The short answer
Send two reminders for every session: one the day before and one an hour before. Each one should say when the session is in your client's own time zone and how to join. Most of all, it should give them a way to reschedule or cancel, because a client whose day has fallen apart will move a session they can move in one tap. If moving it means writing you an awkward email, a lot of them just won't turn up.
The rest of this guide goes through the timing, the wording and the setup, in that order.
Why reminders matter more for client sessions
A coaching call, a tutoring slot or a consult is usually booked days or weeks ahead. By the time it comes round, it's one line in a busy calendar. Most missed sessions aren't clients deciding not to come. They forgot, they got the time wrong, or something came up and they didn't know how to move it.
A plain reminder deals with forgetting and with the wrong time, and it takes a reschedule link to deal with the day that fell apart. You still lose the slot you planned, but you keep the session and the client, and the freed time goes back on your booking page for someone else.
Our guide on cutting appointment no-shows covers the other levers. Reminders are the first one to set up because they work without you doing anything once they're on.
When to send each reminder
Each message has a different job. Here's what each one is for:
| When | Its job | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| At booking | Confirm the time, add it to their calendar, say what happens next | Every client, every time |
| A week before | Bring back a session booked a long way out | Bookings made two weeks or more ahead |
| The day before | Give time to prepare, or to move the session without a scramble | Every session |
| An hour before | Put the join link in front of them right when they need it | Every online session |
The confirmation and the two reminders close to the session are the ones that count. The week-before message is worth it only when people book far ahead. If most of your clients book within a few days, skip it, because extra emails start to read as noise.
Don't send the last reminder too late. Ten minutes before is too short for anyone to find a quiet room, open the link or tell you they're running behind. An hour gives them room to act.
What every reminder should say
A reminder that only says "you have a session tomorrow" is a notification. A useful one answers everything the client might need without opening another email. Put these in every reminder:
- What it is: the session name, so a client who sees two people a week knows which one this is.
- When, in their time zone: write the date, the time and the time zone. A client in another city who reads your local time will turn up an hour early or an hour late.
- How to join: the video link, or the address and where to go once they arrive.
- How to move it: a reschedule link and a cancel link, not "reply to this email".
- Your cancellation window: if late cancellations matter to you, say where the cut-off is.
- One line of prep, if any: a form to fill in, a file to bring, a question to think about.
Keep it short. The client should be able to read the whole thing on a phone without scrolling. If you want to write your own, our appointment reminder email templates have six short versions, from the day before to a missed session.
Email, SMS or WhatsApp?
Email is the standard for client sessions because it can carry everything: the time, the join link and the buttons to move the session. It also sits in the same inbox as the calendar invite.
Text messages get read faster, but they're short, so the links to move a session get squeezed. If your clients live on WhatsApp, a short personal message the morning of a first session goes a long way, and nothing stops you sending one by hand alongside the automatic emails.
To be clear about what we do: Pick a Time sends reminders by email only. It doesn't send SMS or WhatsApp reminders.
How to set up reminders in Pick a Time
Reminders are on by default, so the setup is mostly the booking page itself:
- Create your booking page and connect your Google Calendar, so clients only see times you're free.
- Add a session type for each kind of session you run, with its length and where it happens. Online sessions can carry a Google Meet link or your own meeting link.
- Share your booking link. When a client books, they get a confirmation, and the session goes into your Google Calendar with them as a guest.
- A day before and an hour before the session, Pick a Time emails the client a reminder, and sends you a copy.
Each reminder shows when the session is, who it's with and any notes, plus three buttons: Join the session, Reschedule and Cancel. The client doesn't need an account to use any of them.
The day-before and hour-before schedule is free on every booking page. Choosing other reminder times, such as two days or three hours before, is planned as part of Pro.
The booking page feature page shows the rest of what a booking carries.
Pair reminders with a cancellation window
A reschedule button with no limit invites clients to move a session five minutes before it starts. A cancellation window decides where that line sits: before the cut-off, the client can move or cancel from their link. After it, they can't, and they'd have to contact you.
Pick a Time enforces the window you set on the client's link. It doesn't charge late-cancel fees, because it doesn't take payments today. If you charge one, put it in writing before the first session. Our cancellation policy templates have wording you can adapt.
Mention the window in your reminders too. A client who knows the cut-off is tomorrow at noon will move the session before then instead of after.
Reminders for the sessions that need more
Two reminders cover most sessions. A few need an extra personal touch, which works best as a short message from you rather than an automatic email:
- A first session: new clients don't know how you work yet. A note the day before that says what to expect, how long it runs and what to bring settles first-session nerves.
- A recurring series: weekly clients start to treat sessions as background. A short note before the first session of each month brings the series back into focus.
- After a missed session: send a friendly note the same day with your booking link, so rebooking takes one click instead of an apology email.
If your sessions are group sessions or classes, the same timing works, but put the join details at the top. Our post on setting up a booking page as a coach covers how to lay out session types so clients book the right one.
A day-before reminder, word for word
If you send your own reminder, for a first session say, here's a version that covers everything in the list above and still fits on a phone screen:
Subject: Your session with [your name] tomorrow at 3pm (Singapore time)
Hi [client's name], a quick reminder that we're meeting tomorrow, Thursday, from 3pm to 3:45pm Singapore time. Here's the video link: [link]. If you'd like to get the most out of it, jot down the one thing you most want to work on. Need to move it? Use this link before noon today: [reschedule link]. See you then, [your name]
Swap in your own times and links. Notice the order: when, how to join, one line of prep, and how to move it with the cut-off. Nothing else. A reminder that tries to sell the next package or share a newsletter gets skimmed, and the link that matters gets missed.
Mistakes that make reminders useless
- Times without a time zone: the most common reason an online client misses a session that they did remember.
- No way to move the session: if the only option is to reply, the client who can't make it often does nothing.
- Too many messages: four reminders for one session teach clients to ignore all of them.
- A join link hidden at the bottom: the hour-before reminder exists for the link. Put it where the eye lands first.
- Reminders from a no-reply address with no name: clients trust a message that clearly comes from you.
If you use Google Calendar's own booking pages
Some coaches take bookings through Google Calendar's appointment schedules instead of a booking tool. Google says sending automatic email reminders for appointment schedules needs an eligible Google Workspace or Google One subscription. It also says you can't edit the text of its reminder emails. If you're on a personal Google account, check which features you have before you rely on reminders going out. Our guide to Google Calendar appointment scheduling compares the two ways of taking bookings.
Sources
- Google Calendar Help, Compare premium features for appointment schedules, read 10 November 2026.
- Google Calendar Help, Create an appointment schedule, read 10 November 2026.