Avoid 2/3 of your clients from missing an appointment on your salon

A recent survey draws a link between the success of Australian beauty businesses and the success of their communication methods, largely driven by SMS updates. The survey was conducted by independent consumer research agency Antenna, on behalf of Podium. It found that businesses that communicated to their clients a) via channels clients found to be most convenient to them, and b) by marketing in a way that was not considered ‘spamming.

The survey revealed: 

• 63% of Australians prefer SMS communications from businesses as it’s more convenient (compared to other forms of communication such as email or phone call).
• Over 50% of respondents aged 18-34 years said they were either very or totally reliant on SMS communications/reminders in managing important day to day life tasks.
• 65% of survey respondents nationally spend over one hour on their smartphone daily.
• 73% of respondents said they would blacklist businesses that spam them with marketing.
• 54% of respondents aged 18-34 years, and 54% of respondents aged 25-54 years either Strongly or Somewhat Agreed with the following statement: “As a result of the pandemic and the digitisation of businesses, I have less tolerance for local businesses that don’t offer easy, convenient or customer-friendly means of communication”

What is the Financial Impact of No-shows on Your Beauty Salon?

Remember that no-shows are missed appointments that result in lost income and a lot of wasted time. And if you think that the impact on your beauty salon isn’t big, well think again!

First, it is very important to calculate "Your No-Show Rate".

Calculating Your No-Show Rate

1. You need to find your average number of daily no-show appointments (remember it must be the average number as no one day is going to give you a real representation). It is recommended to take a 30 day period. For the next 30 days (or from the 1st of the following month), track your no-show clients and then take the total number and divide by 30. This number will be your daily average (write it down somewhere).
2. Next you want to calculate the number of daily appointments that you book over 30 days. Add them up and divide this number by 30.This number will be your daily average (write it down somewhere).
3. Once you have these two numbers as averages per day on a monthly basis, divide the average number of daily no-show appointments by the average number of scheduled appointments and multiply by 100.  

For example: You have an average of 42 appointments scheduled in one month and an average of 6 no-shows per day in a given month. So your calculation would be: 6 ÷ 42 =0.14.

Your no-show rate would be 14%.

Many businesses have no-show rates somewhere between 2% and 15%, numbers which vary greatly based on the location of the business (urban, suburban or rural) and the type of business (beauty salon, legal, medical,etc.).

Last Step...

Now that you have your "No-Show Rate", we can move to the last step which is very simple:

Calculate the total revenue of your beauty salon for the last 30 days and multiply it by your No-Show Rate! 

Was it a scary number? 😨 Then it's time to do something about it!

Regardless of this number and if you have not already, you may want to consider using SMS to remind your beautiful hard earned customers of yours of their appointments!

Just keep in mind these simple tips when setting SMS up:

• Keep your messages short and to-the-point
• Use simple, easy-to-understand language
• Remind them about any paperwork they need to bring with them
• Send messages in the afternoon between 12pm and 5pm
• Ask clients to respond with a simple Y to confirm or N to cancel/reschedule

If you like this blog article, leave us a comment below and share it with your colleagues!

With Love, Ari xx

Source:

• Professional Beauty Magazine Nov-Dec 2022 Edition. "Two-Thirds of clients saved from missing and appointment thanks to SMS, survey shows" article.

• https://www.powerdiary.com/au/blog/benefits-of-sms-appointment-reminders-templates/

• https://www.appointmentreminders.com/how-is-a-no-show-rate-calculated/