Salon Business Tips - No-Shows and Last Minute Cancellations

As annoying and expensive as they may be, here are some ways to make them valuable.

1. Make sure you have a no-show and last-minute cancellation policy in place. Ours is “we require a 24-hour workday notice to cancel. After 2 we require a credit card to reserve next reservation. After the third one they will be charged 100% of their booked reservation. If they no-show once they need a credit card to book their next reservation, if they no-show again they are charged 100% of their booked reservation”.

In order to hold this policy up you must have it posted in your lobby and in your policies.
If you have a new client questionnaire put it on their, with a place to initial that they have read it. The more the guest is aware the less it will happen.
When you do charge a card, make sure you do not over charge what they were booked for. Be honest and fair. If they were booked for a hilite, charge them for a partial. You can not enforce it if its not posted.
As with anything, check your state laws before implementing any policies.

2. Make sure to notify the guest about your policy, do not set the guests up for failure due to lack of confidence to tell the guest the policy or systems not being properly in place to notify them.

3. When a guest does no-show don't ignore it. It is a priceless opportunity.

They may have forgotten and need to be rescheduled and are embarrassed to call back
They may of had something more important to do and to them the price of being charged was worth it and they need to here from you that it's ok for them to reschedule and they will be charged. Very common amongst Realtors and Nurses.
It could be a sign that you have an unhappy guest that needs to here from you someway. If you cant get a hold of them, send them a Haven Seen You card.
Is there a pattern of no-shows on a certain person's books to identify a problem?

4. We often don't notice when clients has left us until we see them on the streets or run a report. So to me no-shows are valuable in the sense that they are flags to let me know that I need to get a hold of that person and do a Quality Control Call. It goes like this. “Hello Mrs Smith, this is Darla calling from Hi-Lites Aveda where Sally did your hair on May 1st. Our records show that you had a reservation today and I was calling to see if everything was ok?” This call is priceless in the way of knowledge. It gives you an insight to your company that so many of us are afraid to ask about or maybe we are not ready to hear.

To help you see the potential of your business visit 1-on-1 Coaching Time.

Back To Home Page

Have a wonderful day,

Darla Di Grandi-Aguilera
Coaching salons to success since 1989
www.SalonCoaching.com