages cost money?


Actually, turning off SMS reminders to clients to save a few pence each time can be counterproductive. 


For example, for a typical £40 appointment that equates to 800 5 pence SMS. At 1 reminder SMS per booking, that means if it saved at least 1 no show per 800 bookings then it would have paid for itself, not to mention the time saved of sending any messages yourself.