Hey,
Tuesday, I told you about the marketing time audit that changed everything for one of my clients.
Today, I'm giving you the automation that made it possible.
This single automation:
Cut no-shows from 40% to 12%
Saved 8 hours per week of blocked calendar time
Added $180k in closed revenue (more people showing = more closes)
Takes 45 minutes to build
Let's break it down.
THE NO-SHOW PROBLEM
Here's what was happening:
You book 10 sales calls for the week. You're pumped.
Monday morning: 2 no-shows. That's 90 minutes of your life you'll never get back.
Wednesday: Another no-show. Plus, one guy shows up 20 minutes late, completely unprepared.
Friday: One more ghost.
That's 4 out of 10, a 40% no-show rate.
You only had six honest conversations. You closed 2. That's a 33% close rate among the six who showed, but an effective 20% close rate among everyone who booked.
Your calendar is full. Your bank account isn't.
WHY PEOPLE DON'T SHOW UP
It's not personal. It's predictable.
Reason #1: They forgot they booked 5 days ago. It's no longer in their mental stack. When the calendar notification pops up, they're in the middle of something else.
Reason #2: They're not prepared. They don't remember what the call is about. They haven't thought about their problem since they booked. They show up cold, you waste 15 minutes warming them up, or they don't show.
Reason #3: No accountability. Booking a call is free. There's no loss if they don't show. So when something "urgent" comes up, they ghost.
We can't fix #3 (short of charging a deposit, which kills conversion).
But we can obliterate #1 and #2 with one automation.
THE AUTOMATION THAT FIXES IT
Here's what we built:
Trigger: Someone books a call on Calendly
Action sequence:
Immediately (within 2 minutes):
Email #1: Confirmation + "What to prepare"
Calendar invite with Zoom link
Tag them in CRM as "Booked - [Date]."
24 hours before the call:
Email #2: "Looking forward to our call tomorrow."
Reminds them of the time
Restates what they'll get from the call
Asks one prep question
2 hours before the call:
Email #3: "We're meeting in 2 hours."
Zoom link (again)
"Reply YES to confirm you'll be there."
If they reply YES → Good to go
If they don't reply → You know to expect a no-show
Result: No-show rate dropped from 40% to 12%.
The 12% who still don't show? They're the tire-kickers anyway. We're not sad to lose them.
HOW TO BUILD THIS (45 MINUTES)
You'll need:
Calendly (or any booking tool with webhook/integration)
Make.com (free tier works) or Zapier
Your email platform (Gmail, SendGrid, whatever)
45 minutes
Step 1: Connect Calendly to Make.com (10 min)
In Make.com, create a new scenario
Add "Calendly" module as a trigger
Choose "Watch Events" (this fires when someone books)
Connect your Calendly account
Test it by booking a fake call
Step 2: Build Email #1 - Immediate Confirmation (10 min)
Add "Email" module (or your email platform's module)
Trigger: Immediately after Calendly booking
Email template:
Subject: You're booked with [Your Name] - [Day] at [Time]
Body: "Hey [Name],
You're confirmed for [Day] at [Time] [Timezone].
Here's your Zoom link: [Zoom URL]
I've added a calendar invite to your email.
To make the most of our 60 minutes, come prepared with:
Your current monthly revenue
Your biggest bottleneck right now (marketing, ops, hiring, something else)
One specific thing you want to walk away with from this call
See you [Day].
—[Your Name]"
Map Calendly fields to email:
{{Name}} → Invitee Name
{{Day}} → Event Start Date
{{Time}} → Event Start Time
{{Zoom URL}} → Event Location
Step 3: Build Email #2 - 24 Hour Reminder (10 min)
Add "Tools" module → "Sleep" or "Delay."
Calculate delay: Event Start Time - 24 hours
Add the Email module after the delay
Email template:
Subject: Looking forward to our call tomorrow
Body:
"Hey [Name],
Quick reminder: We're meeting tomorrow at [Time] [Timezone].
