No Show Policies

[Nicole Washman]

I have been having a problem this month with no shows.  I dont have a policy for this and was wondering what everyone on here has and how well people take to it.  ThanksSherri

 

[Pompal 09.]

No Show Policies

The same thing has happened to me a few times this summer!!! *ugh*I'm considering taking credit cards when booking appointments and then explain that If they don't show up they will be charged in full. I wasn't sure how well this would sit with people.I know that in some big spas in the area (casinos) they asked me for my credit card when I booked the appointment.

 

[Djanti]

Harley,I do that when they have missed at least 2 appts.  I explain on the phone that they have already taken up 2 appt. times and in order to make another appt. they will need to prepay for there appt.  I have found that most of them will not even bother.  People who miss often know they will miss again.  But at least I know that I wont have another no show with that person.  My no shows this month have been with my regulars that never do this to me.  However I offer my clients a great deal to stick with me by offering a come in 5 times and receive the 6th free.  But I feel that if they no show they have already taken up that time .  I have to pay for a babysitter and it really sucks when they no show and then they dont pay for the 6th massage.  I am out a good $20.00 in babysitter fees.  But again these are my regulars and I dont want to piss any of them off.  ??  Dont know what to do, HELP!!!!!!!

 

[LadyCatherine]

Do you call your clients the day before their appointment?Another idea is call them after the have been late by 10 minutes.  Maybe they honestly forgot.  Or something happened.  One of my regulars didn't show up for his appointment, so I called him.  His finger had been cut off and was on some heavy pain killers and could not remember anything.  When they rebook their appointment remind them of your cancellation policy and maybe write it on your appointment cards so they can't say they did not know.

 

[Laura B]

I do call my clients the day before, although alot of my regulars tell me not to that they will remember, and typically they do.  I dont have a no show policy, that is what I am looking for.  What should I have as a no show policy?  And do your clients actually pay the full amount for no showing?  Thanks everyone for your great advice, I love this site!!!

 

[jobromancer]

No Show Policies

After first no-show,  "the no-show policy for this office is everyone's allowed one mistake. After that, the therapist may charge full price for the missed session."  Notice the word is "may".  Leaves room, for example, for a weekly good client to mess up occassionally (once a year, maybe), or real emergencies such as car accidents).  Lets abusers know they will not be tolerated. And they won't here. Maybe they sense that. I have never had to enforce this, just state it.  I got this idea from another post; not my original idea. Thank you, original poster, if you're reading this. Good luck. I don't call to remind.

 

[Sublimeonelove]

I have a no-show policy which I do enforce.  It is posted in my treatment room, in my waiting room and it is in my brochure:"Please provide 24 hours' notice if cancellation is necessary. Otherwise you will be asked to honor payment."Even though this is posted, it is certainly not set in stone.  First, I agree that everyone gets one freebie.  After that, I do look at each situation independently.  I have held clients responsible for forgetting their appointments and most of them are happy to since they agree that it's their fault.  It took me a long time to put this policy in place because I was afraid to offend a client and lose them.  Finally one day I had an epiphany; clients who no-show repeatedly and do not want to pay for the time aren't very good clients to begin with and my time is better spent developing the type of client that values my time and my services.As for taking a credit card and charging it for no-shows, in theory it's a great idea, however, if the cardholder calls their credit card company to dispute the charge, you will get a chargeback and you will have to refund it.  Those of us who accept credit cards should be aware of the expense involved in chargebacks.

 

[Jude]

No Show Policies

What do you guys do if someone no shows and they have a gift certificate??

