What am I doing wrong?

[Mistress Mayhem]

Ok I ve always had a pretty good clientel. Not real big but, able to pay the bills and help out at home. In the last 5 weeks I havent went over the $200 mark. Nearly all of my regulars are canceling and rebooking and canceling and rebooking. (never ending cycle) Most of my clients come from word of mouth.
My question is.... Is anyone else out there having a hard time or am I doing something wrong? : I love my job and not to sound like a big head my clients love me.
Is the high cost of gas cutting any one else in half? or just me?
Do I need to do somthing else to support my family? I don't want to give up. I have never had this hard of a time.
I do mail outs, e-mails, the local paper, give aways.etc.
any other idea's I'll try it.
Please help me.

 

[Joe Finkle]

I have had this problem before with some of my regulars.

I have two clients that I will not schedule in advance. They were both well meaning clients, but totally incapable of keeping their appointments. They always gave me 24 hours each time they cancelled, so I never had to wait around for a no show, but it never left me any time to schedule someone in their place. I finally just told them. I understand that your schedule is unpredictable, but I can't keep holding appointments for you. From now on, you will need to call me the day before or the same day and I will do my best to get you in. They both understood completely, and they are both still regular clients.

Another of my regulars is always afraid that "the good time slots" are going to get taken if she doesn't snatch them up. So she schedules in advance just in case something better doesn't come along... like a concert, or lunch with friends, or some other event that she may or may not feel like attending. I finally had to tell her I could not hold the prime appointments for her unless she was sure that she could keep them. She wasn't happy with me about it, but she did understand. She is much more reliable now.

Then there are other regulars who always have the same appointment time each week, and they don't think to check their calendar for unusual events like anniversaries or out of town guests. So I always have everyone look at their calendar each week, even if they have a standing appointment.

-Melody

 

[Mr Phucking NR]

It is most likely not anything you are doing wrong. It's just strange how the universe works sometimes and things like this come in cycles. I just went through a cycle like that in September. Lots of cancellations, as well as regulars who were away or decided to go from once a week to every other week and things like that.

Are these people cancelling last minute? I was having that problem. In my next newsletter, I reminded the clients of the cancellation policy. I also became much more diligent about reminder phone calls.

So, take a look and see if there is a pattern. It may be something like I had or it may be a pattern like Melody. See if there is anything you can do to help avoid this. I don't think it's necessarily anything you are doing to cause this, but there may be things that you can do to help avoid it.

I find that cancellations aren't the only things that come in waves. I will also have waves of times when more of my clients are having neck problems, or perhaps a spurt of gift certificate purchases when there isn't a specific holiday coming up, or all of a sudden I'm getting a big increase in referrals when I haven't run any special to promote it.

Good luck.

 

[bleh^^]

I totally agree with KM! Do you have a cancelation policy? I would also say that if this keeps happening with the same people, don't waste your time or theirs! If you don't waste you time you can schedule someone that will be there for their masage and won't be losing so much time and money!! I also know that it is hard to implement a policy especially if you are a sole practitioner, as I am, but with some people they have to learn that this is a buisness just like any other and they need to respect that!

 

[R4u]

What am I doing wrong?

My question is.... Is anyone else out there having a hard time or am I doing something wrong?

For me, Sept./Oct./Nov. and Dec./Jan./Feb./March seem to always be the months that I see a decrease or bizarre actions in clients. The Fall portion being more slow and the Christmas to Taxes, being more bizarre.

Ideally, I like to use mid Oct. to beginning Nov. for some sort of rest/vacation time, but I can't say that is always happening.

Sept. seems to be the winding down, getting particularly slow by mid to late Oct. and then it picks up again until right before Christmas, where all the chaos starts happening.

In Feb things start to pick up again until right before taxes, and then people start to do the crazy stuff (cancelling or no showing). Luckily the majority of our clients are good at giving some time before cancelling and not doign it at last minute (with the exception being Christmas). If I could, I'd say I might as well also take about 10 days off between Christmas and the beginning of the new year, because it really isn't worth the stress we get from the chaotic re-scheduling, but then again, for now, we just gotta do what we gotta do!

I finally had to tell her I could not hold the prime appointments for her unless she was sure that she could keep them. She wasn't happy with me about it, but she did understand. She is much more reliable now.

I just want to make a quick comment regarding this. I had a client who tried to book out a large number of appointments (for the "time slot") and also would cancel when something better came up. After three in a row, I also had to call, as mentioned above and explain the same thing. Unfortunately, in my case I lost the client. However, I still feel it was the right thing to do, as those slots were needed for other people, and I was turning away people for those times, d/t it being filled, only to get a "no show". I don't think it is worth it to promote this type of behaviour as these people seem to refer others just like them. Which adds to even more chaos in the books. Thanks for mentioning that, it is a great way to "say" the problem to the client. I had beat myself up trying to come up with a good verbal message, and I am pretty sure mine wasn't as gentle as yours!

 

[The boy]

hey there happy hands! it certainly can be frustrating can't it? maybe it's time to give your marketing plan an overhaul? get some fresh ideas by poking around the internet. sometimes getting a couple of new clients just brings about a fresh breathe of air. don't get discouraged. this happens to all of us! sit down and think outside the box on how you can get a couple of new people on your table and then go and make it happen! keep your head up ~ things will turn around.

 

[dartthrower22]

Thanks to all of you, for the pick me up.... I think I do need to rethink outside my box.
My cancelation policy is simple 24 hour notice and they either call a couple hours or just dont call at all. So I have had to tell most of them this...
I love doing my job. When you go to work you dont want your employer to say "I am sorry but I know today is payday but Im not comming in today. I'll pay you next week. You depend on that money, And just the same I expect by the end of the week I'll have x amount of money for my paycheck.
To make a long story short .... Most of them have quit canceling or just not showing up. They see the big picture now.... Or they dont reschule
they wait until they know they can make the appointment that day.... if I have an opening.
It has also giving me an oppertunity to rid the repeat offenders.