Sending reminders by hand
Sending reminders works. Remembering to send reminders does not — and the week you forget is always the week you were too busy, which is the week the no-shows hurt most.
Set them once per appointment type. One the day before is the one that matters; add two hours before where travel is involved. They re-time themselves if the booking moves.
Why the manual version fails#
- It is the first thing to drop. A busy Friday means no reminders go out for Monday.
- Moved appointments get the old time. The reminder you scheduled on Tuesday is wrong by Thursday.
- It does not scale. Fine at five bookings a week, impossible at forty.
- It is unpaid work. Twenty minutes a day that nobody is billed for.
Set them once, per appointment type#
Tick any combination of seven days, one day, two hours and thirty minutes before. One day before is on by default and is the one that recovers most forgotten appointments. Reminders
They are set per event type, so a free consultation can have none and an expensive treatment can have two.
They follow the booking#
Reminders are timed from the appointment, so a rescheduled booking re-times them automatically — including when you move it in your own calendar rather than in Business Box. The calendar is re-checked immediately before each reminder is sent, so one cannot go out carrying a time that has since changed.
How many to send#
One the day before for most work. Two hours before as well where the customer has to travel to you. Seven days before for something expensive they need to prepare for. Beyond two, reminders irritate the people who were always going to turn up.
Email only, today#
Reminders go by email. Business Box does not send SMS or LINE messages — see LINE and SMS reminders for what that means in Japan and what to do about it.
Common questions
Are appointment reminders automatic?
Yes. Choose the intervals once on the event type and they send themselves, to you and to the customer, in each recipient’s own language.
What happens to reminders if a booking is rescheduled?
They re-time themselves to the new appointment, including when you move the entry in your own Google or Outlook calendar.
Can I send reminders by LINE or SMS?
Not today — reminders are email only. Given how much of Japan runs on LINE, that is a real limitation and it is written up honestly on its own page.
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.