"It's a Lack of Respect"

When you ask skin clinic owners what causes clients to cancel their appointments, you hear this most often: "a lack of respect."

But is a lack of respect really the actual reason?

Before looking at how to permanently eliminate no-shows and cancelled appointments forever, it's important to understand why your clients cancel and why deposits and reminders don't work.

She thinks:

"Oh shit, I totally miscalculated how much work I still have with x, y, and z... that appointment really doesn't work right now. Oh good, I'm still well within the deadline—I'll just reschedule to next week or the week after, then I'll have more space and won't have to bend over backwards to be on time because I know they hate it when I'm late. If I'm late, the next appointment gets delayed and their whole schedule falls apart."

She thinks:

"Ah, shame. I really don't feel that well. Better to cancel the appointment now because I'm still before the required cancellation time and then she can still fill my spot."

(Or that last part—she often doesn't even think it at all.)

What a Client Feels With a Real Last-Minute Cancellation

"Shit. I really, really can't make it. I MUST finish this assignment for my boss first, unfortunately. Me time will have to wait. I don't like it either but there's simply no other choice."

What a Client Feels With a No-Show Without Notice

"Oh noooo, I lost track of that appointment. SHAME."

And shame = I'm just not going.

Why Your Client Thinks This Way About Her Appointment

The fact that she thinks this way about that appointment for a hydrafacial says nothing about you, nothing about the treatment, and nothing even about the client.

The hydrafacial is important.

But not THE most important.

The hydrafacial, or whatever other treatment she booked, doesn't feel like a MUST-have.

Of course she finds that appointment and the result important. But when she has to choose between meeting the deadline and keeping her boss happy—which might finally get her that promotion—that choice is made quickly.

In summary: it doesn't make that much difference to her whether she gets that hydrafacial this week, next week, or even in 3 weeks.

Why is this?

An appointment in your skin clinic = Nice if it works out, no big deal if it doesn't because the treatment now is too much a NICE-to-have for your client.

And we all know what happens with things that don't feel truly essential

Me time = the first thing many women give up.

Because however much you know how important me time is for many women, me time still feels like a "stolen pleasure.

This Is Why Reminders & Deposits Don't Work

Reminders and deposits don't resolve that conversation in her head.

They don't transform your treatment into an essential that cannot wait

The cost of no-shows and cancelled appointments is greater than you undoubtedly realize right now.

1 no-show or cancelled appointment per week = €150

2 no-shows or cancelled appointments per week = €300

3 no-shows or cancelled appointments per week = €450

Now suppose you work with 3 practitioners.

3 cancelled appointments or no-shows per practitioner per week:

• = 9 per week

• = 9 × €150

• = €1,350 per week

• = €5,400 per month

• = €64,800 per year

And no, that's not an exaggerated amount.

Take Your Calendar: How Many Cancelled Appointments Were There?

Last week:

.... Number of Cancelled Appointments

€ ..... missed revenue

Last month:

.... Number of Cancelled Appointments

€ ..... missed revenue

If you're very brave, you'll also do this exercise for the past 12 months.

Past 12 months:

.... Number of Cancelled Appointments

€ ..... missed revenue

And if you're extra courageous, you'll do an additional poll for all the years you've had your salon.

Don't be shocked: this is usually a gigantically high amount.

An empty spot in the calendar isn't just a loss.

An empty spot means in your current model that your practitioner must be paid 100% while there's no income for that hour.

Whether or not you fundamentally address no-shows and cancelled appointments can easily mean a difference of €40K per year more or less (depending on your revenue and team size, of course)

Many skin clinics use the method of offering last-minute empty spots on social media with a discount.

This does 3 things:

1. It trains clients that waiting pays off.
You reward the last-minute decision-makers versus your loyal clients who schedule appointments weeks in advance.

With an airline ticket, it's exactly the opposite. The rule there is: the earlier you book, the less you pay. Try booking a flight for the next day and you'll pay more than top price.

2. You suffer a loss every time you have your practitioner give a treatment at a discount.

3. It damages your positioning

Time to Create the Taylor Swift Effect in Your Natural Aging Skin Clinic

Because a Taylor Swift concert?

That gets booked months in advance, price becomes almost irrelevant, and cancelling is out of the question.

That deadline at work?
Sorry, but that concert is really 1000× more important now.

The husband has a late meeting and won't be home on time for the kids?
No problem—mom, mother-in-law, neighbor, babysitter will come, but she's GOING to that concert.

Why?

Because a Taylor Swift concert is an absolute must-have for a Swiftie.

It feels like an absolute necessity.

Price? Totally irrelevant.

Suddenly the economy is completely unimportant—she'll find the money somehow.

Your client will indeed sooner choose to skip her monthly facial with you than miss the concert of the century.

That's ALSO the Effect You Want in Your Institute

The Taylor Effect in Your Institute

Contrary to what you might think now, you don't need the newest hype device or that exclusive product for the Taylor effect.

(In fact, those are precisely the things that long-term do NOT create the Taylor effect.)

Getting the Taylor effect is much simpler.

The secret is making your treatments an irresistible offer that is an absolute necessity for your ideal client only.

Not for every woman on this planet, but for your most ideal client.

Because no—not every woman is your ideal client.

When what you offer is a MUST-have, there's not a hair on your client's head that would consider cancelling or rescheduling her appointment.

Of course there are different ways, depending on your skin clinic, to apply the Taylor effect and make your treatment offering irresistible and a MUST-have.

Now that you know how much no-shows and cancelled appointments cost your skin clinic annually, you naturally want the Taylor effect in your skin clinic ASAP.