Empower your staff to decide who is charged for no-shows
Cancellations are a big headache in the spa and salon business. They cost you money and mess up your schedule – and you can’t avoid them.
Obviously, cancellations are a necessary evil. But you can minimize the damage they cause. There are several steps you can take to do this, including taking a credit card deposit at time of booking and sending out email reminders. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Let’s have a look at the steps you can take to decrease the negative impact of cancellations on your spa or salon business.
Set parameters First things first, you must have a policy in place. There are situations in which you might waver from it, but it’s best to start with something and to set parameters.
Your policy can actually get quite granular. Consider different rules for different types of bookings. You want to maintain your cancellation policy, but still have some flexibility to show empathy and say “I totally understand that your car broke down.”
Ask yourself how long you reasonably need to fill treatment spots. Do you allow 24 hours or 48 hours? It might be easy to fill one massage that cancels eight hours in advance, but you will probably need longer lead times for a group cancellation of five or 10 people. Communicate that policy to guests; you can’t enforce it if they’re unaware of it.
Use available resources Use your own data to track revenue lost through cancellations. With Turn Away Tracking, you can track times with high cancellation rates, equate that to a dollar value, and look at trends.
Then, if you know people are more likely to cancel a Sunday morning appointment, you might charge a higher deposit for those specific reservations.
Empower your staff Your front desk staff should be empowered to make decisions such as who is charged for a no-show and who isn’t, and they should be supported in their decisions. Because if a front desk staffer says to a couple, “We are going to charge you $320 for this missed couples massage,” the client is not going to be happy and is going to ask to speak to the manager. If you want staff to enforce your policy you have to support them in doing so.
Exercise good judgement How hard are you going to enforce your cancellation policy if you’re losing $50 revenue on one 45-minute manicure, vs losing $320 on a couples’ massage? Our business is about guest experience, and you want your guests to be happy and to come back.
Guests are smart, and if you tell them you’re charging them $320 for a missed massage, they may cancel their credit card – and then you can be sure they’re not coming back.
Whatever your policy, there are going to be times when you have to take a hit, because your goal isn’t to punish people, but to get them to return. Providing customer satisfaction means being aware of the line where charging guests for no-shows negatively impacts building your customer base. At that point, you have to ask yourself whether it’s worth it – and only you can decide the answer.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
Promotional feature: Anne Semonin
Katherine Connolly, newly appointed global
director of retail and spa operations at Anne
Semonin, discusses her plans for the brand
Promotional feature: Thalion
Thalion is the first company to develop highly
specialised mineral therapies for clients, says
training manager Sophie Alemany
Research: Finishing touch
A new study shows that massage can
help muscle re-growth after an injury –
even when applied to the opposite limb
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Empower your staff to decide who is charged for no-shows
Cancellations are a big headache in the spa and salon business. They cost you money and mess up your schedule – and you can’t avoid them.
Obviously, cancellations are a necessary evil. But you can minimize the damage they cause. There are several steps you can take to do this, including taking a credit card deposit at time of booking and sending out email reminders. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Let’s have a look at the steps you can take to decrease the negative impact of cancellations on your spa or salon business.
Set parameters First things first, you must have a policy in place. There are situations in which you might waver from it, but it’s best to start with something and to set parameters.
Your policy can actually get quite granular. Consider different rules for different types of bookings. You want to maintain your cancellation policy, but still have some flexibility to show empathy and say “I totally understand that your car broke down.”
Ask yourself how long you reasonably need to fill treatment spots. Do you allow 24 hours or 48 hours? It might be easy to fill one massage that cancels eight hours in advance, but you will probably need longer lead times for a group cancellation of five or 10 people. Communicate that policy to guests; you can’t enforce it if they’re unaware of it.
Use available resources Use your own data to track revenue lost through cancellations. With Turn Away Tracking, you can track times with high cancellation rates, equate that to a dollar value, and look at trends.
Then, if you know people are more likely to cancel a Sunday morning appointment, you might charge a higher deposit for those specific reservations.
Empower your staff Your front desk staff should be empowered to make decisions such as who is charged for a no-show and who isn’t, and they should be supported in their decisions. Because if a front desk staffer says to a couple, “We are going to charge you $320 for this missed couples massage,” the client is not going to be happy and is going to ask to speak to the manager. If you want staff to enforce your policy you have to support them in doing so.
Exercise good judgement How hard are you going to enforce your cancellation policy if you’re losing $50 revenue on one 45-minute manicure, vs losing $320 on a couples’ massage? Our business is about guest experience, and you want your guests to be happy and to come back.
Guests are smart, and if you tell them you’re charging them $320 for a missed massage, they may cancel their credit card – and then you can be sure they’re not coming back.
Whatever your policy, there are going to be times when you have to take a hit, because your goal isn’t to punish people, but to get them to return. Providing customer satisfaction means being aware of the line where charging guests for no-shows negatively impacts building your customer base. At that point, you have to ask yourself whether it’s worth it – and only you can decide the answer.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
Promotional feature: Anne Semonin
Katherine Connolly, newly appointed global
director of retail and spa operations at Anne
Semonin, discusses her plans for the brand
Promotional feature: Thalion
Thalion is the first company to develop highly
specialised mineral therapies for clients, says
training manager Sophie Alemany
Research: Finishing touch
A new study shows that massage can
help muscle re-growth after an injury –
even when applied to the opposite limb
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
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