Oh, the dreaded No Show. It is what every person who works by appointment fears. What is it, exactly? It is when your client simply doesn’t show up for their appointment. No call, no email, no smoke signal. Nothing. And here we are, like a girl who got stood up for the prom. Sad.
The problem with No Shows is that we work by appointment. No one here gets paid for just showing up. What the waxers make is directly affected by whether or not they have appointments. And there are days when there are no free appointments to be had. So we end up turning clients away.
Well, things happen. Let’s face it, even the most organized of us can sometimes space an appointment. So, our No Show policy is somewhat forgiving, I think. If a person doesn’t show up for an appointment once, we let it slide. we tell them that the first time is no big deal, but if it happens again, we will need a credit card to secure an appointment. Usually, it never happens again. But if it does, we take their credit card info, and tell them if it happens again, we will charge their card. That sucks. It’s really uncomfortable having this conversation with clients. But, it’s also a matter of respect. I respect other people’s time, and I hope that people respect our time.
And seriously, we do everything in our power to remind our clients of their appointments. We send them an email the day before AND we call them! The next step would be to actually drive to the clients house and pick them up. Hmmm…Urban Waxx Limo Service? There’s an idea!
I have worked at spas in the past where you need to give your credit card info just to make
the appointment. I think that is a bit excessive. At UW, we hope that we attract the kind of people that will be amazing clients, understand what we are doing, and want to be a part of it.
So, for the love of Pete: if you can’t make an appointment, just give us a call. We understand. Just don’t leave us standing on the curb like that lonely kid waiting on the prom date that will never come!
To an extent I don’t blame you charging clients credit cards for not showing up, have you ever lost a customer from a No-show charge, what are the different types of shows that you normally come across and have you tried anything else besides the no show charge to reduce appointment no shows? I’m sure you are aware of the many appointment reminder tools like a atimelyreminder.com that are out there to help many professionals in the hair, nail, and spa industry reduce no shows. Beyond providing a tool to help reduce no shows, we are integrating a blog that will provide salon and spa professionals many inspirational ideas and solutions for increasing their client retention.