The problem
A student who forgets a lesson costs a tutor the whole hour: it's too late to fill and awkward to charge for. Two no-shows a week at $60£45€54A$86C$85 is $120£90€107A$173C$169 a week, about $515£387€461A$743C$728 a month, and online students forget more often because there's no journey to remind them.
What the AI does
TutorBird sends automated email and SMS lesson reminders, set days or hours before the lesson, and its FAQ says SMS reminders cost nothing extra. You can write the wording yourself and include the video link for online lessons, so students join with one click. The parent portal can enforce your cancellation policy and deadlines when families cancel or rebook, and you can issue make-up credits for lessons you agree to replace.
A worked example
An online A-level chemistry tutor in Leeds teaches 28 lessons a week at $60£45€54A$86C$85 and loses about 2 a week to students who forget or cancel an hour before.
Before
2 no-shows a week at $60£45€54A$86C$85: $120£90€107A$173C$169 a week, about $515£387€461A$743C$728 a month lost
After
If reminders halve that to 1 a week: about $258£194€231A$372C$365 a month back
What it's worth
About $258£194€231A$372C$365 a month kept, against $19£14€17A$27C$26 for TutorBird. That is 1 lesson a week at $60£45€54A$86C$85 times 4.3, that now goes ahead; nearly all of it is profit because the hour was already set aside and has no other cost. The halving is an assumption: check your own no-show count after two months.
How to set it up
- Add each student's mobile number and the parent's, with their agreement to receive reminders.
- Set an email reminder the day before and a text a few hours before; adjust the times in the settings to suit your students.
- Put the video link for online lessons into the reminder.
- Write your cancellation policy (notice needed, what's charged, when make-up lessons are offered) and set the matching deadlines in the portal.
- Count no-shows for 8 weeks and compare with the 8 weeks before.
What goes wrong
- Reminders don't help if the student's or parent's number is out of date; check contact details at the start of each term.
- A policy the app enforces still needs to be in the terms parents agreed to, or charging for a missed lesson becomes a row.
- Texting a child's own mobile needs the parent's agreement; for younger students, send reminders to the parent only.
- Lesson times must be right in the calendar. A lesson moved by WhatsApp but not in TutorBird gets a reminder for the wrong time.