 

[Panic25]

That's enough of a question for another complete thread! LOLIf you're lucky, I guess the GC is close to expiration.  ;DThat's tough though. Maybe an inspiration to further fine-tune our cancellation & no-show policies??? I guess if you include something like "also applies to gift certificates" in your policy?I guess I'm pretty detail-oriented. I keep re-doing my gift certs, etc so that both the seller and the recipient know all about what they're getting into:My gift certificates come enclosed in a matching card that tells the gift recipient how to reach us & our policies (like cannot exchange massage gift certificates for other salon services, but may be upgraded, etc), and what to expect. The purchasers have to read & sign a card that states they understand that the GC has an expiration date related to the date of purchase. Ity also asks them for contact info in case the GC does not get redeemed. I would rather call the purchaser as an expiration date nears & extend the paid-for massage to them, or they could contact their friend with a reminder, etc. You often don't know *who* the recipient is, but at least you're taking care of the details with your clients that you do business with. I would hope that all my gift certificates get redeemed.... more opportunity to net new regular clients. And happy/satisfied clients are the best. In a perfect world..., right?I did have a no show about 2 weeks ago. someone who was supposed to enjoy a 20% off visit from my summer series card that I gave to June-July-August clients. She just called back yesterday & the receptionist told her that I'd written a pop-up note on her appt file in the computer that said "cannot offer 20% off visit because of no show 8/26 - Jill". The client said that she completely understood, but still wanted to schedule her appt. So that one worked out okay... sorta. I still had lost income for that last appointment, but I'll just talk to her kindly & frankly about it. I don't think it was an emergency, so I feel okay about bringing it up. We give confirmation calls the day prior to all appts & I did call her when she was 15 mins late to her no-show (ha) to see if there was any misunderstanding / ask if we could reschedule her, etc.Jill/sagetherapist

 

[Smiling]

Hi Jill,I remember you posting  recently somewhere that you would share some of your forms with us.  It seems that you have a very efficient way of handling no shows etc.  It would be helpful to see what the forms looks like.I was considering adding a no show clause at the bottom of the intake form and also posting it in the office.  I'm giving some thought to putting the reminder call in effect also - that is for those who are not 'regulars' at my office.I also do on call work for a salon/spa with a % split.  Dealing with them is a real issue when coming to the no shows.  I got a call to do 3 sessions one day so I did not book cleints at my office.  Got there only one person showed for their session.  I waited for  the first client, called when they were late etc., the 2nd showed and the 3rd was a no show.  I told the owner that I would have to start charging for the time that I spent there.  (This was not the first time this has happened). She was not happy about that.  I have repeatedly asked that they call the day before to remind/confirm.

 

[nnik]

No Show Policies

My occasional no-shows happened in the places where I was working for someone else, so they set the policies. Usually it was a person who had never had a massage, i.e. got a gift certificate and chickened out at the last minute. I don't know what the chiro did about patient no shows. I think if the person said "they forgot" or "something came up"...they were rescheduled. Though slips of mind were less believable because our receptionist always called the night before to confirm. I know the salon thought of charging, as they paid us per hour...but there was something going on legally in Ohio at the time, that you could not charge for services you did not render.In private practice, for some reason, I seldom had a no-show. My home office was available on my "off" hours. My patients and clients knew that, and perhaps appreciated the extra effort put in to accomodate them when they needed a massage. They always called if they had to cancel.No-shows and cancellations aren't always a pain! In a very booked up day they can offer a welcome break *g*Gi

 

[~*Shadybaby*~]

I have a no-show policy for my clients at home and at the Chiro.  I have not had any issue with it at home, but it is a constant issue at the chiro.  I have no office freedom at the Chiro and the office staff doesn't work efficiently.  They will not call to confirm, they only occasionally bill a no-show(seem to play favorites, even if the favorite no-shows all the time) and they let the billed ones book another appointment before the no-show appointment has been paid for.  I have been putting my foot down lately.  They are too afraid to make cleints angry.I am able to control my policy home.  But, haven't had too.  In the event of a no-show the client is responsible for paying the full amount.  If they are on the maintenance plan, they have to pay the full regular fee.Late arrivals to appointments also have a policy.  Appointment will still end at scheduled time and client is still responsible for paying full amount.  I am amazed at how many clients still expect their full appointment after being 15+ mins late (*name* called right before I walked out the door, I lost total track of time, I thought it started...).Of-course there are exceptions.We need to teach the clients that our time is valuable and not to waste it.  I agree with Pete, I will not spend my time accomodating the clients that don't extend the same respect as I extend to them.  There are plently of good clients out there.A good way to make sure someone acknowledges your policies,  when they fill out your intake form have a place for them to check off the policies individually.  That way they can't say they didn't read it.Came across this suggestion on a different forum a while ago and have used it ever since.

