Grrrr clients who cancel at a moments notice!!!

dollymix

How about having a standby book?
When a client books a treatment, ask them, if you get a cancellation would they be happy for you to phone them at a moments notice to see if they are available, put them in the book, then you can pick the treatments according to time you have available, It could be the case that they are waiting too long for appointments, and have usualy gone somewhere else in the meantime, by doing this, they know you could phone them at any time.

Acc72

Polly wrote: »

Their prices have hardly risen for years and when I've commented on this, the owner has told me it's because there's so much competition in the area. It's quite a small town and yet there are maybe 12 or so other salons, as well as quite a few who work from home or will come to your home. It must be tough and I have a lot of sympathy for anyone trying to make a living in such a competitive business. They haven't offered Groupon vouchers yet but myself (and I suspect many other) customers would have used Groupon to visit other salons in the last few months, thus taking away business from our local places.

Interesting comments about Groupon (sorry to go off topic).

When you have used Groupon, do you just use the reduced service or have you ever returned to the salon / restaurant etc. as a new full-paying customer ?

The impression I get is that Groupon will get people through the door - but this is usually the customer who just wants to pay a lower price, and the next time they need a haircut or whatever will just go to the next salon offering a Groupon discount.

I am not convinced that offering such deals is a good way for a business to increase its customer base.

Polly

I use Groupon regularly but I'm sorry to say that I've never gone back to any of the businesses again, mainly because the distance involved. For instance, my OH and I are going to stay in a 4* hotel at the weekend for our anniversary and the deal includes B&B, a bottle of wine and a 2 hour boat cruise for £60. We have never been to this area before and probably won't go back. We do intend to have dinner in the restaurant and will probably spend in the bar too so it's easier to see how a hotel can make a bit of money out of these deals but it must be harder for a beauty salon.

Stitchlover1

Hi there, Im a singer so can often be struck by a late cancellation. I ensure that I receive a non refundable deposit upfront first which is usually minimal, but helps to cover the inconvenience if you get cancelled.

wimblewomble_2

I am by no means an expert on the beauty business, and unfamiliar with the type of clientele you have, but there is also the dead time you have travelling in between each appointment, which makes it more frustrating.

Just off the top of my finely coiffured head, could you get your client to get their neighbours along for a 'beauty and coffee' morning, or 'beauty and tea' afternoon.
Or even a beauty pampering girls night in?
You could potentially get two or more clients at a location, reduce dead time, and even if the odd one didn't turn up, you could cope.
A girls night in might have 4 or 5 willing to turn up, but even if only 3 turned up, your time has been well spent.
This assumes the clients are relatively free, time-wise.

Savvy_Sue

the grotty salon: I'd probably vote with my feet, in fact I have, for a slightly different reason. When my hairdresser introduced a nail bar downstairs, I never went back because the smell was overpowering. She made it easy for me because no-one actually asked me if I wanted to re-book as I left, which they always had in the past!

Another reason why it may look busy but not be turning much profit is that some of the 'staff' may be 'hiring a chair' rather than actually being employed. As long as people are willing to pay to hire the chair, there's no need to make the place look good, is there?

ESKIMO

no_choice_now wrote: »

I want to play devil's advocate.

When somebody cancels why not send them a 10% discount voucher? Obviously try not to let the word get around you will do this and only send 1 per customer in case they deliberately keep canceling to get discount vouchers.

It seems likely a lot of people will cancel simply because at that point they don't have the money they thought they would have when they made the appointment. Offering a small discount on their next appointment will likely give them the nudge they need to go through with the appointment, and the fact that you're sending them a voucher tells them you're happy to see them again so it will relieve any embarrassment or bad feelings on their part for canceling and they probably won't avoid you in the future, but be happy to give you a call.

If nothing comes of it you've lost a negligible amount, but if just 1 customer does go through with an appointment because of a voucher the profit may well have paid for all the potential other customers who you have sent vouchers to.

A small calculated risk?

Reverse psychology?

redned_2

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Thing is, we don't know if these ARE 'loyal customers', or first-timers, or regulars who just don't behave very well. I think you might want a different approach for different situations.

You are quite right. I assumed that as the OP asked if she could enforce it she will have a good idea of who her customers are and would use common sense as to whether it is appropriate to enforce a charge for a missed appointment. I would assume that all businesses would like to encourage loyal customers as opposed to those that aren't! However, you do need paying customers to keep a business going and (rightly or wrongly) it is my opinion that people that are not bothered about cancelling appointments at the last minute are less likely to make loyal customers. It is very frustrating to have cancelled appointments when you know you could have filled them with paying customers and the OP clearly knows this from first hand experience.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'm pretty good at keeping appointments, and I get (more than) a bit p'd off when people don't keep appointments with me, eg tradesmen at work - I've had one not turn up 3 times now! last chance tomorrow ... But this is someone doing us a favour, so I can't get too shirty about it.

It is always annoying when people don’t turn up. It is far more annoying when you know you’ve lost earnings because of it.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

One nursery which did this found that lateness actually increased, because parents were quite happy to pay for extended hours

They do say time is money! At least they were getting paid for it and it wasn't costing them money.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

NHS dentists are not allowed to charge for missed appointments. And that is a serious failing in their contract. However, they know who you are, and you may find it difficult to get an appointment in future.

My current dentist is private; my point being that if people know that there is a cancellation charge that will be enough to make the majority of customers think twice about missing their appointment.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I go back to my question about WHY people are cancelling, and why they are cancelling at short notice?

Maybe its because they can, and it won’t cost them a penny.



To go back to my point - get them to cough up at least some money upfront - I am sure people are less likely to forget or cancel when they have already paid some money out.

redned_2

pitkin2020 wrote: »

You still have to give people the benefit of the doubt and be fair, if it was a person doing it all the time I would say yes enforce it. If something had happened with your child and you forgot about the appointment and were charged I am sure you would not be impressed (harsh example I know but shows the point), you don't know why people are cancelling and if its the first time telling them will have to pay for it could do you a lot more harm than the cost of that one appointment - I completely agree, I should have put that when you enforce it is another matter and should only be done if appropriate!

yep thats fine if they have seen your T&C's, if its a telephone booking how can you prove you have read the T&C's o them or they have seen it for themselves!! Again it comes down to your word against theirs. very true - [FONT=&quot]What about asking all new customers to fill out a form with their details (also enabling you to get their email address so that you could email special offers) and also by signing the form they agree to your terms and conditions so they are aware of your charge policy, obviously it would need to be worded correctly etc. but would hopefully help things to run more smoothly and hopefully enable you to enforce the charge if you feel it is appropriate.[/FONT]

I couldn't agree with you more, we have had it a lot this year in the family business, they are told though that 50% is payable still if they don't provide enough notice for cancelling - same here but some of our jobs are turn up and sell so we can't on those, in five years in our current business we have never been cancelled - until this year and unsurprisingly it has only been on the jobs which are turn up and sell where they do not pay us upfront for our service.

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Who ever said the customer is always right is clearly wrong (and never worked with the general public lol)

Soooo true! lol