The SMS reminder template is used when sending automated SMS reminders for appointments. Fields in the template are filled in at the time of sending, with details such as the customer name, the date and time and many other optional fields.
Here are some tips to help you create reminders that are short, effective and to the point…
SMS literally stands for “SHORT message service”. Long SMS messages (> 160 characters) will use more than one SMS credit, so you will go through your available credits more quickly.
Your customers don’t expect the niceties of written correspondence in an SMS message. You don’t need to write “Dear John…” nor “Your Sincerely” etc. Even “Pleases” and “Thank-yous” are probably unnecessary.
It is perfectly acceptable to write a message that is short and conveys the important information only. Date and time are obviously the most important. For extra clarity and to avoid confusion, including the day of the week is advisable.
You can include the customer’s first name for a more personal feel, but it is not strictly necessary in most cases, as the message is going to their phone after all.
Personnel and location are usually optional. This is just a reminder after all, and one can assume that the customer knows who they are seeing and where.
You can include your business number in the SMS template, but by turning on two-way SMS you can allow users to simply reply to the text message and have their replies go straight to your reception email.
You can also turn on the “Y to confirm” option. If you do, it is a good idea to mention this in the template.
Try to keep your messages below 160 characters. You may need to shorten some words and drop unnecessary spaces and punctuation.
Using the [Short.Day] instead of [Day] will save up to 6 characters (“Wed” instead of “Wednesday”).
For a phone number you can abbreviate “phone” to “ph” or just leave it out altogether – most people will recognise it as a phone number without the word.
“Appointment” is 11 characters long – consider “Appt” instead.
If you want to include niceties, you might use “thx” instead of “thank you”, and “pls” instead of “please”.
If you want the message to be more “friendly”, consider “Hi” rather than “Hello”.
You can also replace ” at ” with “@”. Because “@” works without spaces around it, you save 3 characters.
These tips are suggestions only. Nobody knows your business better than you, so in the end you must decide what suits you and your customers. If you want to include extra information about where your business is located, or other special notes to the customer, that’s totally your call.
It's important to test the template to make sure it looks as you expect. Click the [preview] button to see how your SMS will appear and how many credits it is likely to use.
Here is a simple template example, it include the customer’s name, the appointment day, date and time, instructions to reply “Y” to confirm, the phone number to call for changes, and the company name…
Hi [Cust.First],
Pls remember your appt [Short.Day] [Date]@[Time(am/pm)].
Reply Y to confirm, or ph 99998888 to change.
GreenleafNaturopathy
The length of the above message will be around 120-125 characters (depending on the name), which is well below the 160 limit for 1 credit.
SMS messages are a great way to communicate with your customers. They are cost-effective and easy to use. By taking some time to craft a simple and concise template you can help your customers get the information they need, and at the same time control your costs.
SMS messages have a standard length of 160 characters. Longer messages are simply split into packets of around 160 characters that then get joined back together once they reach the phone.
All SMS providers charge per packet, so this means that longer messages will always be more expensive to send. This is why an SMS of <= 160 character uses one credit, but longer messages can use 2 or more credits.
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