It was the most recent round of attempts to confirm appointments. Dentists, doctors, hair salons, restaurants, etc. The forms of contact vary. Postcards, emails, texts, phone calls. They keep coming until you actively confirm your appointment. And if you don’t, your appointment will be canceled. I’ve been told the level of not showing up for appointments/reservations has reached new heights. Businesses now invest money in technology to get you to confirm your appointment, or in people making calls and following up to make sure you are coming. You now need to spend your time to confirm an appointment (rather than calling if you need to cancel). Your time and that of the company you intend to do business with is now consumed because the people who don’t show up aren’t penalized. The business loses revenue due to a person not showing up, and higher administrative costs focused on trying to get people to confirm appointments. And the behaviors of the offenders don’t change because there is no penalty for behaving badly.
There is a local restaurant that has two seatings for dinner. It is small, so important that seats are not open because the hit to revenue would be significant. They implemented a policy that requires a credit card to be provided when you make the reservation. It holds your spot. And if you don’t show up, the charge is nearly $100. Guess what. They don’t have a problem with people showing up for their reservations.
In business and in life, you teach people how to treat you. If you desire certain behaviors and you get them, reward it. If you don’t get the behaviors you desire, design a mechanism that corrects the behaviors you do not want in a targeted fashion such that only those who are offenders are addressed. When you get it right, you’ll start seeing the behaviors you desire. How are you getting the behaviors you desire in your business?
This is an issue in the nonprofit world as well. Benefactors may have no idea how much staff time and energy is spent on follow-up calls to people who do not RSVP to invitations to fundraising dinners, galas or similar events that require a confirmed head count. Nonprofits already work on shoestring budgets in order to focus revenue on mission. A simple reply email, website click, or phone call to RSVP would save precious resources for the organization’s goals.