How to calculate your no-show rate — and what counts as normal
The formula, what to leave out of it, and why a cancellation is not a no-show. Including how to measure whether a reminder actually worked.
阅读约 5 分钟
Most businesses know they have a no-show problem and do not know how big it is. Without a number you cannot tell whether anything you tried helped, which turns every change into a feeling.
The formula
No-show rate = (appointments the customer did not attend ÷ total appointments booked in the period) × 100
Eight no-shows out of 200 appointments in a month = 4%.
What does not belong in the numerator
- A cancellation is not a no-show. Someone who cancelled two days out handed you a free slot. Mixing the two inflates the number and hides the part that actually hurts.
- Your own cancellations — illness, holiday, a fault — do not count. This measures customer behaviour.
- Lateness is not a no-show, even when it cost you time. If lateness is the problem, measure it separately.
Measure a full month, not a week. One week with two public holidays produces a number you cannot compare to anything.
Telling whether the reminder worked
- 1Measure a full month before changing anything. That is your baseline.
- 2Change exactly one thing — say, adding a same-day reminder.
- 3Measure a full month after.
- 4Compare. A shift under one percentage point is probably noise, not a result.
In Sagarnu you mark "no-show" on the appointment itself, so the count comes from the calendar rather than from memory. From there you can also enable an automatic follow-up message — it is off by default.
You now have a percentage. To turn it into shekels — what it costs a month, what it costs a year, and how much of that a cancellation fee can actually recover — there is a calculator. The recoverable part surprises most owners.
Common questions
What counts as a normal no-show rate?
It varies widely by trade and by area, and the "average" figures quoted online were rarely measured in your market. The only number worth anything is your own from last month — it is the only one you can compare against fairly.
Does a last-minute cancellation count as a no-show?
It depends what you are measuring. For unused hours, a cancellation an hour before behaves like a no-show. For customer behaviour it does not — they told you. Measuring both separately beats blending them.
How long before I can see an improvement?
A month before and a month after, with exactly one change between them. Any less and you cannot separate a real improvement from a quiet month.
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