Updated · Make This Useful
No-show message to a client
“Hi Sam, we’re here for your carpet clean, but no one’s answering and we can’t get in. Are you close by, or is there another way in? We can wait until 10:15.” Send it while you are still at the door. A text that arrives before you leave can save the visit, and it shows when you got there if a trip fee applies later.
Write the no-show text
Keep the time you arrived, a photo of the locked gate or front door, and the texts you sent with the job. If the customer questions a fee later, that is what settles it.
Your message
Hi [customer name], we’re here for [job or service], but no one’s answering and we can’t get in. Are you close by, or is there another way in? We can wait [how long you can wait]. Thanks, [your name]
What should you text a client who isn’t home?
Say you are there, that you can’t get in and how long you can wait, then ask one question they can answer fast. Call once as well; people miss texts while driving or in a meeting. For a locked gate, ask for the code or another way in, since the customer may be home and not know it is shut. Treat it as a mix-up until you know otherwise.
Should you charge a no-show fee?
Only when the fee is in terms the customer accepted before the visit: the quote, the booking form or the confirmation. Then the message names where they agreed and the amount, once, next to an offer to rebook. If the customer has never seen the fee, waive it this time and add it to your terms for the next booking. With a good regular’s first miss, “no charge this time” often keeps more than the fee is worth.
The fee message goes wrong when it is written in the driveway, annoyed. Send the door text, drive to the next job, and write the fee message after. Leave out “per our policy”, “failure to” and anything about further action. Name where they agreed, the amount and a way to rebook, in the same voice as every other text you send them.
How do you deal with clients who keep not showing up?
After a second miss, change how you book them. Ask for a deposit when they rebook, or for a reply to the day-before reminder before you hold the slot. For outside work like mowing, gutters or washing, ask for gate access so nobody has to be home at all. If it keeps happening, it is fine to say you can’t fit them in and point them to another business.
Frequently asked questions
What should a no-show email to a client say?
The same as the text, with a subject line that names the visit and the date, such as “Sorry we missed you on Oct 15”. Email works better for consultations, office clients and anyone who booked by email. Keep it to three or four lines and offer two times you can do, so the reply can be one word.
How do you word a “no call, no show” message to a client?
Leave the phrase out. “No call, no show” is HR language, and in a text to a customer it reads like a write-up. Say what happened in plain words: you came at the booked time, couldn’t reach them, and would like to rebook. If a fee applies under their terms, name it the same plain way.
How long should you wait before leaving?
Long enough to call once and give them a chance to answer, short enough that the next customer isn’t the one who waits. Pick a limit you use every time, put it in the door text and keep to it. A crew standing idle in a driveway is a cost nobody bills for.