Why You Should Start Charging Pre-Appointment Deposits
…And if you haven’t already, it’s okay if you start —
I have yet to meet another hair professional who has not dealt with this problem AT LEAST once during their career.
If you are one of the few who hasn’t, you’re a rare breed and chances are you will look at some point.
Consider yourself lucky for the time being.
So how do you deal with clients who don’t show up for appointments or they call you last minute to cancel?
I’ll admit…
The first time this happened to me, I thought it was completely normal.
I would shrug it off because I believed that everyone in the industry went through it, and it’s just what happens sometimes — I assumed it was all part of the game.
I thought I had no control over this and worse, being a fresh stylish I fearfully listened to my bosses who said the same thing, “It’s just what happens, move on.”
As a result, this topic wasn’t something that came up in salon meetings, where we all could have come together and help each other deal with this by at least voting for a solution as a team.
What’s laughable and equally disappointing, from a business point of view is this problem created an elephant in the room, a hanging dark cloud every time it happened to a stylist — that subsequently lead to a demoralizing atmosphere.
I say laughable because of everyone, including management, knew that we could easily solve this issue with one decision on their part.
In my particular situation, the salon owner didn’t visibly care about this problem we were all commonly facing because, if it happened to him once in a blue moon as it would, his butt was covered with the rest of the commissions he was making from 8–10 stylists that day.
However, for the hairstylists, this meant they weren’t able to pay bills or pre- plan vacations properly, or worse, no service also said no chance of tips which many of us counted on for liquid cash flow every week or unexpected emergencies.
So what do I suggest you do to earn more respect and hopefully end the streak of giving away your time to flaky clients?
TAKE A PRE-APPOINTMENT DEPOSIT
Taking a credit card number for a deposit pre-appointment is your best bet.
If you have ever dealt with this problem, I urge you all to consider enforcing a pre-payment deposit requirement on your salon clientele if you are in a decision making position.
If you are currently working in a salon but ARE NOT in a decision making position, I encourage you to consider approaching the owner/manager to discuss enforcing the pre-payment deposit by yourself. (It’s easy to set up)
You have every right to earn the highest amount of money possible your time is just as valuable as the clients.
Customers who are unreliable might eventually filter themselves out (trust me, you want them to long term) and that leaves room for new customers to come on board, clients who will respect you for your time and the way you conduct business.
People want to do business long term with others who don’t devalue their services and setting basic ground rules, and deposit requirements for your clients aren’t exactly blasphemy.
It shows them you are serious about your business longevity, but more importantly, it indirectly tells them that you won’t stand for their flakiness.
When you introduce a pre-appointment pay wall, by having them commit with their wallets before they even show up for their appointments, they will think twice about skipping out on you.
Even better, you will start attracting only clients who respect your ground rules, who see the real value in you, the ones who won’t flinch when you tell them that they have to pre-pay — those are your dream clients.
When you start attracting clients who see the value in you and respect you for your services, they’ll be less likely to ask for discounts and more likely to tip better in the long run.
It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s what happens.
Try it.
In case the idea makes you feel uncomfortable it’s only simply because we are not brought up in a societal system that teaches you to ask for money without doing any work for it.
It teaches you and encourages you to chase your money AFTER the work is complete.
But think about this, all kinds of service based businesses, expensive or otherwise, charge for services either in advance or charge missed appointment fees.
Our industry shouldn’t be any different.
Who is with me?
Sound off in the comments!
Melissa.
P.S. It’s entirely ethical and moral to set ground rules and demand respect for your time in the form of money.
P.P.S. Your time is the only thing you can’t buy back, but you also must be practical because you have bills to pay and most likely, mouths to feed.
Demand respect for your time and services in the simplest way — make your clients pay for it, even if they are going to miss the appointment.
