CONFIRMATION AND CANCELATION POLICIES
Ugh, nothing is worse than being excited to see a full book for the week, pumping yourself up to slay some hair, and then seeing clients cancel last minute!
In the service industry it can be hard to explain to clients that we work on a commission and sales basis. No work, no pay. And, we shouldn’t have to explain to our clients that our time is just as valuable as theirs!
This topic is so uncomfortable to explain or uphold when dealing with a no show or last minute cancelation. Why?! Because we care about our clients and no one wants to charge someone for a service that they haven’t received. BUT, it is more important to ask for the same care and respect from clients that we show to them during their appointments.
And, it’s not always just the clients fault. As the professional, it is our responsibility to set CLEAR AND CONCISE boundaries and expectations when it comes to making and canceling service appointments!
I would love to share my experiences with my cancelation policies with some common speed bumps you may run into when enforcing yours!
First, let’s discuss the pros and cons with all options for various methods to confirm appointments!
Phone Call:
Pro: personal and direct. A call will definitely show the client that you are looking forward to seeing them by having a call sent out a few days in advance.
Con: no one answers the phone or checks voicemails anymore. Although a call may be a classic way to personally connect with a client, it may go unchecked and therefore can hinder confirming the appointment in a timely manner.
Automated Scheduling Software Message:
Pro: efficient and automatic. A scheduling software that automatically sends an email or text message to the client guarantees that no appointment goes without a reminder sent.
Con: generic and hard to manage. Most salon softwares do not offer the client the option to reply to the confirmation text other than YES or NO. This can be frustrating and may prohibit the client from making the appropriate changes to their appointment.
Personal Text Message:
Pro: professional and flexible. Personally sending a confirmation text, or having a member of your front desk team send one, will guarantee the highest return rate of confirmations. Texting is easy and quick. It allows the client the ease of altering, confirming or canceling their appointment without having to write an email, or make a phone call.
Con: time intensive. Copying and pasting the same text to all clients takes time. This method will allow clients to respond appropriately and ask any pre-appointment questions which can also lead to more time spent than necessary.
For all of my appointments, I use Versum for both scheduling and confirming my appointments. This software automatically sends appointment confirmation texts and then allows me to respond to their text message within the software.
Since Versum charges per text message, clients that want to change appointments or want to ask questions, I direct to my “front desk phone number.” This phone number is a free Google Voice phone number that you can link to your cell phone. If you’re using a personal cell phone to confirm your appointments, I highly recommend getting a Google Voice phone number. It’s easy to download the app, and I recommend using the number strictly for your appointments to keep all communications in the same place!
Now let’s talk about what to include in your message and when to send the reminder/confirmation messages! The 7, 4, 2, 1 rule is the foundation of any strong and applicable cancelation policy!
Here’s a good jump off point to create an enforceable cancelation policy or make adjustments to one you may have in place:
72 Hour Message: Three days before the scheduled appointment time, a reminder call or text should be sent to the client. The text should confirm the day, date, time and services booked. In this message, the client should be notified that they have 24 hours to confirm the appointment or make any changes to the appointment.
This message should say something like this:
“Name of Hair Salon” or “your Name” would like to remind you about your appointment scheduled for “Date/Time” for “service names”.
Please review our safety waiver and cancellation policies on our website at “website URL for Policies Page of your website”. If you do not confirm within 24 hours of this message, the reservation will be cancelled. To confirm your appointment and acknowledge that you agree to the studio's waiver and cancellation policy, please confirm by a reply of "YES".
48 hours: Two days out, all of your appointments should have been confirmed. If you have not heard back from the client, send a final reminder giving them 4 hours to confirm the appointment and mention failure to confirm the appointment will cancel their appointment.
This message should say something like this:
Hi, this is a final appointment confirmation message from “Name of Hair Salon”. If we do not receive a confirmation for your appointment within 4 hours of this message, the appointment will be canceled. Would you like to confirm your appointment?
24 hours: Within one day of the scheduled appointment time, all clients should have canceled or confirmed their appointment AND services. Any cancelations or changes to their scheduled services for the appointment will result in a 50% cancelation fee.
If a client changes or cancels an appointment within this time window, the message should say:
Hi, thank you for letting us know that you would like to “cancel or change” your previously confirmed appointment/services. We would be happy to “cancel or change” the appointment for you. Please note, any changes to appointments within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment time incur a 50% “change or cancelation” fee. All fees must be paid in full prior to your next appointment. When would be a good time to call and collect the fee?
12 hours: Any changes to the scheduled services or appointment cancelations that happen in the 12 hours leading up to the start time of the service, will result in a 100% cancelation fee equaling the total amount of the scheduled services.
If a client cancels or changes an appointment within 12 hours of start of appointment, the message should say:
Hi “client name”, thank you for notifying us that you would like to “alter or cancel” your confirmed appointment. We understand that your schedule can change and alterations to your appointments may be necessary. As stated upon the confirmation of your scheduled services and appointment, our studio policy for “alterations or cancelations” within “12 hours or same day” of your appointment results in a 100% cancelation fee. The cancelation fee is “amount of fee” for these changes and must be paid in full in order to reschedule your services. When is a good time to call and collect this charge?
No shows: If a client disregards all messages or confirms and then does not show up to the studio. This client is required to pay 100% of their missed appointment AND to put a 50% deposit towards any future appointments. Here is the paragraph explaining this on my Studio Policies Page on my website:
No-show policy: Failure to notify the studio of any cancelation or changes to any scheduled appointment before start time without payment for these canceled services will result in the cancelation of all future appointments and the inability to continue to offer any future scheduled or unscheduled appointments. No exceptions. Canceling more than one service within 12 hours of start time will result in cancellation of all future appointments and the inability of scheduling services with our studio.
As you’ll notice, I do not save clients credit cards on file. For starters, I do not believe it is safe to keep that many credit cards on my computer or in a file. My client database is over 8,000 clients. I do not want the liability of saving that many credit card numbers. Additionally, I do not believe it is the best business practice to automatically charge clients without notice of a charge. This could cause extreme frustration with the client and may even result in them disputing the charge with their credit card company. That’s a whole mess that I do not want to get involved in!
By informing the client that they need to pay the fee BEFORE they are permitted to receive any further services usually encourages them to pay the fee immediately over the phone. In the case that the client does not respond to the final message asking when we can call to collect the fee, I then make a note on their profile saying “DO NOT BOOK.” As frustrating as it is when a client does not show, changes an appointment and does not pay the fee, I look at it as a clear message that this client will not respect studio policies and therefore I would rather not allow them to book future appointments.
Over the past six years of owning a studio, I have learned that it is always better to create CRYSTAL CLEAR policies and REASONABLE protocols for cancelations. The goal is to respect the client and for the client to respect you!
I highly recommend that you create a detailed Appointment Cancelation Policy and post it on your website and social media! Hopefully you can take information in this blog post and do just that! Please feel free to reach out if you have questions about creating or editing your policies!
XOXO
Bobby Mack
