Despite organizing our week on a Monday morning, we sometimes miss appointments. We even skip events, major seminars, or personal gatherings because we forget to add these to our calendars.
Enter friendly reminders.
These messages or emails contain information such as event name, date, location, and time.
As coaches, when you send reminders, your clients are aware of their sessions, including time, date, and other details. But how do you send these emails without being too pushy?
Learn how to send a reminder email to ensure clients arrive on time.
Is a soft reminder important?
Coaches attend to multiple clients daily, so it’s even more important for clients to show up on time. And, if you’re a coach and already have a lot on your plate, you might think sending a reminder is just one more task in your day. We won’t lie –– it is, but it’s definitely worthwhile to keep things organized.
Effective reminder emails show clients you care about their time, ensure they arrive at the stipulated hour, and help you engage with them before the meeting.
When to send a polite reminder email
Get in the habit of sending a friendly reminder whenever clients have to do something time-sensitive. Here are a few examples:
- When payment is due: Help clients avoid late fees by sending a payment follow-up email with the invoice and due date. But if they miss the due date, share a reminder for late payments. Consider relying on a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, like Practice’s, to automate tasks such as appointment scheduling and automated payment reminder emails to save time. You may also want to follow up with a phone call if the client isn’t responsive to emails.
- Before an appointment: Remind clients about the sessions a day prior. Don’t forget to include the date, time, and location.
- When a deliverable is due: If you assign homework due before a session or need documentation (such as a coaching agreement) signed by a specific date, send a reminder message for a close or missed deadline.
How to write a reminder email
Write a professional email that’s short and straight to the point. This message’s primary purpose is to ensure a client has a deadline on the calendar, so don’t bury pertinent details in a sea of text. Here’s what to include:
- Subject line: On average, an individual receives more than 100 emails daily, which means your clients might not open every email. Add a concise subject line, summarizing the content and indicating a sense of urgency, which compels the client to open the email and read it. Write what kind of reminder this note is and the due date. For example, “Appointment Reminder – January 5 at 3 p.m.”
- Brief salutation: As people tend to engage more with personalized emails, address your clients by name and practice good email etiquette by wishing them well. Stick with hi, hello, and dear.
- Date and time: Remind the client of the due date or appointment time in just a few sentences.
- Sign off: Let the client know they can seek help, and you’ll respond to their questions within 24 hours. Also, remind them to inform you in advance should they miss the session, payment, or homework due to unforeseen circumstances.
- Attachments: If sending a payment reminder, attach the invoice. Take a second look at your email before sending and include any documentation promised.
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Send friendly reminders with these 6 tips
Apply the following tips when drafting a reminder email to ensure your clients understand your message:
- Include time-savers: If an email is about scheduling, payment, or following up on a signature, add a payment button, a link to download a document, or access to your calendar.
- Stick to a low word count: Your clients are busy and may skim through the email if it looks long and wordy. Stick to the essentials, space out your paragraphs, and save the conversation for your upcoming session.
- Maintain a friendly tone: Remain warm even if you’re collecting payment. The number-one goal of all client communication is to keep the working relationship fluid and strong. That’s why we recommend signing off with an offer to take questions. It shows the client you’re invested in.
- Send at the perfect time: A reminder only works if relevant. A client may ignore or forget a reminder you send today for an event in two months. Send appointment reminders a day prior, allowing the client to add it to their calendar (in case they missed it when you scheduled the session). Give a heads-up about payment a few days before so clients can plan their finances. And for contracts, set a deadline for conveying the information, giving the individual time to read it. Then, send a kind reminder a day or two before their signature is due, and try to send these emails during the workday (and not too close to the end of the day) to ensure you’re not losing time on a deadline because a client is asleep or disconnecting for the weekend.
- Include a calendar link: If clients use standard digital calendars such as iCal or Google Calendar, share a compatible link so they can save the date. If you meet with clients virtually, send the invite to Zoom, Teams, or other services you use. When they accept the invitation, these programs often automatically put dates on the recipients' calendars.
- Separate your reminders: Include one reminder per email instead of discussing payment, homework, and appointments all in one place. This way, clients can filter by category when they scan their inboxes for the reminder. Remember, the subject line should give enough information, meaning even if the client doesn’t have time to read the entire email, they must understand the message by looking at the subject.
Reminder email example
Seek inspiration from this sample, and change the tone to match your business’s voice.
Dear X,
I hope you’re well.
I’m writing to remind you about our upcoming life coaching session on July 2 at 2 p.m. at my X office.
Feel free to reach out should you have any questions. Look forward to seeing you!
Best regards,
X
Ace your admin work with Practice
Do less work while maintaining a solid client relationship by streamlining your daily communications with a CRM tool.
Practice’s tool, made with coaches in mind, allows you to take appointments, send reminders directly from the platform, and even receive payments securely. Since clients can access the app, they’ll have no trouble seeing their next appointment or shooting you a message if they have questions or need to reschedule.
