11 things we do to reduce sales no-shows (across 800 booked meetings per month)
As some of you here might know, we run a reasonable sized cold email operation and book 600 - 800 sales meetings every month for our clients.
Getting the prospect to actually show up is an entirely different process from booking the call. If your show up rate is under 75%, you have a real problem, and it's the easiest revenue leak in your funnel to plug.
important note before the steps: implement these in order. each tactic gets more aggressive than the last, and bolting the whole thing on at once is how you spam your way out of meetings you would have closed. start with step 1, give it a week, check the number. still under 75%? add step 2. and so on.
- Send 4 emails between booking and the call
the default calendly reminder does nothing. send 4 instead. one right after they book that positions the value of the call (short intro, one piece of social proof). one 3 days before with case studies of people just like them who succeeded. one 1 day before with homework and a polite way to reschedule if they need it (better to know now than tomorrow). one 1-3 hours before that's just the meeting joining info so they don't unattend because they couldn't find it.
- Add SMS reminders
phone numbers on your booking form are a non-negotiable. and to anyone saying "we don't collect phone numbers," well, yes you do. starting today you do, if you like making money.
3 texts total. one right after they book so they know your number is real and to expect a text on the day. one 6 hours before with the Zoom info one 15 minutes before that says something like "i'm on zoom ready when you are, join here:." short and casual. don't overlap timing with your emails or you look like you're trying too hard.
- Manual phone calls from your setter
when your setter books the call, they tell the prospect "save my number, i'll call you wednesday morning to confirm." then they actually call on the day. if they pick up, you've got a 95% chance of show up. if they don't, voicemail and a manual sms.
- Personalized email from your main inbox the day before
automated emails sometimes go to spam. one email from your main work inbox, referencing their actual business with specific prep you've put together for them, gets to their primary tab.
- Add a confirmation question on your booking form
low intent prospects need to filter themselves out before they ever hit your calendar. add a required field where they tick a box confirming they'll attend at that time. commitment psychology, costs you nothing.
- Shorten the booking window to 4 days max
people who book 2 weeks out almost never show. real intent finds a slot in the next 3-4 days. only do this if you have a surplus of bookings because you will book fewer calls overall.
- Show times in 15 minute increments
your call can still be 30 minutes. but display 4:00, 4:15, 4:30, 4:45 instead of just 4:00 and 4:30. people with packed days need wiggle room to fit you in.
- Don't let your calendar fully book out
3 slots tomorrow and 3 the day after isn't enough. you'll force bad fit times and show ups will tank. hire more sellers before u hit capacity. a fully booked calendar sounds great until you realize it's why your no-show rate doubled.
- Follow up on unconfirmed calendar invites
2 days before the call, if they haven't accepted the invite, send a manual email or have your setter call them. half the time they never saw the invite and you save the meeting. other half they reschedule and you free up the slot for someone else.
- Call the prospect if they're not on zoom within a minute
i don't get why people are afraid of this. just give them a phone call from your personal iphone. most will answer. half will jump on right then. the other half will say "completely slipped my mind, can we reschedule?" a blue bubble text from a real number beats every automated reminder you can throw at them. and this call has to be made by you, not someone else on your team.
- The one variable bigger than all 10 above: your offer
if the prospet sees what you sell as a commodity and gets pitched the same thing every day, show ups stay low no matter what you do. you can stack every touch point in this list and still get ghosted. if your offer makes them feel like they'd lose something by skipping the call, you barely need any of these steps. no sequence in the world rescues a weak offer.
TL;DR: if your show up rate is under 75%, do these 11 things in order:
4-email sequence between booking and the call (calendly default does nothing)
3 sms messages, phone numbers required on the booking form
setter tells prospect "save my number, i'll call you wednesday morning to confirm" and actually calls
personalized email from your main inbox day-of, with prep specific to them
confirmation tick-box on the booking form so low intent filters itself out
cap the booking window at 4 days out (people booking 2 weeks out almost never show)
display calendar slots in 15 min increments (4:00, 4:15, 4:30, 4:45)
don't let your calendar fully book out, hire more sellers before capacity
follow up on unconfirmed invites 2 days before the call
call them from your personal iphone if they're not on zoom within a minute
your offer beats all 10 above; fix positioning.
If you want the exact scripts we use in the emails, texts, voicemails and reminders, go watch the latest video on my YT channel - it shows you all the scripts.
Questions? Leave a comment.