Deposits ??? Are You Eliminating No Shows in Your Salon?

Deposits are always a subject that is open for a huge debate amongst Salon Owners and Managers.

Some have taken the plunge and gone for it, where as others are still very sceptical on whether this is good for business.

All year round it is important that you are protecting your business against the dreaded ‘no shows’ even more so at your busiest time of year…Christmas.

Educate Your Client A lot of the time clients get a little upset when asking for a deposit. This is genrerally because they simply do not understand why you are asking for their money upfront.

Explaining that the salon has had a lot of clients not turn up for appointments that have been made in advance will certainly start to give them some understanding of where you are as a Salon Owner.

It is also way of them securing the appointment so no one else can take it.

Taking Online Deposits I feel this should be a no brainer by now for all hair and beauty salons. If you are allowing clients to book their appointments online via your website you should be asking for a deposit.

– It will eliminate time wasters
– It captures valuable data
– It allows you to take bookings 24/7 even when you are not physically open
– It allows you to get payment in advance before the booking

There are many ways you can do this, here are a few:

1. Take deposits for every single appointment that is pre-booked – usually this is a % and services vary in price so much.
2. Ask for deposits for bookings that are booked in for a set time (For example any booking 2.5 hours or more)
3. Have deposits in place just for beauty services or just for her services

How to Implement Deposits in your Salon:

1. Ensure you have your terms and conditions clearly visible for all to read. This should be at your reception area, on any marketing material you print and on your website. (Make sure you cover yourself)
2. Make sure your team are behind you on this and that they clearly understand why you are taking deposits for pre-booked appointments
3. Give your clients notice that you will be implementing deposits from a set date
4. Make sure you emphasise to your clients that it is not anything personal (as they will take it personally) it is something that you are doing across the whole salon to look after your business
5. Make sure your team are clear on the different methods of taking a deposit
6. Very important – keep a record of the deposits you take – nothing can be more embarrassing or unprofessional than you taking a deposit 2 weeks ahead of the appointment and asking for full payment of the bill because someone has forgotten to make a note or add a deposit on the computer (if using salon software, 9/10 there will be an option for you to record any deposits taken within their profile)

Real live results taken from one salons online bookings – (Remember all these bookings were made via the salons website)

These figures have been created with minimum effort from the salon, so you can imagine with some concentration, time and focus these figures could easily increase over the next year.

Back to blog