How you book your treatments can make or break your business – Part 2
This post follows on from part 1 on how bookings can make or break your business
Booking 101
1) Always get the clients to name the treatment they want and when they would like it. (note pad is essential as they will ask questions, talk to quickly and give you golden nuggets of information that will help you upsell or at least give the best guest service ever)
2) Never ask a customer if they have been with you before. If she is a client you should know who she is, if you have a big database then best you get a system like Salon Management Studio this allows you to search for the customer’s name as she tells it to you (if you’re not sure of the spelling you literally just need the first few letters and all associated names and numbers come up) and you can see if the customer has ever had a treatment with you before) this if she is a customer you can check her history and say ah yes Mrs Jones I see you Had a SIX sensational skin care facial last time would you like the same Facial with the same therapist?
Now tell me is that not what you would call the best customer service? We all want to feel special we want to feel important and remembered. Your business should be the place your customers get that feeling…
3) Once you have name, cell no (need this for SMS marketing down the line and for appointment confirmations) appointment type, therapist requests. Now make sure you have all their extra requests in notes, for example, most massage clients will say – I don’t want it too deep or I would like deep pressure. Facial clients might say I definitely want stream extraction; well maybe you do that with all your facials but how special and listened to is she going to feel when on check in you can say I see you requested steam and extraction those notes have been saved on the system and your therapist has been notified. Now you may not have a 5 star building but that is 5 star service.
Salon Management Studio has notes sections on the scheduler that also saves clients notes to their record card. This means that you can save therapist notes and treatment info that is easily and quickly accessible. As well as other preferences like if she likes tea or coffee, or how many sugars in her coffee. Request for a specific therapist is also ideal for notes on the system. This of course has a special note in salon management studio that allows you to see it at a glance when looking at the diary. Now we are talking really getting to know your customer and making her feel oh so so loved.
4) OPTIONS – When offering a client booking times you must always try and get her to book at the time that suits you. This is my little secret. Try it and let me know in the comments bellow if it worked for you. ask, “Mrs Jones would you like a week day or a weekend?” “Wonderful, Saturday or Sunday?” “Saturday morning or afternoon…right Saturday morning I have a 9am with Sally or an 11am with Mandy witch would you prefer?” I cannot do either, don’t you have a 10am” I am sorry madam but 10am is booked, perhaps we can try the afternoon or the Sunday? “no its fine ill make the 9am..
Even through 10am may not have been booked up I first tried to get her into a time slot that suited the diary and how we can fit treatments into it. This will be an art to master and if you can do it you will insure that your business is always working to its full potential. The beauty of salon management studio is that you can move appointments around the diary once you have made them with ease. Allowing to you change appointments whilst still on the phone with your client.
5) Read it back – Always read the booking back to a customer. This is so much better than having to call her back or worse having it wrong and then having to deal with her anger later. Mrs Jones so that is Saturday the 14th with Sally at 9am. Please remember to come in 5mins before you treatment so sally can start your treatment at 9am. We look forward to welcoming you back to salon management studio…
Now the confirmation
1) In my opinion, if you’re the biggest of spas or the smallest of salon, you must always confirm your appointments the day before. With Salon Management Studio, the system sends out confirmation text messages for you and allows the client to reply back to your system to confirm or to reschedule.
2) I would suggest that if client has a long day with you in the salon or spa, she should get an email letter describing her reservation. I feel this is a nice touch and one that can set you apart from the rest. (Salon Management Studio will allow you to pull this information from your system and email it over to the guest in a matter of moments)
How you book appointments and interact with clients is key to a successful business. If you have any ideas on how one can do this better or stories to share, please feel free to comment.
P.S “Drink water & use SPF’
Hi Michelle, I have been using Salon Studio for almost 3 years now. All my clinets will reply yes or no to their appointment, but for the fisrt time we had a cleint who did not reply at all, and when phoned to confirm the appointment, she was very rude, saying that a confirmation means yes, and since she didn’t reply it meant no.We tried to brush the misunderstanding off, but how would you suggest to avoid similar situations?
This really works. As a new and small salon we now make the effort to re-book clients before they leave the salon. 8 out of 10 times they will re-book, which is very helpful for planning. If the client is hesitant, we reassure her of promising a call or sms before they day, which they love.
Good advice!