Keep clients coming back · Every business
The Running-Late Message: What to Send When You Are Behind
A short text that gives a new time and a plain reason, sent as soon as you know you will be late, protects the visit far better than an apology at the door.
When you are running late for a client, text them as soon as you know, give a specific new arrival or start time, add a one-line reason and offer a choice to wait or move the visit. Send it before the original time, not after, and send a second short text if the new time slips again.
The message to copy
| Situation | Text |
|---|---|
| Home service, behind on an earlier job | "Hi [first name], it's [business name]. Our earlier job is running long, so [technician] will arrive about [new time] instead of [original time]. If that no longer works, reply MOVE and we'll find you a new time today." |
| Salon, barbershop or studio, chair running behind | "Hi [first name], we're running about [number] minutes behind today. Your [service] will start about [new time]. You're welcome to come at that time instead; reply OK, or MOVE if you'd rather rebook." |
| Practice or office, provider behind | "Hi [first name], [business name] here. The doctor is running about [number] minutes behind, so please plan to be seen about [new time]. Reply MOVE if you need a different day." |
| Delay grows again | "Update from [business name]: we're now looking at about [new time]. Sorry for the second change; reply MOVE and we'll put you first on [day] at no charge." |
Six rules for the message
- Send it the moment you know, ideally 30 minutes or more before the original time, so the customer can still change their own plans.
- Give a clock time, not "a little late," because "about 2:40" lets someone decide whether to wait, while "running behind" leaves them guessing.
- Add one honest reason in a few words, such as "an earlier job is running long," without details about other customers.
- Offer a choice, wait or move, with a one-word reply, so the customer feels the decision is theirs.
- Pad the new time a little, since a second delay costs more goodwill than the first; arriving a few minutes before a revised time feels like keeping a promise.
- Make it right at the visit, with a thank-you for waiting and, after a long delay, a small gesture you decide in advance, such as moving them to the front of the next booking.
Why it works
Research on service delays has found for decades that what customers are told shapes how a wait feels. A study in the Journal of Marketing found that in waits of moderate length, telling people how long they would wait did more for their evaluation of the service than telling them their place in line, while in short waits neither made a difference, and a later experiment in Marketing Letters found that when no reason was given, people who also had no duration information perceived the delay as longer and held the provider more responsible for it. A specific new time and a short reason address both findings at once.
Text is the right channel because it is seen quickly. In a randomized experiment by the Pew Research Center with members of its national survey panel, 15% of people sent a text plus an email had responded within 30 minutes, compared with 6% of those who received an email alone.
Sources
- Hui, M. K. and Tse, D. K. What to tell consumers in waits of different lengths: an integrative model of service evaluation. Journal of Marketing 60(2), 1996.
- Hui, M. K., Tse, A. and Zhou, L. Interaction between two types of information on reactions to delays. Marketing Letters 17(2), 2006.
- McGeeney, K. and Yan, H. Y. Text Message Notification for Web Surveys. Pew Research Center, 2016. 2,109 panelists who consented to texts.
Related reading: What Waiting Does to Customer Satisfaction, According to the Research · Arrival Windows Homeowners Trust: Scheduling for Home Service Pros · How to Make a Wait Feel Shorter: Eight Principles From Queueing Research · How to Reschedule a Customer Without Losing Them
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