LIFE LESSONS THE BUSINESS EDIT NAVIGATING NO-SHOWS CATHAL KEAVENEY PETER MARK Focus on your team as your primary customers. If you take care of your team, it will echo through and they will know how to look after your clients. Positive actions create positive feelings. Your behaviour changes attitudes around you. The more you engage positively with people, the more happy you become and the happier you are yourself. It creates a great atmosphere! Be curious and aware of everything around you. When you shop or are being served by someone, take notice of what you are seeing and feeling. Don’t let moments pass you by – there is inspiration everywhere! Emotion first, hair second. It is not just thinking: “What hair do I want to create?” But: “What emotion do I want to create?” We are a human-to-human business, you must never forget that. Have a raison d’être. It is not just what you do, it’s why you do it that counts. I invest in people not just for the business but because I love seeing people grow and become successful. YOU CAN BE the most prepared salon manager in the world, with every single day planned meticulously, but it only takes one client to make all your hard work obsolete. Whether they’re careless, indecisive or just plain forgetful, customers who fail to turn up for their appointments result in a loss of income and have a knock-on effect to your schedule and staff. So, what’s the best way to deal with these tricky situations? “No-shows are disruptive to the business as they can seriously affect your takings, especially for big colour bookings that would usually be marked out for two to four hours,” explains Susan Hackett, owner of Ravens Hair Salon in Limerick. “We are planning to put a cancellation policy that includes a deposit. On any colour bookings there will be a €50 deposit required.” According to Susan, these changes are necessary due to the pressure no-shows can exert on businesses. “We feel there is a need for a deposit policy as no-shows and late cancellation can be detrimental for a small business, to have a thriving business every client has an effect. Inform clients of your cancellation policy, including details of a deposit and your preferred cancellation timeframe. As of now we send a text message reminder 48 hours prior to the appointment.” Bozena Sarek, owner of Bozena Sarek Hairdressing in Navan, Co. Meath, agrees that getting in touch with clients before their appointment can be very helpful. “No-shows were once problematic in my salon,” she reveals. “Our most effective strategy is simply to send appointment reminders to customers – we send them two days before appointment, which gives them plenty of time to cancel and reschedule their appointment if they need to. It’s important to remember that the system is only as good as the accuracy of the contact information you have for clients.” She has also implemented a deposit procedure that is proportional to the service booked. “We have a policy to deal with extreme cases – if the system shows that a client has three no-shows, than we inform them that in future we will charge 50 per cent when a service is booked – happily this has not happened so far,” she explains. “For long treatments, such as hair extensions or colour corrections, we change a deposit that is fully refundable up to 24 hours before the appointment. I know is hard to charge noshow clients, but it partly covers the cost of a hairdresser’s work – nobody wants to lose money. This means no-shows don’t happen very often in our salon anymore.” Research from Phorest Salon Software also shows that clients who were charged by their salon for a no-show were 13 per cent more likely to rebook in the future than those who weren’t charged. “By charging for their service, salons show they know their value,” says Shauna O’Halloran, marketing and content manager at Phorest. “It also clears the customer’s conscience – no need to slink away to a competitor for fear of being reprimanded next time!” But it’s important not to allow your clients walk all over you, and you need to know where to draw boundaries to avoid being taken advantage of. “When clients don’t show up for booked appointment they receive a message from us that we are sorry that they missed their appointment and we looking to hearing from to make another appointment at different time,” adds Bozena. “However, although it can be tough, if you have a client who is constantly missing appointments and not showing any improvement in behaviour and attitude, you might have to let them go.” 22 CREATIVE <strong>HEAD</strong> IRELAND
World leading ethical hair extensions To enquire about joining the elite and becoming a Great Lengths certified stylist visit GREATLENGTHSHAIR.CO.UK/BECOME-A-CERTIFIED-STYLIST
Change language