Automate confirmations and reminders to reduce manual follow-up
Missed appointments and late arrivals can add up to lost time, lost revenue, and frustrated customers. Without a consistent communication strategy, it’s easy for important details to slip through the cracks. But with the right automation tools, you can keep your clients informed, reduce no-shows, and create a smoother booking experience for everyone.
In this lesson, learn how to use Klaviyo’s powerful flows to automate appointment confirmations and reminders. You’ll discover how to:
- Send timely, personalized messages after a customer completes their booking.
- Set up automated reminders leading up to their appointment.
- Customize content based on appointment type or audience.
- Combine email and text messages for better visibility and reach.
Ready to see how automated reminder flows can help streamline your customer communication? Let’s dive in!
Booking confirmation
Send a confirmation message via a metric-triggered flow immediately after a customer schedules their appointment to reassure them that their reservation is locked in.
Include key details like date, time, location, and any prep instructions to avoid confusion.
Appointment preparation and reminder(s)
Send a reminder via a date-triggered flow 1 or 2 days before the appointment to help customers plan ahead and reduce the risk of no-shows.
Sync key details from your booking platform to Klaviyo, such as time, location, and what to bring. These can be stored as profile properties, allowing you to personalize the message using what you know about your customers.
Share pre-appointment details like parking instructions, intake forms, or preparation tips to ensure a smooth visit.
Post-appointment follow-up
Send a post-appointment message leveraging either a fulfillment metric in a metric-triggered flow, or using your existing date-triggered flow.
Use time delays to send a thank you message after the appointment to show appreciation and reinforce a positive experience.
Include a feedback request to learn how the appointment went and gather insights to improve future visits.
Add a gentle rebooking prompt or reminder, especially for services that are part of a routine or ongoing care plan.
Provide clear aftercare guidance based on the service, such as how to care for a new tattoo or maintain a fresh haircut at home.
Missed appointments
If a customer misses their appointment, send a friendly follow-up using a metric-triggered flow that acknowledges the no-show without placing blame.
You can offer a simple way to reschedule with a clear call-to-action and a link to your booking tool.
Include support options in case they had trouble attending, such as contact info or answers to common questions.
Set up your automated flow step-by-step
Automated flows help you streamline appointment communication without adding extra work to your day. Follow these steps to build a flow that confirms bookings, sends timely reminders, and keeps your customers informed.
Accepted date formats
When collecting date properties from your customers, ensure the dates are formatted in 1 of Klaviyo's accepted formats, such as YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY. Proper formatting is crucial, as incorrectly formatted dates may not trigger date-based flows as intended.
Look here for more information about acceptable date and timestamp formats.
Create a date-based flow
Navigate to the Flows tab: Select a pre-built flow or create 1 from scratch. To build it yourself, click Build your own and choose the Date property option as the trigger.
Select a date property: Pick the specific date-based profile property (e.g., Created Reservation) that will trigger the flow. Ensure this property exists in your account and is correctly formatted.
Timing and frequency
Configure flow timing: Decide when the flow should start in relation to the date property. Options include before, on, or after the date.
For booking and appointment reminder flows, it’s important to configure the timing and frequency based on your selected date property. In Klaviyo, you can trigger flows before, on, or after a specific date, which is perfect for confirming appointments and sending reminders at the right moment.
Set repetition frequency: Choose how often the flow should repeat: monthly, yearly, or not at all, depending on the nature of the event.
Klaviyo allows you to repeat a flow monthly and yearly, which works well for subscription reminders, birthdays, and anniversaries. However, for most appointments, which are usually one-time events, you’ll typically set the flow to not repeat
Apply filters to flows
Apply flow filters: You can add filters to identify profiles based on the information you know about them and send relevant messaging.
Flow filters help you control who enters and progresses through your booking or appointment reminder flow. For example, you can filter out customers who have canceled or rescheduled so they don’t receive irrelevant messages.
Filters are checked when someone enters the flow and again before each message is sent. This ensures your communication stays accurate and timely, even if something changes after the booking.
Messages and time delays
Add messages and time delays: Incorporate emails or text messages and set appropriate time delays between them to structure the flow effectively.
Adding messages and time delays lets you control which content in your appointment flow gets delivered and when. You can insert transactional messages at key moments, like right after a booking.
Use time delays to space these messages appropriately. A well-timed flow might look like this:
- Send a confirmation message as soon as the booking date is captured
- Schedule a reminder 1–2 days before the appointment
These timing options help you stay top of mind and reduce no-shows without overwhelming your audience.
Set your flow to active
Activate the flow: Before going live, it’s a good idea to double-check your timing, test your messages, and confirm that your filters are working as expected. Once activated, your flow will run in the background and help you manage customer communication with minimal effort.
Once your flow is fully set up with messages, delays, and filters, you’re ready to activate it. Switching your flow from manual to live allows Klaviyo to begin automatically sending messages to customers based on the date property you selected.