Are you waiting for your customers to reach your salon in the last fifteen minutes?
Must be getting frustrated!!
What is more frustrating than telling another customer that you cannot book with them!!
Missed appointments are the most challenging thing that every salon owner is facing these days.
You must have heard this quote: “Time is money.”. And under-utilizing it, will enable you to dig in for the loss. Precisely, your salon’s profitability and revenue are heavily influenced by last-minute cancellations and missed appointments.
Guaranteeing that your salon chairs are full is the key to success. Salon success is more defined by fewer no-shows and more online bookings. When you own a business, you try hard to build a strong customer base and to make them repetitive to maintain the health of your salon business.
What are no-shows?
No-shows are the times that were given to customers who did not show up at the salon. And at the same time, it did not show the contribution to the salon’s bottom line. What can be done, then?
So, what better would it be to give that time to the one who urges you to add a bit to the salon’s revenue stream? You must understand that it is more essential to know how no-shows can affect your business? For your salon’s future, it is important to book 100% of the appointment slot with the paying customers.
Besides, the missed appointment gives rise to a missed business opportunity. It enables resource waste and limits the ability of salons to build a customer base.
No-shows always have a negative influence, particularly when you have strategic planning to gain profitable results. You cannot avoid the no-shows to some extent if you are not taking precautionary measures to enhance online bookings.
Technology has given us a plethora of management software to address these issues. Salon software not only makes the customer satisfied but also reduces no-shows. Getting one customer after another is not going to make you stand out in the market, but it is a regular process to nurture the customer relationship with your salon business.
Calculating the no-show rate
Sadly, there is no business that experiences 0% of no-shows. But, you, as a salon owner, can have a lower rate than your competitors. So, for that, you need to understand the issues and the situation. However, for that, you need to have all the data. Check out below to estimate your salon no-show rate:
- The first and foremost thing is to know the average number of daily no-show appointments. It is essential to know the average number of daily no-shows to be more accurate; one-day data is not going to help you out.
- It is advised to create the no-show reports on a monthly basis. Track the daily no-shows and assemble the monthly reports that display the average number of no-shows every day.
**Track only the genuine no-shows, not your empty slots, these are the appointments that are rescheduled**.
- The next step here is to discover the average number of appointments that you are scheduling. Similarly, here, as well, you need to have an average number for the month. While creating the Salon monthly reports on the average number of no-shows every month (per-day basis), assure that you are generating the reports of the average number of bookings per day.
After having these on an average basis (per day and monthly basis), categorize the average number of daily no-show appointments with the average scheduled appointments. You must follow these tips to reduce no shows & enhance online bookings.
Consider the following example: if your salon business has an average of 25 scheduled appointments in a day, with an average of one show every day,.
1 ÷ 25 =0.04
The above calculation shows that your no-show rate is 4%. Most of the salons experience a no-show rate between 2% and 15%. These figures vary with the location of businesses, such as rural, suburban, or urban, and the business type, such as salon/beauty, legal, or medical.
The main point here is to reduce the no-shows to improve the flow of online bookings. So, here we are, with the best tips to reduce no shows & enhance online bookings that you need to follow to get rid of it. Let’s find out!!
Tips To Reduce no Shows & Enhance Online Bookings
#1. Convenient cancellations
Know your potential customers. Consider whether your focus is on engaging the younger audience, particularly the millennial generation. Several Millennials cannot fit as “digital natives,” but they do, indeed, know if they can make their shift to digital processes. Calling them and taking the phone is not enough. A study reveals that 81% believe that they do not have the courage to make the calls.
This type of generation cancels the appointments and gives you enough time to schedule someone else to book with you without any direct human contact. With online booking scheduling software, you can make swift bookings. There are many software programs on the market that you can choose for your salon.
#2. Prioritize SMS
Several underestimate the power of SMS because of the on-demand apps. Also, efficient emails can be sent to customers from the appointment booking software, our advice here is to use the SMS as reminders. The automated reminders tend to reduce no-shows with 29%.
The email reminders have lower open rates, precisely, in the single digital percentile. The SMS, though, has an almost 100% rate of getting opened and read. All you need to do is open the software and set-up reminders, “forget and set” SMS alerts for every customer. It is observed that prompt and simple SMS reminders can reduce no-shows by almost 50%.