I've been thinking about what you shared when you booked (struggling with [their stated problem]).
I have a few ideas that might help. Looking forward to diving in.
What's your #1 goal for our conversation?
—[Your Name]"
Step 4: Build Email #3 - 2 Hour Reminder (10 min)
Add another "Sleep/Delay" module
Calculate delay: Event Start Time - 2 hours
Add Email module
Email template:
Subject: We're meeting in 2 hours
Body:
"Hey [Name],
We're meeting in 2 hours at [Time].
Zoom link: [Zoom URL]
Reply YES to confirm you'll be there.
See you soon.
—[Your Name]"
Step 5: Optional - Add SMS for High-Value Calls (5 min)
If the call is worth $5k+, add an SMS:
Add "Twilio" module (or any SMS service)
Same timing as Email #3 (2 hours before)
Message: "Hey [Name], quick reminder: Call with [Your Name] in 2 hours. [Zoom Link]. Reply YES to confirm."
Cost: $0.01 per SMS. Worth it for a $5k+ opportunity.
Step 6: Test Everything
Book a test call with yourself
Check that all 3 emails fire at the correct times
Make sure all fields populate correctly (Name, Time, Zoom link)
Adjust timing if needed
THE RESULTS
We implemented this 4 months ago.
Before:
10 calls booked per week
4 no-shows (40%)
6 actual conversations
2 closes (33% close rate of shows)
Revenue: ~$10k/week in closed deals
After:
10 calls booked per week
1-2 no-shows (12%)
8-9 actual conversations
3-4 closes (40% close rate of shows)
Revenue: ~$15k/week in closed deals
Math:
50% more conversations per week (6 → 9)
50% more closed deals per week (2 → 3)
50% more revenue ($10k → $15k)
Zero extra outbound. Same number of booked calls.
Over 4 months: $180k in additional closed revenue from this one automation.
ROI: ∞ (because it costs $0 to implement)
WHY THIS WORKS
Psychology #1: Multiple touchpoints create commitment
Every reminder is a micro-commitment. The more times someone confirms (even passively by reading the email), the harder it is to ghost.
Psychology #2: Preparation increases perceived value
When you tell them what to prepare, they invest time thinking about the call. Sunk cost fallacy kicks in. They don't want to waste their prep time.
Psychology #3: The YES reply is genius
Asking them to reply YES 2 hours before does two things:
Active confirmation (stronger commitment than passive)
If they don't reply, you KNOW they're not showing
You can use those 60 minutes for something else. No more sitting on Zoom waiting for someone who's never coming.
STEAL THIS
Seriously. Build this today.
45 minutes of setup. Years of saved time and increased revenue.
And if you want the Make.com template I built (so you don't have to build from scratch), grab it here: [LINK TO $97 AUTOMATION PACK]
It includes:
This no-show prevention automation (pre-built, connect your tools)
Lead capture → CRM → Welcome email automation
Weekly reporting automation
Set up videos for all three
$97. Save yourself 2 hours of figuring it out.
Or build it yourself following the steps above. Either way works.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Here's what I want to know:
What's your current no-show rate?
Seriously. Look at your calendar for last month.
Count:
Total calls booked
Total no-shows
Calculate the percentage
Reply and tell me the number.
If it's above 20%, you're leaving money on the table. Build this automation this weekend.
If it's below 15%, tell me what you're doing. I want to know.
NEXT TUESDAY
I'm breaking down the client onboarding automation that saves 3 hours per new client.
It's the automation that took us from "manually sending 8 different things" to "client books, everything fires automatically, they show up on day 1 fully onboarded."
Saves time. Makes you look more professional. Increases client retention (good onboarding = fewer refunds).
See you Tuesday.
—DSG
P.S. I still have 2 strategy call spots left this week. If you want me to audit your entire marketing and ops setup, reply with "AUDIT". $500, 60 minutes, you walk away with a clear roadmap.
P.P.S. If you grabbed the automation pack, let me know if you get stuck. I'll help you troubleshoot.