A no-show is often a customer who forgot, or whose plans changed and who did not cancel. The rules that help are simple. Let customers cancel or move a booking online, send a reminder before the appointment, set a clear time limit for changes, and decide in advance what happens after a no-show. Write the rules down and apply them to everyone.
The booking rules
- Let customers cancel or move the booking themselves. If a change needs a phone call during opening hours, some customers will not make the call. A link in the booking e-mail lets them change the booking at any time, and the slot becomes free for someone else.
- Send a reminder before each appointment. A reminder e-mail the day before gives the customer time to cancel or move the booking.
- Set a time limit for changes. For example: changes online up to 24 hours before the start, and by phone after that. Tell customers the limit when they book.
- Ask for contact details. An e-mail address for the confirmation and the reminder, and a phone number if you want to call before a long appointment.
- Ask customers to confirm by e-mail. The booking becomes final only after the customer opens a link in the e-mail. This stops bookings made with a wrong or false address.
- Set realistic service lengths. A colour treatment and a men's cut need different times. Give each service its own length, and add a break after a service when you need time to clean.
- Keep opening hours and days off up to date. Close public holidays and your own days off in the calendar, so nobody can book a day when you are closed.
- Decide what happens after a no-show. For example: after the first, a short message; after the second, bookings only by phone or with a deposit. Apply the rule to everyone.
Write the rules in plain words
Put the rules where customers see them before they book: on your website, at the counter and on your social media pages. Keep them short. An example:
"You can change or cancel your booking online up to 24 hours before the start. After that, please call us. If you miss two bookings without notice, we will take your next booking by phone only."
Use the same words everywhere. If the website says 24 hours and the sign at the counter says 48, customers will not know which rule applies, and you cannot apply either one fairly.
Fill the gaps
Some bookings will still be missed. Plan for it:
- Take walk-in customers. A QR code at the door lets them take a number on their phone and wait nearby, and you call them when a chair is free.
- Keep a short list of regular customers who are willing to come at short notice, and contact them when a slot opens.
- Post free slots for the same day on your social media pages.
Keep track of no-shows
Note each no-show with the date, the time and the service. After a few weeks you can see whether no-shows happen more on certain days, at certain times or for certain services.
- If one service is missed often, consider a deposit for it, or a call the day before.
- If one time of day is missed often, check whether the reminder goes out early enough.
- If one customer misses often, apply your rule.
Change one rule at a time, and compare the next few weeks with the weeks before. Then you know which change helped.
Do it in the app
EZLineGo gives you a booking page with your services, opening hours, days off and public holidays, where customers cancel or move their own booking up to the time limit you set. A reminder e-mail goes out before each booking, and a QR queue at the door takes walk-in customers for the gaps. Booking is part of Pro, which costs 15 EUR a month and which you can try free for 30 days.