How to reduce no-shows: reminders, deposits and fair cancellation rules
A missed appointment costs twice: the time you held, and the person who could have had it. Here are the things that make the biggest difference, roughly in order of effort.
1. Send a confirmation straight away
People forget what they booked, especially if they booked late at night on their phone. An immediate confirmation with the date, time, place and a link to manage the booking is the foundation for everything else.
2. Send a reminder at the right time
A reminder the day before suits most appointments. For early-morning slots, send it the afternoon before. For very short-notice bookings, the confirmation may be enough.
Include the change and cancel link in the reminder. Someone who can't make it will often cancel if it takes one tap, and that frees the slot.
3. Make cancelling easy, not hard
It feels backwards, but easy cancellation reduces no-shows. People who can't come either cancel (good) or don't turn up (bad). Hiding the cancel button pushes them into the second group.
Set a cancellation window that matches your business. For example, people can cancel or move online up to 24 hours before, and after that they need to call.
4. Show your rules before people book
Put your cancellation and refund terms on the booking page, before the customer confirms. Surprises cause disputes; clear terms don't.
5. Take deposits for long or high-demand appointments
A small deposit changes behaviour. Keep it proportionate: a deposit for a 2-hour colour appointment makes sense; a deposit for a free advice drop-in does not.
If you take deposits:
- Say clearly whether they're refundable and until when.
- Refund automatically when someone cancels inside your window.
- Let the balance be paid in person.
6. Fill gaps from the walk-in queue
When a booking is cancelled or missed, a walk-in can take the time. If your bookings and queue share the same diary, this happens without any juggling.
7. Look at the numbers
Check missed appointments weekly. Patterns tell you what to change: a particular day, a service with long lead times, or bookings made weeks ahead.
In Calnify
Every booking gets a confirmation email and a reminder (24 hours before by default, adjustable per service), each with a private link to change or cancel within your rules. Cancellation windows and refund terms are shown before booking. Deposits through your own Stripe account are in early access, and the end-of-day summary shows missed appointments.