Jill, those are great strategies to help you pre-book your clients. I know that remembering the statements about the client’s discomfort or length of her nails helps me to tailor the offering to the guest sitting in my chair. I also try to listen in for clues that they are going out of town so that I can help them to book their appointments around the trip they may be taking. It takes a little practice to catch these cues and turn it into an offering but it is well worth it.

Offering the guest a pre-book appointment is also crucial when you have a vacation coming up for a service provider. For instance, Rachael just got married on Saturday and she and her husband left for a two-week honeymoon. Now if Rachael had not been planning ahead for the last six weeks and asking her guests for the pre-book, we would be in big trouble. Clients would be calling to get in and we would not have had the available time to do their service. This could have led to clients being upset and finding another place to get their services done.

Since Rachael knows the importance of planning ahead, she booked her bridal party and her own appointments, then asked all of her guests to reserve their times for before the wedding and during her honeymoon. By doing this she not only let them know she cares enough to make sure they get their services in a timely manner, but that she is willing to work with their schedule or recommend another service provider in the salon to fill in for her while she is gone. If she had not been proactive about this I would be up the creek. Since I am the only other tech in the salon who provides artificial nail services, if she hadn’t reserved the times for her guests on my book then the time would not have been available.

In her planning for this trip she also asked if I would be able to make myself more available to take our guests. We discussed it and I agreed to extend my work day by a couple of hours while she is gone to help get all of our clients scheduled during her trip. It has worked out very well. There are always a couple of people who call last minute despite our best efforts to have them reserve an appointment time and they definitely feel the pinch when a situation like this arises. Most of the time, the guests know that they had every opportunity to take advantage of the offering when it was given. They remember that they could not get in, and the next time they are given a pre-book offering they take it.

Rachael on the big day.

Planning ahead and offering pre-book appointment times are the only way that we can handle a vacation or trip in our salon with success. It is one more way to stand out from the rest and be the best.

— Sandy