I’ve mentioned that pre-booking your clients guarantees your salary, but do we really know what that means? To give you a better understanding, I want to show you some numbers. This will really give you a real sense of how much money you are missing out on by not pre-booking your client’s next appointment. The national average for a pedicure is $50, so I will use that as my base number.

At the end of your client’s appointment, you recommend that she reserves her next appointment. Your professional recommendation for a pedicure is every four weeks. She declines your efforts to pre-book and says, “I’ll call you when I need my next pedicure.” Your client just walked out the door and so did your money!

You recommend four weeks between pedicures, so once a month your client should receive a pedicure. If your client pre-books her next appointment, it is more likely that she will stay on schedule and see you every four weeks. By not pre-booking, your client is reminded she needs a pedicure when she notices her feet look rough, the nails are long, and the polish is chipping. She calls to make an appointment ASAP and you’re busy during the times she wants. So, she is forced to wait another one to two weeks until she can get into your schedule. This pushes her pedicure out to every five to six weeks instead of every four weeks.

Here’s the math: Getting a pedicure every four weeks ensures you an income of $50 per pedicure X 12 months = $600. That means that if your clients comes in once a month for a pedicure as scheduled, you can expect to earn $600 from that client. This $600 does not include the retail you may sell, the additional services you may perform, or the manicure/hand services.

Now, because your client doesn’t pre-book and prefers to go on the “I’ll wait until my feet look like hell before I call to make an appointment” plan, she cannot get in with you, causing her to shift her appointment out to five to six weeks instead of your recommended four weeks. Have you guys ever noticed how much more work you have to do when the client delays her appointment and comes in at six weeks? They have werewolf length nails, Grand Canyon crevices on their heels, and the dead skin just rolls off when you dry off their foot with a towel. It’s becomes a lot more work for you.

Anyway, let’s be conservative and say your client does this routine of calling in to make an appointment and stretching her appointment out to six weeks four times a year. Now, instead of coming in once a month for 12 pedicures for the year, she is coming in about eight times a year. So, do the math: Eight pedicures X $50 = $400. We are losing out on $200 a year for that one client. Not including the retail, additional services, and possible manicure/hand services. Let me put it into perspective for you: Just two clients would be a $400 loss. That’s a car payment!

Imagine how much money you’re going to miss out on in a year if you let this happen to 10 of your clients? That’s $2,000+ a year AND if you let everyone walk out the door without pre-booking the loss is substantial!       

Next week I’ll give you three ways to help you close the pre-book deal. I gave you one in last week’s post about giving your client reasons to come back, telling them what to expect, what will happen, and why they need to come back.

If you don’t pre-book your clients, you are missing out on more than just the pre-book, you’re missing out on a lifestyle! Pre-booking — it can change your income, your status, and the way you live. Just one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill