When running patient ads, you’re booking appointments with people who are often total strangers to your practice, so show-up rates are naturally lower.
If it fits your practice, the #1 way to solve this is to collect a card-on-file or a deposit to secure the patient's spot. This creates patient commitment in advance and can significantly improve show-up rates.
Here’s the best way we’ve found to do it so more patients say yes.
How To Collect A Deposit Over The Phone
1) When calling the patient before their appointment, end the call with the A/B Close Script below to secure either a card on file or a small deposit.
2) Enter the card into your practice software. If the patient prefers to enter their card via a link, follow the Sending Text-to-Pay Links instructions below.
A/B Close Script To Make It Easier To Get The Card
"Wonderful! So just one last thing - we do have a very busy office, so no-shows disrupt our schedule. To avoid any no-shows and reserve your spot (with potential savings), we [place a card on file / take a small $X deposit]. You can either just tell me your card number and I can take care of it for you. Or if you don’t feel comfortable with that (which I understand), I can send a link to your phone, and you can do it yourself! What works better for you [NAME]?”
💡 Why it works: Instead of a yes-or-no question, it offers two options, shifting the decision from “Will I do this?” to “Which way would I like to do this?”
Choose a small deposit or card-on-file (optionally with a no-show fee) based on what best suits your practice, and adjust the amount or wording as needed. The main driver of higher show-up rates is simply securing patient commitment in advance.
Sending Text-To-Pay Links
If you already have a system for generating payment links, you can text those links instead. If not, you can create and send payment links directly in Dently after integrating Stripe. Click here for a quick guide on connecting Stripe.
How To Send a Text-to-Pay Link Using Dently + Stripe
1) Click Conversations in Dently AI and click the name of the patient.
2) Click the “$” Request Payment icon at the bottom.
(If you don’t see it, click the three-dots icon first)
3) Enter the Item name and Price, then click "Copy link and mark as sent."
(also adjust the invoice due date as needed)
4) Adjust the template message if needed, then click Send.
How to View Payments in Dently
Open Payments in your Dently dashboard to view all transactions and invoices. You can issue refunds here or directly in your Stripe account.
If you don’t see the Payments tab, contact our team, and we’ll enable it for you.