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How
can we reduce our DNA rate?
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Clients
often fail to turn up for their appointment. The most
common reason for this is that they simply forget. There
is one simple thing that we can do help prevent this -
keep in touch with our clients more effectively.
There
has never been a more important time to make sure we keep
in touch properly with our clients. At a time when everyone
is tightening their belts and looking after the purse
strings, we have to use our opportunities to communicate
in the most effective way possible.
This
means not only using our client details database for marketing
opportunities but also to specifically target opportunities
to contact our clients at other key times.
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A
great place to start is to send a confirmation SMS to
the client whenever they book an appointment. This will
confirm that the booking details are correct and will
also increase the likelihood of the client remembering
to attend their appointment.
Confirmations
can also be sent via e-mail. These can look professional
and can include information about your clinic, the full
range of services you provide, plus any important information
about the client's appointment such as how to find the
clinic and so on.
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In
addition to an initial appointment confirmation, you can
also send the client a reminder the day before the appointment.
This is a positive way of again not only presenting an
efficient professional image to the client, but also to
dramatically increase the likelihood of the client attending
the appointment. Reminders can be sent when the client
has booked more than one week in advance for example.
Saving
one "Did Not Attend" per month will more than
pay for the cost of sending an SMS reminder to each client
the day before their appointment.
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"Our
research shows that sending reminders will cut down your DNA
rate by as much as 30%."
Finally,
once your client's treatment is complete, why not send them
a courtesy e-mail in a few weeks time. Depending upon the type
of services you provide this may be to invite them to return,
or simply to thank them for their business and to wish them
well!
Any
communication with your clients via e-mail and SMS should always
be based upon the client's own preference. Tell them that you
will be sending them a reminder, but give them the chance to
opt out. The client should also have the option how they want
to receive the reminders - via e-mail or SMS.
We
can help you set it all up!
PPS
already includes all the options described above for you to
use straight away. We have a detailed help guide available for
you to work through all the necessary steps from setting up
your SMS account to sending your first appointment reminder!
Click
here to view the help guide.
The latest version of PPS includes the option to check your
SMS credit balance and to purchase SMS credits directly from
us. We have negotiated discounted prices for PPS users with
savings of up to 25% on the normal cost of SMS credits. SMS
messages are still sent using Boom-SMS who have always provided
a top level reliable service to us, but you are now able to
purchase your discounted SMS credits directly from us instead
of via the Boom-SMS web site. The help guide mentioned above
will show you how to do this.
We
also now have (and will soon be announcing) a brand new "Activity
Manager" add-on to PPS that will fully automate the sending
of all your appointment reminders and follow-ups.
We
can also help you with the content and layout of your e-mail
and SMS message templates if required, plus how to set up PPS
to send out your confirmations and reminders automatically.
Please
contact us for further details on 0845 0680 777, or +44 1283
550 777
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