Your Guide to Service Reminder Emails + 5 Free Templates

What are service reminder emails?

Service reminder emails are messages — usually automated emails — that are sent to customers to remind them of upcoming appointments or recommended maintenance. These messages are customized to fit your particular trade and what services you offer. They will include information such as appointment dates (or a link to your scheduling software if they need to make an appointment), service recommendations, and contact information.

The role of personalization in service reminder emails

Personalization is a key part of service reminder emails. Remember, you're either reminding them of a service they've already scheduled, or you're trying to show them something they may not know. Putting all of the information your customer needs to know within the email is crucial.

On top of that, personalization is a great way to connect with your customers. In fact, Experian found personalized emails increased transaction rates by six times. You'll see it in our service reminder email templates below, but personalization is more than just addressing the customer by their first name. Here's a small list of what you could use to personalize email reminders:

• First and last name
• Last service date
• Type of system installed (including model and/or serial numbers)
• Previous services
• Installed parts & products

Timing and frequency of service reminder emails

Depending on the type of service reminder emails you're sending, the timing and frequency will change. The most important thing is that you don't overwhelm or frustrate your customer, so avoid sending anything too often.

When should you send a service reminder for existing appointments?

For reminders about existing appointments, you should aim to send confirmation as soon as the appointment is made. Then, sending a reminder one week and another 24 hours beforehand are good ways to make sure your customers keep their appointments. If you automate your emails, allow for appointments made close to their date, as you don't want to immediately send the customer multiple emails reminding them of the appointment they just made.

When should you send a service reminder to make a new appointment?

When you're asking customers to make an appointment with you (for example, scheduling a yearly maintenance visit), send your reminder email a couple of weeks ahead of when the service should be completed. If your customer doesn't schedule the service, you should have two or three more emails lined up to nudge them to make an appointment, and then tell them when the service is overdue. If they do make the appointment, send them through the one-week and 24-hour reminder emails we mentioned above.

Leveraging automation for effective service reminders

By now, you may be scratching your head a little. That’s a lot of emails to set up and send right? Luckily, automation can make sending these a "set it and forget it" task. However, automating service reminder emails requires a couple of things to make it work properly.

Lead management

You'll first need somewhere you store customer information. Past service dates and system types, plus contact information like names and email addresses, are all data points you'll need to make personalized and automated service reminder emails happen. Usually, software that helps with lead management also stores customer information digitally and helps you track activity with both customers and prospects.

Marketing automation

Next, you need a way to actually send the emails. This is where software such as a marketing automation tool can help you not only send emails but also build the rules to send them automatically (hence the "automation" part). Companies will also use marketing automation tools to send marketing campaigns and help bring in new business as well as keep the customers they already have.

Scheduling software

While not necessarily required to simply send service reminder emails, if you want to automate the process further, setting up scheduling software is a good choice. It helps you better track your team and their availability while also giving customers an easy way to make or reschedule appointments, taking one of the more tedious and menial tasks off your plate.

Using field service automation software

Of course, the best of both worlds is when you can get something like field service automation software to handle everything. Having a centralized place where you can have all your contact information, workflows, and management processes helps you and your team keep everything concise and stay efficient.

Good emails are made up of a few different components, each adding to their all-round effectiveness. Overall, your emails should be direct and informative but with a friendly tone.

How to create effective service reminder emails

Good emails are made up of a few different components, each adding to their all-round effectiveness. Overall, your emails and reminder messages should be direct and informative but with a friendly tone. Follow the steps below to make every email you write a success.

Step 1: Write an attention-grabbing subject line

Everybody is bombarded with emails constantly (347.3 billion every day). Marketing messages, account notices, order confirmations, and so many more. For your email to stand out, your service appointment reminder email needs to have a subject line that will grab your recipient's attention. However, you also want to avoid sending something that looks like spam, so get straight to the point. For example, a simple yet effective subject line is something like: “Your HVAC Annual Check-Up is Due”.

Step 2: Create compelling copy

The actual meat of your email needs to be simple but compelling. Don't go on a storytelling adventure about all the benefits of the part you'll install at their appointment. Just give them what they need to know: when you'll show up, what you'll be doing and if they need to do anything in advance. Feel free to write the emails in your own style and show off your personality, but remember to stay professional.

Step 3: Highlight the value proposition

While this is more important for reminding customers of why they need to schedule regular maintenance services versus reminding them of an appointment they've already made, it's still important for customers to understand why you're performing that service. Whether it's preventative maintenance or something else, putting a quick note about the value you're providing through your service can help lower the number of cancellations.

Step 4: Tailor it to your audience

Depending on how much information you have available about your customer, every service reminder email you send should be personalized and tailored. Include names and address, of course, but think of other ways to show how much you appreciate your customers. Have they been a customer for a long time? Thank them for sticking with you. Or, if it's their first appointment, include a quick mention of what to expect. Even though you may perform the same type of services to them, consider writing separate emails for your business and residential customers and altering the wording to fit the audience.

Step 5: Add a compelling CTA

At the end of the day, you want your customer to do something: schedule an appointment, sign up for a new service, or even just keep the appointment they have. No matter what, make it clear what you want your customer to do at the end of the email. Always start with a verb: "Schedule today," "Sign up here," "See you Tuesday," “Confirm Your Appointment”.

Want a jumpstart? Check out our service reminder email templates below.

Segmentation strategies for service reminder emails

Sending different emails based on what type of customers you have and what services you're performing means you'll need to group your customers, called segmentation. You could have segments by residential vs. commercial, different cities, types of systems and much more.

Why does segmentation matter in service reminder campaigns?

Segmentation matters in service reminder campaigns because you don't want to tell customers the wrong thing. Most customers will expect automated systems to handle notifications like this, but they still don't want to be called by the wrong name or told about a system they don't have. It raises questions about your data security and professionalism as a whole.

Plus, segmenting customers allows you to target those specific groups with messaging that fits their unique needs. Saying the right thing to the right group of people will only improve your relationship with them. On top of that, DMA found that 58% of all revenue comes from segmented and targeted emails, which means if you're not segmenting yours, there's likely money to be made.

Tailoring service reminders to customer preferences

Up to this point, we've only discussed the kind of information you can passively gain from your customers. But you should also be asking your customers how and when they want to hear from you (and what they want to hear about). Getting your customers' preferences (do they prefer email or text messages) and using that to not only tailor your service reminders to match, but also extending that to the rest of your communication with them, helps each customer get exactly what they want. Plus, they'll feel more special in the process, helping to build loyalty.

Top 5 service reminder email templates

Below you'll find several appointment reminder email templates that you can use for your business. Everything that is in the square brackets is meant to be replaced with either variables from your email reminder service or manually replaced if you're not automating your emails.

Example 1: 1-Week appointment reminder

Example 2: 24-Hour appointment reminder

Example 3: Residential preventative service reminder

Example 4: Commercial equipment maintenance reminder

Example 5: Missed appointment reminder

Note: It's important to keep your reasons factual, slightly vague, and blameless. Use phrases like "We couldn't access the property" or "We did not have access to the system."

Conclusion

Service reminder emails are an effective way to increase customer retention, improve customer satisfaction, and increase revenue for your business. By following best practices and personalizing emails, you can ensure they're effective and improve your business's reputation and processes. So, start sending those service reminder emails and watch your business thrive!