Pre-booking is the only way to anticipate what your income will look like next week or next month. Read on to make sure that you aren’t standing in the way of your pre-booking rates by making these 5 mistakes.
1. The Salon Accepts Late Arrivals
Clients who are chronically late are not inclined to pre-book. Pre-booking at a specified time is kind of pointless if you service latecomers. Be absolutely stubborn about servicing clients who come in more than 15 minutes late. It’ll be tough putting your foot down, but your assertion will pay off. Once a client has been turned away for strolling in 30 minutes late, they wont make the same mistake again. Soon you’ll be reaping the rewards of a clientele that respects your business, shows up on time, and pre-books for appointments they can commit to.
2. The Salon Accommodates Emergency Appointments
Why worry about pre-booking when clients can just call you up last minute? We all know the person who has regular emergencies that include providing a hair service on your day off or keeping the salon open late for a last minute color appointments. Hairdressers simply can not do this. Allow the last minute scheduler to rough through a formal occasion just once without your help and trust me- they’ll plan WAY in advance going forward.
3. Unprofessional Salon Atmosphere
Without knowing the dress code, you would likely assume that you need to dress nicely at a 5 star restaurant. Clients will make the same assumption about pre-booking if you have a professional salon. When your salon is marketed and managed unprofessionally, clients will assume that they can’t just stroll in and be serviced. When you’re operating professionally, clients often assume pre-booking is required.
4. Prices Are Unpredictable or Too High
I’m not telling you to shortchange yourself. By all means, get what you’re worth and charge what the market will bear. However, clients have to weigh their beauty fees against their other financial responsibilities. Steep prices can be difficult to budget. Salons should work to make sure pricing compliments of the income of their target demographic. Once your prices have been set, create a service menu and stick to it. When every service price is subject to chance, clients can’t budget for regular salon services even if they want to.
5. No One Offered to Pre-book
Every client should be invited to pre-book his or her next appointment before leaving the salon. Customers are 50% more prone to pre-book after they’ve had a great experience in the salon. Don’t miss out on your opportunity by neglecting to make the offer.
