ℹ️ Who this tutorial is for
Have clients cancelled appointments but not rebooked? Automate the rescheduling process with Peptalkr and keep your calendar full. Simply select your recall intervals and targeting criteria, and let automation do the work.
Cancellations happen, but that doesn't mean you should lose those appointments. With automated cancellation recalls, you can seamlessly remind clients to reschedule and keep their care on track.
Here are some common use cases for cancellation recalls:
A confirmation of cancellation immediately after cancelling with a gentle nudge to reschedule.
A follow-up if they haven’t rebooked within a few days.
A final reminder to encourage clients back if they haven’t rescheduled within 10-14 days.
Segmented recalls based on cancellation reasons (e.g., a different recall for "Feeling Better" vs. "Away" or "Sick").
✋ We have different instructions if you want to reactivate patients that missed an appointment or simply haven't booked in a while.
📋 What you'll need to do
💌 Create a Transactional email
⚡️ Connect an Email trigger to it
💌 Transactional Emails | ⚡ Email Triggers |
Automated emails sent in relation to specific Cliniko appointments or invoices. Can be marketing OR non-marketing content. | Specify the who, what, and when of your transactional email, giving you complete control over patient targeting. Only used for Transactional email. |
📱 Wanting to send this as an SMS? Just skip ahead to Step Two - these instructions are applicable to both email and SMS.
🎨 The email template
Peptalkr provides several pre-built appointment templates, including various templates suitable for cancellation recalls:
A "personal letter" template from their treating practitioner
A plain email appearing to come from reception
A confirmation of cancellation template
A simple reminder to reschedule template
When you create a transactional email, you can use any of these as a starting point for your follow up email, customising the subject line, sender details, email content and design to suit your needs - or create your own from scratch or any other template.
⏱️ The timing
There is no single "best time" to send a Cancellation Recall. However, a layered approach works best. We recommend:
✔ Immediately after cancellation — A polite confirmation and reschedule link.
✔ 3 days post-cancellation — A reminder if they haven’t rebooked.
✔ 10-14 days post-cancellation — A final nudge for those who still haven’t rescheduled.
🚨 Important: Each interval requires its own 💌 Transactional Email and ⚡ Trigger.
💡 Don't go longer term than this for repeat patients - instead, set up a reactivation sequence for patients with no bookings, which will take over from the this sequence in the longer term.
💌 Step One: Create a transactional email
Go to the Email manager tab > Transactional Emails to create your follow-up email.
🔗 Check out our guide to creating a transactional email if you have never done this before, or need a refresher on this this process.
Once you have created and pressed Finish on your Transactional Email and you see the Ready to start triggering message - it’s time to connect a trigger.
→ Cancellation recall subject line examples
Here are some subject lines for common intervals:
Subject Line | |
Email #1 | Your appointment on [appointmentstartdate] has been cancelled |
Email #2 | Reminder to reschedule [patientfirstname] |
Email #3 | Checking in about your appointment |
→ Sender name and email
You can choose the Name and Email address that sends each email.
Reactivations are powerful when sent by the treating practitioner or admin/reception! But change it up for best results.
🔗 Check out our guide to setting a sender name and email here.
⚡️Step Two: Connect a trigger
Go to the Email triggers tab to complete this step (or the Send SMS tab if doing as an SMS).
🔗 Check out our guide to creating an email trigger if you have never done this before, or need a refresher on this this process.
→ Trigger settings
When you create a trigger, you'll be walked through the steps to configure your trigger to your specific needs.
To demonstrate, here are some examples of settings:
Example 1: Confirmation of cancellation
Setting | Value |
Trigger Name | Cancellation – confirmation |
Trigger Type | Automated Recurring |
Marketing Type | Non-marketing |
Triggering Event & Timing | After an appointment is cancelled; 5 minutes |
Filters | Select relevant filters if you want to narrow your targeting. Leave filters blank to target everyone. |
Frequency | Every time the conditions are met |
Template | Select the email you created in Step One |
Example 2: Three day cancellation recall
Setting | Value |
Trigger Name | Cancellation recall - 3 days |
Trigger Type | Automated Recurring |
Marketing Type | Non-marketing |
Triggering Event & Timing | After an appointment is cancelled; 3 day ✅ Tick the recall box |
Filters | Exclude: feeling better Exclude: sick, away (target them with different versions) |
Frequency | Every time the conditions are met |
Template | Select the email you created in Step One |
✅ Ready to turn on
💡 Helpful Tips:
Use cancellation reasons to adjust timing (e.g., exclude "Feeling Better" cancellations from short term recalls, change wording for "Sick" patients to ask if they are feeling better, exclude "away" patients from the short term recall to give them more time)
Do a different version for those who cancel their "first" appointment, versus repeat patients.
Use [variables] to personalise the sender name, subject line and the content inside your emails to make them feel "not so automated".
🎯 Final Checks:
✔️ Test your email before enabling automation
✔️ Ensure your trigger is correctly targeting the right patients
✔️ Check delivery reports to monitor email success
🚀 That’s it! Repeat this process as many times as needed until you cover all scenarios where you wish to send a follow up.
Check out our Blueprint for Patient Recalls for ideas about timing and wording.
FAQs
Do I need to recall those who selected "feeling better" as a cancellation reason?
Do I need to recall those who selected "feeling better" as a cancellation reason?
If a patient is 'feeling better' - perhaps now is a great time to request feedback! You could use this trigger to 'include' only patients who are 'feeling better' after a cancellation, and send them an email such as 'We're so happy to hear you are feeling better! Would you consider taking 2 minutes to leave us a review?'
What option do I select in the dropdown under the 'Is this a recall?' checkbox?
What option do I select in the dropdown under the 'Is this a recall?' checkbox?
You should choose to tick the 'is this a recall?' box - this will ensure we only send the reminder if they have not got an upcoming appointment (or attended one - if they attend one, the reactivation timing will be reset from the date of most recent visit - assuming you have a reactivation targeting the subsequent appointment type they have since had).
Each option has a slightly different function. Most people select 'Of any kind', but if you need to recall some appointments independently of the patient's other appointment activity, use another option:
Of any kind - as long as they have attended/have upcoming any appointment, do not send the recall.
Of the same category - as long as they have attended/have upcoming an appointment in the same category as the appointment that triggered this message, do not send the recall (great for multi-modality clinics).
Of the same type - as long as they have attended/have upcoming an appointment of the same exact type as the appointment that triggered this message, do not send the recall (great for highly specific appointment types that need recalling - such as an 'Annual review' or a surgery).