Are you tired of the serial no-show and the last minute canceller that can cripple a business and cost huge amounts of money? Founder and Director of Caronlab Australia Lilliane Caron takes a look at steps to put in place.
Most of us have probably got a cancellation policy in place in some way or another, but we’re too afraid we’ll rub our clients the wrong way if we enforce it. But times are changing. Clients expect to be charged a cancellation fee from laser clinics, hairdressers and injectables clinics – it’s time to make it common practice for waxing salons too!
Over the last two years we have successfully implemented a cancellation procedure at our flagship salon Smooth & Tan. You might wonder why it’s taken me this long, when I’ve been in business for over 40 years: it’s because a lot of my clients have been with me from the beginning. I have been struggling to implement the cancellation policy with our most loyal clients, and I know many of you can relate to that. But I believe we have found a way. It wasn’t always easy, and we’ve had to fine tune our procedure as we went, but we got there! It has helped us minimise the number of no-shows and cancellations and 95 percent of all cancellations and rescheduled appointments are now done at least 24 hours in advance.
First things first – the actual Cancellation Policy
A cancellation policy is a tool that protects you from losing money when clients change or cancel their appointment last minute – or worse; don’t show up at all. The policy has two main goals: 1. Deterring people from making last minute changes and 2. Covering staff wages and other costs if it does happen. It should be clear that it’s not a tool to make money.
Keep the policy simple and fair: if a client cancels or changes their appointment with less than 24 hours’ notice, a cancellation fee is charged for 50 percent of the service cost, but never more than $100. Make sure all staff are educated so they are aware of the policy and repeat the same conditions to the clients. If you want to implement a cancellation policy effectively, everyone and everything in your salon needs to be consistent and tell the same story.
Giving people the opportunity to cancel or reschedule on time
More than anything, our success comes from putting systems in place to PREVENT last-minute changes. Actually enforcing the cancellation policy is a final measure to fall back on if all else has failed. After all; positive reinforcement works better than negative!
The absolute best tip I can give you when it comes to this issue is to set up a reminder-SMS that is sent out 48 hours prior to the appointment. The SMS should state your business name, the date + time of the appointment and a request to confirm the appointment. Most clients reply to the text immediately, but if they don’t, we follow it up with a phone call on the same day.
We regularly get feedback from our clients that they appreciate the reminder very much!
Discouraging people from cancelling at late notice
Another incredibly helpful way to minimise last-minute changes and no-shows is simply to encourage people to pre-pay their appointments. At our salon, clients receive a 10 percent discount when they pre-pay their appointment. It’s a standard question our receptionist asks with every booking: “Would you like to pre-pay this appointment to receive a 10 percent discount?”. Most people love this easy way to save some money and take the offer.
If you find it hard to ask your clients to pre-pay the full amount, a great alternative is to ask for a $50 deposit on appointments over $100. Or, if you don’t feel comfortable taking any payment up front, you can always ask them to walk in when they want and let them know you’ll do your best to fit them in at that time. Remember, you only need to do this with people that have proven to cancel last minute in the past.
Now for the hard part: enforcing the actual policy
So far, everything is relatively easy; clients are happy that they get a discount, they appreciate that you offer the ease of online booking, even the added service of reminding them of their appointment is valued. To keep this positive vibe going, we don’t recommend strictly enforcing the cancellation policy with every client that cancels late. It’s better to ease into it with proper, consistent communication. It helps to pinpoint clients that have cancelled last minute or haven’t shown up in the past. In most client management systems, a pop up or note can be added to these client’s accounts. This way, when the client contacts the salon, every staff member immediately knows what information has been given to the client and how lenient to be with them.
We enforce our cancellation policy with a 3-point procedure. You know your clientele best, so please use your own best judgement when enforcing the cancellation policy at your salon.
Point 1 – Inform: a client rings to say they won’t be able to make it to their appointment today. You bring up their details and you see that this is the first time they have cancelled last minute since you’ve implemented your new policy. You kindly inform your client that a last minute cancellation usually results in a cancellation fee of 50 percent of their appointment, but that you’ll waive that for now. Make sure to make a note in the client’s account details so that your staff are aware that this client has been informed of the cancellation policy.
Point 2 – Remind: the next time this client rings to cancel or reschedule last minute, you bring up their details and you remind them of the cancellation fee. Tell them that you’ll waive it for now, but that they need to pre-pay or book online from now on. Make another note in the client’s account so all staff know they’ve been reminded of the policy and that they need to prepay their appointments going forward.
Point 3 – Enforce: if the client still cancels last minute, you’ve given them fair warning of the cancellation fee and you can charge them accordingly. By now they will have pre-paid their appointment and they will only receive a 50 percent refund if they cancel.
We’ve found that clients are usually very understanding, but it’s always important to gauge the situation – after all, you don’t want to lose a good client!
Be prepared
It can be difficult to handle conversations like these well; it’s very important to always keep your tone pleasant and to turn it into a positive where possible. Be understanding, be friendly, and let them know that unfortunately, you have to charge them the fee. If you feel your junior therapists aren’t fit to deal with these phone calls, they should only be handled by the manager or by a senior staff member that can read between the lines and trust their intuition.
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