9 Effective Tips on How to Reduce Salon No-shows

Picture this: 

You’re getting up early in the morning to drink a big cup of coffee and get ready for the busy day you have ahead. You drive in the morning traffic to get to the salon and receive your client that has an 8 o’clock appointment. They’re not arriving, and you just realize you could have slept for another hour. 

Having a no-show once in a while could happen even to the best beauty salons. Last moment changes can occur to everyone, including your clients.

But, there could also be patterns in some of your clients resulting in the various missed appointments or arriving late, messing with your entire schedule.

Let’s see how you can reduce salon no-shows appointments.

1.Have a Clear Booking System

Any good salon experience begins with a straightforward appointment process.

The appointments made via phone calls can sometimes be hurried because maybe your clients don’t have enough time to think about their future days ahead. These situations lead to appointments that can’t be carried out, leaving you with an unwanted no-show. 

You should provide your clients with easy solutions when booking their appointments, where they can pick a time that works best for them. 

The best answer here is an online booking system that allows your clients to finish everything in just a few steps, reducing no-shows appointments substantially. And the best part is they can do this anytime, from their phone, without calling you.

Goldie is one of the best booking apps for your salon, and it has a very clear setup process.

The app allows you to add your salon’s name, logo, services, prices, opening times, and a picture of your choice. Plus, it allows you to collect payments from clients via payment link or contactless at the salon, without a POS or any extra equipment required. They just tap and pay in seconds.

Once you set up the online booking profile in the app, you can even add the “Book” button to your Facebook or Instagram page and make it 10x times easier for your clients.

Download the Goldie app from AppStore or Google Play, and see the magic of increased productivity with your own eyes.

2.Send Appointment Confirmations

Once your clients make an online appointment, send them a booking confirmation with all the necessary information.

In this way, they’ll have a message they could check to see the appointment details, helping them if they want to make any changes in advance.

Besides being the most helpful app in terms of booking online appointments, Goldie will also send automated text messages to your clients when the appointment is booked, and not only.

This takes us to the next tip that’ll help reduce no-shows appointments.

3.Send Your Clients Reminders

If you’re wondering how to reduce no-shows appointments or get rid of them altogether, an excellent practice is to send your clients reminders before the appointment.

But this can be a tedious process if you’re doing it manually.

The awesome news is that you don’t have to worry about this process. Let Goldie help you with this too.

Send automated text reminders when the appointment is coming up and help your clients be there on time.

Using the automated text messages feature, not only you’ll reduce no-show rates, but your clients will see you as a professional in your niche.

TIP: Check out this article and discover some hair salon cancellation policy templates. They will help you inform your clients better about how you charge no-shows in your salon and encourage them to make it to the next appointment.

4. Accept deposits and payments online

As I already mentioned before, there are booking apps that allow you to accept deposits and payments from clients online without the need for other expensive equipment.

Now, believe me or not, this is the way to go if you want to get rid of no-shows and lost income permanently.

Statistics show that asking for deposits to clients can reduce your no-shows to almost 0. Why? Because your clients don’t want to lose money, and when they’ll pay for something in advance, they will remember to show up for sure.

Ready to grow your business?

5.Keep Details About Your Clients 

Using an app with a client management feature is great for stocking information regarding your clients’ preferences, style, and maybe even negative patterns and experiences.

If a specific client missed their appointments several times and you know this because you have it noted in your client management section of the app, you’ll know not to accept another possible booking from that client.

Once you have Goldie up and running, you can automatically accept all bookings or approve/decline them manually and keep everything under your control.

In this manner, you’ll reduce no-show rates and fill those empty slots with other appointments.

6.Keep the Waiting Time to a Minimum

Creating appointments with your clients means also respecting that time slot they dedicated to coming to your salon.

To reduce no-show rates in the future, allow yourself more time in between appointments in case not everything goes as planned. In this way, you’ll also cut the waiting time for your clients.

Moreover, if you still need a bit more time before switching to the next client, you can ask your apprentice to prep the client for the appointment. This will ensure your clients they’re being taken care of, and you’ll soon handle their appointment.

While no one minds waiting a few minutes at the start of their appointment in the salon waiting room area, they can get impatient or even leave the salon, the appointment resulting in a no-show—kind of.

7.Create Fast Appointments When The Clients Call

Even if you have the best online booking system out there, some people will still call you from time to time to make an appointment.

Wondering how to reduce no-shows in this case?

If that happens, make sure you’re managing their appointments and try to book them as soon as possible. The closest the appointment from the moment the client called, the better. There are increased chances they forget all about the appointment if you create it too further in the future.

Also, if possible, try asking them to go for the online booking next time, presenting them all the benefits of using that feature.

8.Offer Only the Best Services

When you offer only quality services, there’s no reason your clients will drop off the appointment at the last minute, just if they forget about it. But with the before mentioned reminder services, that’s unlikely too.

So, if you do see more and more client no-shows, you should start analyzing your salon services from A to Z and improve the areas you find a bit shaky.

It’s important to evaluate your services from time to time to stay competitive.

Listen to your clients’ feedback, build a salon according to their needs, and reduce no-shows appointments.

9.Build Relationships with Your Clients 

Improve your relationship with your clients by thanking them for showing on time and keeping their appointments.

Showing you appreciate their cooperation will also help build the client-salon loyalty, leading to a stronger relationship in the future.

You know the saying: a simple thank you goes a long way.

Besides, try to talk and bond with your clients during the appointments. Learn to predict their needs and show them how much you appreciate them for choosing you. In this way, your clients will show up for their appointments with more enthusiasm, knowing they’ll meet a friendly face there. 

And just like that, you will significantly decrease the no-show rates.

Wrapping It Up

Some salon no-shows are inevitable, but you can reduce them by following these simple yet super effective tips.

Reducing no-shows appointments will help improve your business, but it will also give you that confidence boost you need. Give it a try right now! 🙂