Free template · Reminders

Three reminders. Zero ghost appointments.

Sends a 24-hour reminder, a 4-hour follow-up if no confirmation, and a 1-hour final touch. Patients who would have ghosted now show up or reschedule. Front desk doesn't pick up the phone once.

Setup time ~25 minutes
Run cost ~$8/mo (1,000 SMS)
Validation Tested + ready to run
License Free, yours forever

Three touches. One result. Far fewer no-shows.

  1. 1
    Schedule Trigger — every hour
    Cron expression 0 * * * *. The workflow wakes up hourly and processes anyone with an appointment 24 hours out.
  2. 2
    Sample Tomorrow's Bookings (replace this)
    Ships with two sample appointments. Replace this Set node with an HTTP Request to your booking software for appointments scheduled exactly 24 hours from now. Filter for unconfirmed only.
  3. 3
    Touch 1 — 24-Hour Reminder (Twilio)
    Plain, direct SMS naming the time and service. Asks for "C to confirm or R to reschedule." The reply codes train the customer for the rest of the sequence.
  4. 4
    Wait 20 Hours, then check confirmed flag
    Wait node holds the workflow until 4 hours before the appointment. The IF node checks if the customer confirmed in the meantime. If yes, the sequence stops. If no, continue.
  5. 5
    Touch 2 — 4-Hour Check-In (Twilio)
    Friendlier wording. Drop your prep instructions in here for med spa, vet, or dental sequences (skin clean, no caffeine, fasting, etc.).
  6. 6
    Wait 3 Hours, then Touch 3 — See You Soon
    Soft, assumptive, last-call tone. Tells them you're holding the slot and offers one more chance to reply R if something came up. Most no-shows happen here when this touch is missing.

Vertical-specific framing

Med spa
Pulls from Mindbody or Vagaro. Touch 2 includes prep instructions per service (skin clean for botox, no caffeine before hydrafacial). Touch 3 references the provider by first name.
Dental practice
Pulls from Eaglesoft or Dentrix. Touch 2 mentions if they need to fast for a specific procedure. Filters out patients who already confirmed via the practice's existing flow.
Salon
Pulls from Vagaro or Square Appointments. Touch 1 names the stylist. Touch 3 is shorter for short services like a quick cut so the customer doesn't feel hounded.
Gym or studio
Pulls from Mindbody or Mariana Tek for class bookings. Touch 1 includes the class name and instructor. Touch 3 mentions waitlist demand so members feel the social cost of no-showing.
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Two accounts. Free or close to it.

n8n Free self-hosted, or n8n Cloud starting $20/mo
Twilio $1/mo for a number, ~$0.008 per SMS in US
Your booking software API access to fetch tomorrow's appointments by phone
Confirmation feedback path Twilio inbound webhook to update the confirmed flag

What this is worth, conservatively

Industry no-show rate before automation 10%
Same business after a 3-touch sequence 3 to 5%
$200/visit, 50 visits/wk, 6% reduction in no-shows $600/wk recovered
Annualized ~$31,000
Cost to run this template forever ~$96/year

Numbers based on industry benchmarks for service businesses with appointment-based revenue. Your actual lift varies with patient mix, message timing, and how strong the existing single-touch reminder is.

Related

Want this customized to your stack?

If you'd rather have us connect this to your booking software, configure your voice, set up Twilio, and hand it back working — that's our front desk automation build. 1 to 2 weeks.

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