A one-hour checklist: text the clients who have not been back in 90 days

By Steven Von · 2026-10-21 · 4 min read

A one-hour checklist for spa owners to find clients who stopped booking, write a short win-back text, and fill open slots without discounting.

Somewhere in your booking software is a list of people who loved their massage, said they would be back, and never rebooked. They did not leave because of you. Life got busy, and nobody reminded them.

That list is the cheapest booking source you have. You already paid to get them in the door once. This checklist takes about an hour and you can do it tonight.

Before you start (5 minutes)

Have three things open:

• Your booking software with client history.
• Your phone or texting tool, whichever you use to message clients.
• Your calendar for the next three weeks, so you know which slots you want filled.

Decide on one window. Ninety days without a visit is a good default for most studios. If most of your regulars come monthly, use 60 days. If they come seasonally, use 120.

Step 1: Pull the list (15 minutes)

Run a client report filtered to "last visit more than 90 days ago" and "at least one completed visit." Most booking tools have this under client reports or marketing.

Then clean it:

1. Remove anyone who asked not to be texted. Check your notes and your opt-out list. This is not optional.
2. Remove anyone who left a complaint or a low rating. That needs a different, personal conversation, not a group text.
3. Remove gift card one-timers who never booked again. They are worth a separate message, but not this one.
4. Flag anyone who booked three or more times. These are lapsed regulars. They get the warmest version of the text.

A small studio usually ends up with somewhere between 40 and 200 names. If you have more than that, send in batches of 30 to 50 a day so you can answer replies.

Step 2: Write two short texts (15 minutes)

One for lapsed regulars and one for everyone else. Keep each under 300 characters. Use their first name and the name of the therapist they saw, if you have it.

For lapsed regulars:

"Hi Maria, it is Jen at Willow Studio. We have not seen you since summer and wanted to check in. Alex has a few openings next week, including Thursday evening. Want me to hold one for you? Reply STOP to opt out."

For everyone else:

"Hi Sam, Jen from Willow Studio here. If your shoulders are carrying the fall, we have openings over the next two weeks. You can book here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out."

Notice what is not in there: no discount, no "we miss you" in capital letters, no countdown. Discounts teach clients to wait for a text before they book. An open slot with a real therapist's name is enough.

If you sell memberships, add one line for the lapsed regulars: "If you want to make it a monthly habit, ask me about the membership." The pricing and memberships guide covers how to set one up so it holds clients.

Step 3: Check the booking link (5 minutes)

Tap your own booking link on your phone before you send anything. Make sure:

• It opens straight to available times, not your homepage.
• The therapist named in the text actually has openings showing.
• It works without forcing an account login first.

If the link fails, people reply "how do I book" and half of them never follow through. The missed calls and online booking guide goes through the full booking path.

Step 4: Send and stay near your phone (15 minutes)

Send the first batch at a time people actually read texts: weekday late morning or early evening. Avoid Sunday night and anything before 9am.

Then stay reachable for an hour. Replies come fast with this kind of message, and the person who writes "yes, Thursday works" should hear back in minutes, not tomorrow. If you are in session, have whoever runs the front desk ready.

Step 5: Log what happened (5 minutes)

Write down three numbers in a note: how many you texted, how many replied, how many booked. Next quarter, run the same list again and compare.

Also tag everyone who booked from the text. When they come in, ask them to rebook before they leave. The goal is not one visit. It is getting them back on a schedule.

Why this matters more for spas than most businesses

Spas run on repeat visits. Across the 70,932 massage and spa listings we track, the median has 22 reviews and 78.7% list a website. Most of your competitors already have a profile, a site and a booking link. What separates studios is how well they keep the clients they already won.

A lapsed client who comes back often leaves a review too, which helps you close the distance to the top tenth at 201 reviews. See the benchmark report for the full picture.

The short version

Pull everyone who has not booked in 90 days, clean the list, write two short texts with a real therapist's name and an open slot, check your link, send in small batches and answer fast. One hour, no discount, and you will likely fill some of next week's gaps from people who already like you.

If you would rather have someone set up and run any one service for you, there is a free 14-day trial with no card needed. Text or call (385) 386-3176.

Steven Von, Editor
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, massage therapists and spas among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor