How To Cut Down Customer No-Shows
If business was a sport, then running your day-to-day salon activities is the game, and managing your money is how you keep score.
One of the many ways of improving your score is to keep your cancellations and no-shows at the absolute minimum. Here’s how:
Flag repeat offenders. Keep track of clients inclined to be late and schedule their future appointments during off-peak times.
Double their appointment confirmations. Send a confirmation email 48 hours before and a text message 24 hours prior to the appointment. Clients then have a chance to rearrange their schedule if they can’t make it. And they can’t say they didn’t see at least one confirmation communication.
Put a notice up in your salon reception area explaining cancellation charges. Be firm but fair about implementing this.
Implement a 3-strike rule. If a client cancels or is a no-show on three occasions, stop taking a booking and say “it might be best if you book on the day next time.” In that way, you’re very kindly telling them that you won’t be taking a future booking. Other ideas include taking deposits from repeat offenders or creating a “black list” which means they will only be allowed to be serviced via walk-ins.
Have a back-up plan. Use a cancellation list to your benefit. Always have a list of clients who want an appointment today and call them when a cancellation occurs.
Have a second list – a list of clients to contact at very short notice and they can avail of cheaper prices on the day. This means that even if you give discounted prices, there are no gaps in your appointment book.
Most of your regular loyal clients will only cancel an appointment if it’s an emergency and you would never need to ask them for a deposit. But, for the persistent latecomers and no-shows, introduce and implement your house rules, making sure that every client has a positive impact on your bank balance.
So here’s your No-Show To-Do List:
1. Decide on your beauty salon house rules.
2. Communicate this in your brochure, in your website and social media accounts, and via a notice in your salon reception area.
3. Write your daily email and text confirmation communications.
4. Team training session to role-play cancellation policies.
5. Implement new procedures.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In my personal experience, the most powerful way to minimize cancellations is to offer a service that is simply unmatchable. Become the expert and go from a jack of all trades to the absolute master of one!
