How to decrease appointment no shows, never miss a meeting and increase customer communication
Tags: tutorial
Published: 2021-02-25 16:23:05

In light of the events of the past year, video conferencing platforms like [Zoom](https://zoom.us/), [Microsoft Teams](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software), [GoToMeeting](https://www.gotomeeting.com/), and [Google Meet](https://meet.google.com/) have taken off. The pandemic has changed the way we do business forever. Not only has the number of [remote meetings](https://appointmentthing.com/) increased substantially, but a [study from Iowa State University](https://www.inside.iastate.edu/article/2020/04/16/meetings) also found that there are now 10x more meetings overall each week due to the pandemic. You may have noticed this trend in the past several months, as the number of your meetings and appointments has increased. 

With an uptick in the number of appointments and meetings scheduled, you may have found yourself struggling to remember when and how many meetings or appointments you have in a single day. You may have even missed a few since last March . And you are probably aware that you’re not the only person feeling this pain, as you’ve probably experienced lots of no show appointments and meetings in the past few months. 

As a [meeting and appointment host](https://appointmentthing.com/features) it can be extremely frustrating and disappointing when your attendees do not show up on time. There are the two main reasons why appointment attendees may miss appointments/meetings.

### Busy lives and schedules
In today’s fast paced world everyone is juggling a busy schedule that may include work, family, school, and extracurriculars. Additionally, it’s important to remember that you’re not the only one experiencing a 10x increase in appointments/meetings due to the pandemic. Everyone has a full plate and is trying their best to navigate the ever changing landscape.

### Communication Issues and Emergencies
Sometimes life happens and emergencies can prevent an attendee from showing up on time or making the meeting at all. There is no way of knowing when an emergency may happen, however, there are ways to ensure efficient communication. 

# Solving Problems Using Current Solutions:
### Your busy life and schedule
Fortunately, there are plenty of tricks and hacks that you can use to remind yourself and your attendees of appointments and ways to generate automatic appointment reminders through Google, Apple, and Outlook Calendars. 

Take 5 minutes every morning to review your schedule and make a mental note of when your meetings are and what needs to be prepared for each meeting. Use the [appointment reminder](https://appointmentthing.com/features) function in your respective calendar program to ensure that you are reminded of each meeting/appointment. Appointment reminders can be set ten minutes, a half hour, or even an hour before the meeting. This is a great function and tool, however, it can be tedious and time consuming. 

### Communication issues
Always make sure that your appointment/meeting attendees have your contact information on hand and readily available. Then in the case of an emergency or if they need to cancel the appointment they can simply contact you and reschedule. 

# Solving Problems Using Appointment Scheduling Software:
Although you would all like to be at the top of your game and have the time to set up notifications for every individual meeting, sometimes you just don’t have enough time. The risk of not taking the time to set up these appointment reminders, may force you and your attendees back into old habits of missing appointments and poor customer communication. 

1. The simplest way to prevent this is by signing up for an appointment scheduling software. Appointment scheduling tools, like AppointmentThing, will not only automatically send you [appointment reminders](https://appointmentthing.com/features) , but it will also send [appointment reminders](https://appointmentthing.com/features) to your attendees. This way, you are both always on the same page. 
2. Additionally, if your attendee has to cancel for any reason they can simply go to the [appointment confirmation email](https://appointmentthing.com/features) that they received when they initially made the appointment and cancel or reschedule the date and time of the appointment. Then you will receive a notification of the new date and time. 

When it comes to effectively communicating with customers and ensuring you are on the same page with appointment attendees, there is an easy way and a hard way. When it comes to remembering appointments and effective appointment and meeting communication, you can either use [automated scheduling software](https://appointmentthing.com/) or use the current solutions to solve these problems. However, if you are a busy professional looking for every time saving and efficient communication technique then signing up for an [appointment scheduling tool](https://appointmentthing.com/) like [AppointmentThing](https://appointmentthing.com/) may be your best bet!

# Use AppointmentThing
Get started with a FREE 14-day Pro trial of [AppointmentThing](https://appointmentthing.com/). No credit card required, super-easy set up.

Sign up for [appointment scheduling[(https://appointmentthing.com/) from AppointmentThing.