Coaching no-shows have a particular flavor: the blank Zoom room. No commute was skipped, so clients treat the calendar hold as softer than an in-person visit - "can we push this?" arrives 20 minutes before, or nothing arrives at all.
The benchmarks: businesses without deposit systems see 15-25% no-show rates; with deposits at booking it drops to 3-5%. SMS reminders (with their 98% open rate, 90% read within 3 minutes) independently cut no-shows by up to 38%.
What works specifically for coaches
- Sell packages, not sessions - and define the miss policy inside the package. "Sessions cancelled with under 24 hours' notice count as used" is standard, clean, and needs no fee collection at all.
- Send the video link in every reminder. A surprising share of coaching no-shows are "couldn't find the link" - kill that excuse structurally.
- Reconfirm scope at booking: a reminder that includes "we'll be working on X" reframes the call from optional conversation to scheduled work.
The universal layer (it works in every chair, office, and gym)
- Publish the policy where clients book - booking page, confirmation, and every reminder. A policy nobody saw is unenforceable in practice.
- Remind on a cadence, not once: a week out, two days out, day before, and a couple hours before catches both planners and forgetters.
- Make rescheduling one tap. Many "no-shows" are reschedules that felt too awkward to ask for.
For the full tactical breakdown - including fee structures and the enforcement mechanics - see our complete no-show guide and copy-paste policy templates. To see what your current no-show rate costs, try the calculator.
Built for coaches
Ivy takes deposits or card on file at booking, reminds by email + SMS automatically, and applies your policy without an awkward conversation. $8.99/week, everything included.
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