#3. Email Confirmations & Promotions
After booking the customers with your salon, assure them that you will secure their email addresses and, certainly, their contact numbers. While making the appointments, acknowledge an appealing and gracious email confirmation with an invoice and the contact details they might need.
Here, you can include the promotional deals in the form of discounts and offers in the newsletter, social channels, and blogs. This opportunity makes customers satisfied and engaged at the same time.
#4. Do not forget to say “Thank you.”
It is always a great gesture to say thank you to those who have arrived on time and booked with you. Thanking the customers for doing their best is an assurance that they will show up for the scheduled appointments and be acknowledged. With this, you are showing that you value the customers and, accordingly, making them loyal to your brand.
#5. Reward Customers for keeping up the appointments
When some customers do not show up, you can put a small fee on their salon bill that they have to keep until they do not show up. Those customers who keep the booking process tangible and make every appointment intact should be rewarded. You can give them some discounts and offer them some great deals on their bills only. Also, you can put the names of the on-time arrivals into the drawing every month for the gift card.
Also, you can reduce the chances of no-shows with the upfront payments in a single invoice. It can totally eliminate no-shows, and there is no punishment if they do not show up on time. In addition, you can improve the customer satisfaction rate and offer a discount for the service to save cash.
#6. Schedule customers when they call
The customers, usually, skip the appointments and give rise to no-shows, the further out they have to book that booking. Without double-booking, try to schedule those who are in urgent need or new customers. It strengthens customers’ trust while cutting down on the risk of no-shows.
#7. Create and distribute the cancellation policy
The cancellation policies are complicated topics. Few of the salon customers consider it, and few do not. By minimizing the no-shows, you can build a solid policy and recover the lost profits. So, if your salon does not have a cancellation policy, then, it is better to build one and distribute it all to the customers and staff.
There is no right or wrong with the cancellation policy, do whatever you feel is right. Most salons like to claim back 100% of the expense of a missed booking, whereas others maintain 50% or less. The best thing is to ask for a deposit from the customer that can protect you financially and give your customer an incentive to visit their booking.
#8. Offer unique services
Possibly, the tried and tested method to enhance online bookings and reduce no-shows is to provide unique services that your customers cannot find in other salons. Make them eager to book with you. The competitor examination is also very beneficial here.
Know what services they are offering, and find out if you can offer more than that. What about giving them soap bubble nail-art services? So, if you are thinking of taking this approach to the next level, then make sure that you are up to date with the latest technological trends. If you are not following the social media accounts or appropriate blogs, then now is a good time to start.
Enrolling in likely professional groups and visiting local conferences and events covering movements and trends within the salon always works.
#9. Dominate the website game
The next best thing to reduce no-shows and improve online booking, salons need a website. Also, it is better to build the booking page as the first thing on the website. It is tough to create a booking based business that does not include the button link dead center or front, booking form on the landing page.
The main point of your website has to be your booking page with great UX; it implies fewer clicks, probably to the end goal of a refined booking form. To increase booking rates, you need to create appealing and smooth customer experiences. You do not need to bother about the other credentials, like us, offerings, customer success stories, contact details, etc. All these should be given subsequent priority, as the critical aim is to get those click-through rates to the booking web page.
#10. Invest in Salon staff training
As with customers, your salon is nothing without staff members. They are the ones who are insisting on customers securing their bookings with you. The salon staff has to be the best at their own skills and expertise. There has to be an ideal combination of customer care and technical ability.
Those who are not efficient enough to give the best services might turn out your salon business at some loss and reduce customer loyalty to a great extent. The salon owner has to earn customer loyalty, to eliminate the chances of no-shows. Simply put, the customers who are more loyal to your salon business will not miss the booking with you and are more likely to miss the booking without any notice.
Concluding Remarks
These above-mentioned tips to reduce no-shows and enhance online bookings help you increase your salon revenue.
There are many ways to enhance the salon’s business. With no-shows, you cannot get it. So, there is a need to follow these tips to reduce no-shows and enhance online bookings. The tips or tricks mentioned above are the notable ones that you can employ.
With all these ways, you are not only providing the customer’s different services, regulating policies, improving booking features, and providing more inclusive control over the appointment, but, also, growing your salon business. It also improves the transparency level of your salon business.
So, implement these tips to reduce no-shows and enhance online bookings now, and check what difference it makes to your salon business. We hope you liked this article. If there is something that we have missed, then let us know in the comment section below. Queries and suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for reading!!