 

[shesxchaotic]

No Show Policies

Hi Jill,

I remember you posting  recently somewhere that you would share some of your forms with us.  It seems that you have a very efficient way of handling no shows etc.  It would be helpful to see what the forms looks like.

I did create a folder on my photos site for useful documents that others are willing to share. I posted my client intake form there on Monday. I'll be putting other things there in the future. So far, nobody has met the invitation to share theirs, so we'll see how it goes.

http://www.msnusers.com/mrgang

I think mimi posted somewhere a link called "massage freebies". That was full of great stuff too. Check it out.

I'm not sure how comfortable I feel about sharing my gift certificates & gift cert cards, etc though. I work really hard on making these from scratch & I think there are great examples for sale from alot of different sources. It wouldn't hurt me I guess if others 'modeled' their forms & gift certs after mine, but it would certainly offend me if they simply printed mine out, or altered them only slightly, etc. Plus... its just not smart to put out gift certificates on the internet. (Would I have to honor it if a client showed up with one that they printed out on their own??????)

I don't know about that yet.

Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[madie]

Note: the following is not an original idea     ;DI started an on-call list...I offer clients a $10 discount for last minute appointments.  When I have a cancellation, I call those on the list.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it is better than loosing the chance of making any money at all. I love the ideas posted here, and I intend to impliment them in some way, shape or form.  People only treat you the way you let them treat you. If they do not respect our time and service, we are not loosing anyone worth our time and service.  

 

[Miss Ryder]

Jill,I was able to check out your form and really like the idea of the introduction/communication before filling out the client information - gives a more personable touch.  You have excellent marketing ideas and I really appreciate you sharing them with us.  It is of immeasurable help for someone like me who is learning the ins and outs of the business aspect of our field.   I am working on a new client information form and will post it when it is done.Yes, I do agree that people treat you how you allow them to.How fortunate we are to be able to have this ability to share, learn and grow.  Thank you all.

 

[TSK]

No Show Policies

Cool Kai,And thanks for the nice words.You can use mine to model your intake form and/or introduction letter. Whatever I post there, I give my casual consent to borrow, etc.Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[Bluestarz621@yahoo.com]

Jill - just a thought.  Maybe if you didn't actually post a copy of your gift cards, etc.  But just quoted what you include on them and the wording so we get a better idea on your policies and the kind of verbage you're using.

 

[Halo]

No Show Policies

Yes,I am trying to work out a template or something that I can share. Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[A D]

Sherri, what did you do about the situation?  Do you have a policy now?As posted above, I have a no-show policy; my time is lenient. I only ask for 2 hrs. before I charge full price. (My business is by appointment only. Two hours gives me notice not to drive to my office or allows me to go someplace, instead of just hanging around.)  I tell clients that I would prefer 24 hrs notice, if possible.

 

[Garlands]

Well I really havent done anything yet.  I have mentioned to everyone that has no showed me that I am going to be putting a policy in place.  However I still have not.  I have been real busy getting my spa parties at home up and running.  I am going to put something in place.   Im thinking a no show fee will be charged and before they can reschedule they will have to prepay for there next appt.  However I feel this is for those who abuse it.  For the regulars that never no show me I feel I will give them a warning and then charge the fee if they do it again.  But any new client that does this will have to prepay for there appt. if they no show me the first few times.