As a hair professional, no-shows are detrimental to your day. Often, salon or barbershop clients don’t even realize how much it costs the hair professional when they don’t show up for their appointments. Depending on the service the customer booked for, it could cost the hair professional upwards of $200. As a hair professional, it is essential to protect yourself from these damages by putting parameters in place and having no-show preventable measures in place. Of course, you can use all of these tips and still have customers that ditch on their appointments, but at least you will be covered in those cases. Below you will find six tips to help prevent no-shows from happening to you in the salon or barbershop.
Make Sure Your Pricing Is Up To Par
In most cases, salon or barbershop clients willing to pay more significant amounts of money for their hair appointment will not no-show. Your pricing should be up to par with the standard pricing average and possibly even higher than the typical salon or barbershop prices. High prices will ensure you attract the salon or barbershop customers you desire and control who is sitting in your chair.
Have A Cancelation Policy That Is Clear And Reasonable
Having a salon or barbershop policy in place as a hair professional for pricing, no-shows, and other matters is an excellent idea because it protects you. You could lean on your salon or barbershop policies at all times. If you were ever in a situation where you are being questioned or taken advantage of. Salon and Barbershop policies are a great way to prevent no-shows. Write out a policy that outlines what you want to enforce! Whether it be a no-show fee or an extra charge for late clients. Whatever your heart desires, write it down and make it a salon or barbershop policy that you can always circle back to.
First Time Client Appointment Deposits
First-time salon or barbershop clients are often the ones who don’t show up for their appointment. They usually don’t know the hair professional and have no ties to the hair professional. Having no ties leads to them feeling as though they can not show up to the appointment and nothing will happen. To prevent a no-show from happening, require a deposit for first-time clients. Requiring a deposit will guarantee money in your pocket even if they decide not to show up. If you find that your existing clients are also not showing up for their appointments, you may need to require a deposit for ALL appointments. Deposits are a great security blanket for hair professionals.
Communication With Your Hair Salon Clients Is Key
Communication is key to success in anything you do. No matter what profession you are in or your relationship. Communication is the glue that holds good business relationships together and is a significant factor in client retention in salons or barbershops. When you put new policies in place, it is essential to enlighten your clients about the salon or barbershop policies and answer any questions. This way, when they get a deposit request for their next appointment or a no-show fee, they are not shocked and surprised. Sending out a mass text or email or even posting your new policies on social media will allow the message to spread. They will know what to expect, and they won’t have an excuse for why they don’t feel they should be getting charged for their next appointment.
Set Up Auto Reminders For Appointments
Salon software allows you to send auto appointment messages. Whether email or text message, Auto email or text reminders are a fantastic way to remind clients of their appointments, the reminder will allow the client to make changes or cancel ahead of time. Of course, things come up in life, and that is understandable. Giving your clients some grace and allowing them to reschedule or cancel the appointment ahead of time will benefit both you and the client. Heads-up will provide you with the opportunity to fill their spot with another client and still make money. The heads-up and reminder of appointments reduce appointment no-shows drastically.
Automatic Fee’s For A No Show
Setting up and auto-pull for no-show fees through your salon software will leave your hands out of the appointment mess. Having a fee that pulls no matter what makes it, you don’t have to be questioned and asked for refunds for the appointment. You can tell your clients, sorry, that is my policy, the fee gets automatically pulled, and there is nothing I can do to refund it. The fee will allow your customers to know that you are not messing around when it comes to an appointment and are not just taking their money because you felt like it. Requiring a card when they make their appointment will allow you to have.
Pre-Booking Appointments
When your clients pre-book a hair appointment with their stylist or barber, it allows the hair professional to give them a card with their appointment date and time and enables the customer to schedule that appointment in advance. Pre-booking will make your clients set their hair appointments to high priority. When a client knows how booked, you are and how you don’t have time to squeeze them in a day later, it gives them a sense of urgency and awareness about their next appointment. Pre-booking will make them less likely not to show up to the hair salon on the day of their appointment.
These parameters and tips will help you in reducing the number of no-shows if not eliminating them. Using some of these tips will also allow you to continue making money and keeping your dates full. Things happen, and life happens; obviously, we have to be flexible in some ways, but when a client does not show up to their appointments, that is disrespectful to the hard-working hair professional. Know your worth and charge your worth!
