How to Set Up Appointment Reminders in HighLevel – Step by Step
Set up HighLevel appointment reminders in Workflow Builder. Trigger: Appointment Scheduled (filtered to the calendar). Step 1: Wait until 24 hours before the appointment time. Step 2: Send SMS – ‘Hi [First Name], just a reminder about your appointment tomorrow at [Appointment Time] with [Business Name]! Reply CONFIRM to confirm or call [Phone] to reschedule.’ Step 3: Wait until 1 hour before the appointment. Step 4: Send SMS – ‘Heading your way soon! See you at [Appointment Time] today, [First Name].’ Both messages use HighLevel’s appointment merge tags to insert the actual appointment time dynamically.
Why Appointment Reminders Need Workflow Builder
HighLevel calendars have a basic notification system, but Workflow Builder reminders are far more flexible and configurable.
Workflow Builder lets you: customize the exact message text, choose the channel (SMS vs email), add conditional branches based on whether the contact confirms, and chain multiple reminders with different timing.
The calendar’s built-in notifications are a starting point – Workflow Builder reminders are the professional-grade version.
Building the 24-Hour Reminder
Trigger: Appointment Scheduled – filter to the specific calendar if there are multiple.
Step 1 action: Wait – configure as ‘Wait until a relative time before the appointment.’ Set to 24 hours before. This ensures the reminder fires at the correct time regardless of when the appointment was booked.
Step 2 action: Send SMS with the reminder message. Include: contact first name merge tag, appointment time merge tag, business name, and a clear instruction to confirm or reschedule.
Adding the 1-Hour Reminder
After the SMS action, add another Wait step: wait until 1 hour before the appointment.
Add a Send SMS action. The 1-hour reminder is shorter and more direct – ‘See you soon, [First Name]! Your appointment is at [Time] today. Text or call [Phone] if anything changes.’
The 1-hour reminder is the most impactful one for preventing same-day no-shows – it catches people who may have forgotten despite the 24-hour reminder.
Adding a Confirmation Branch
After the 24-hour reminder, add an If/Else step: has the contact replied with ‘CONFIRM’ (or any reply)?
If yes – send a confirmation acknowledgment and potentially remove them from further reminders. If no – proceed to the 1-hour reminder as planned.
Tracking confirmation rates from the 24-hour reminder shows which contact segments have higher no-show risk – useful for adding additional reminders for those segments.
Email Reminders
Add an email reminder at 48 hours before the appointment for contacts who prefer email.
The email version can include: a calendar add link (add to Google Calendar or Apple Calendar), directions to the location, what to bring or expect, and the business’s contact information.
Many contacts who miss SMS reminders will see the email – combining both channels produces lower no-show rates than either channel alone.
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