“Time is money” has never been truer for service-based business owners than it is today. Their ability to earn money is capped by the amount of time in the day and sliced into appointments. That’s why appointment attendance is the number one headache.
According to Laxman (source), data shows that nearly 30% of appointments are missed or cancelled each year, and that is just in the beauty industry. If you consider the average turnover of a salon is $243k a year, that’s $67k revenue at risk each year.
According to Kitomba (source), 1 in 10 appointments don’t turn up. To understand this figure better the data showed that 90% were cancellations and 10% were no-shows. In the case of cancellations, this often meant rescheduling, but often too late to allow the appointment time slot to be filled. In the UK, 27% of spa booking cancellations happen on the day, making them impossible to be filled.
Sound familiar?
In the wake of COVID, the impact on businesses has continued to snowball. Many clients now feel they can cite illness and have an easy out. One salon owner who spoke to us mentioned a “chronic canceller” who has had COVID no 7 times?! The phenomenon is not limited, Australia has seen a 39% rise in no-shows across a wide range of industries from health and beauty to gyms & legal services.
A huge impact on your profit and cash flow compounded by the very difficult COVID trading period.
So, what’s the answer?
Utilising an automated booking system and taking deposits or full payment. Yes, this is controversial, as many business owners worry about the lack of service that comes with not talking to people in person. Others worry that taking deposits will alienate their clients.
Here are 7 compelling reasons why you need to automate your booking system and take deposits.
- You can take bookings when your clients are ready, even if you are asleep or busy working. Clients aren’t left “on-hold”.
- The follow-up ensures clients never miss an appointment because they “forgot”. ( approx. 11% improvement)
- Offers a fast and easy way to reschedule, making it easier to reschedule than cancel.
- Deposits or prepayments ensure your clients are committed.
- Deposits give you cash flow, allowing you to pay your expenses in advance.
- Full payments are becoming quite accepted and save you time.
- When linked to a CRM system it can allow you to remind clients to make their next appointment.
Case Study :Torquay Remedial Massage
BIH rebranded the business and set up a simple website outlining the various massages on offer. Included in this was the implementation of an online booking system, linked to Stripe (the payment gateway) and the owner’s calendar. The calendar was segmented into blocks of available time, with the system allowing a 20-minute gap between appointments for the cleaning & resetting the massage room. As each client booked, the owner was notified and was then able to amend the booking if required. Payment was made in full in advance. Google Ads costing around $200-$250/month were used to drive traffic to the site
Within the first week, my online booking system worked and in a few weeks I had tripled my clients and paid off the site. Thanks, BIH.
Julie-Ann McDonald
Torquay Remedial Massage
If you want to explore solutions for your business book a time with the us to chat about your specific situation. BOOK NOW
Solutions can be easily set up and affordable, starting at $500 to implement with ongoing monthly fee of $15.
