4 Reasons You're Not Fully Booked, Yet
I'm Tiffany Nadolny, your host of the Spa Business Building Podcast. I'm a licensed esthetician, massage therapist, and solopreneur in my day spa. With nearly two decades of experience in the beauty and wellness industry, I've learned a few things about building a career and maintaining longevity.
Outside of the treatment room, I'm a wife, mom, to the human and fluffy kind, plant enthusiast, and book lover. Join me while I share my experiences and insight on attracting clients, maintaining and building a thriving business while achieving a work-life balance. So whether you're a new solo spa boss or seasoned, this podcast is for you.
Hey there, solo spa bosses. Welcome back to the Spa Business Building Podcast. I'm Tiffany, your host.
So your books aren't full and your income isn't steady. Why is this happening and what can you do to fix this problem? That's what we're talking about on today's episode of the Spa Business Building Podcast.
As beauty and wellness service providers, our goal is to help our clients achieve their goals by providing them with the services that we offer. It's really that simple. So whether that is your guests are seeking confidence and you are providing them a service where they feel beautiful, or maybe they are seeking pain relief and you are able to assist them with that.
Whatever it is, our goal is to help them. Our other goal is to provide an income for ourselves. We go into business for ourselves for many reasons, but one of those being that we want to make a profit.
We need to pay our bills and ensuring that our books are consistent is how we do that. So your books aren't full and your income isn't steady because guests aren't returning or they just aren't returning as often as they should be or you would like. You might also be experiencing lots of no shows, late cancellations, and rescheduling.
So what's going on and what can we do to ensure that our books are consistent and we have a steady income? Now I want to start by saying that this doesn't just happen to like guests aren't coming back. They're not returning.
So you had a new guest and they haven't rescheduled and it's been some time. So why didn't they reschedule? So number one, it's because you didn't educate them on why they should be returning.
Number two, you didn't ask them to return. You didn't ask them for the rebooking. Your checkout process should always include these two steps.
Educating them and asking them. Why is it important that they need to come back? If they want to reach their goals and you have a plan for them, let them know what your plan is and why it's important to keep returning so they can be successful in achieving their goals.
But it's also very important to ask them to return. Say, when's a good time? I have some dates available on my schedule.
I would like to get you in. I do fill up quickly. So let's take a look.
What days are best for you? What times work for your schedule? It's really that simple.
So your guest isn't returning as often as you would like, or they should be to guarantee their results. It goes back to educating them on the importance of returning more often. So if you don't have an automation set up to remind them to rebook, you're missing that opportunity.
If they came in and they want to come back, but they just aren't rescheduling as often as they should, setting up a reminder to send them an email that it's time to rebook can really help. Sometimes people just get busy and they totally forget about it and you didn't ask them. Sending an email reminder and if your system has to be charged.
It is very, very helpful to make sure that you're doing that. But maybe it's not in their budget, and that's why they just aren't able to return as often, and that's okay. Having a conversation around their goals and how you can be a part of their self-care regimen and finding something, finding a balance so that you can fit in to their budget.
Maybe it's they can't come back for the services, but they're purchasing home care, or maybe you are giving them some activities to do at home to help them with their pain management. Whatever that is, when you show your sincerity around wanting them to come in and help them, and it's not just about the money and you want to be part of their self-care, I think that they will value that. I know that they will value that.
So have that conversation and see how you can still help them, even if they cannot come in as often. So the other scenario is you had a new client, you did ask them to rebook, you did educate them on taking care of themselves and the importance of returning and they still haven't come back. It could be that the experience was lacking for them.
No one wants to hear that they didn't provide a stellar service for their guests. But oftentimes, this is exactly what it comes down to. This is the reason why your guests aren't returning.
They just didn't feel like the experience, the overall experience was stellar enough for them to return. Currently, with our economy, people are being very choosy about where they spend their money, and they want to receive the value they feel like they're putting their hard earned money towards. And if they've paid for something, and they just feel like it really wasn't worth the amount that they spend because they worked so hard for that money, they're not going to return.
A lot of people value relaxation and beauty services, but if the professionalism and the quality of service is lacking, they're not going to come back. And if you're not sure if this could be the reason why your guests aren't returning, I encourage you to start sending out end of service questionnaires or feedback questionnaires. Invite your guests to provide their feedback anonymously.
Nobody wants to hurt your feelings. A lot of people won't even write bad reviews. I mean, we have some, there are some Karen's who will write bad reviews, but most people don't want to hurt your feelings.
They felt like you were a nice person and you weren't rude to them, and they just weren't feeling the service, so they aren't going to say anything, but they will tell their friends that they didn't think it was amazing. And then people are going to not want to visit your space. So asking for feedback anonymously, they don't have to put their names, they don't have to put their emails, and let them tell you what they did or didn't like about the service.
This is a great way to improve your overall- It came down to- Your room smelled funny.
It was too- If they wanted the table warmer on. You dropped the-
I don't know, dropped something on them, or maybe you were just really shaky in, you know, they could tell that you were nervous or unsure or unconfident, whatever it is. They felt it, and they felt like it wasn't worth them returning. Maybe they thought the prices were too high for what they got, but this is how you were going to improve your skills, your professionalism.
Did you arrive late? They were there 15 minutes early, and you arrived five minutes before your appointment. That's a big no-no.
People don't like that. They don't want to be waiting around for you, and you show up five minutes before them. Now, if they're showing up 30 minutes before, and that's usually when you show up, then I think that's totally fine.
But if you're kind of rushing in, or you're just walking in, and they've been waiting for you, that just shows lack of professionalism. And I know you probably don't want to hear this, but what you're wearing and how you show up professionally, it makes a difference. And that could be what's lacking in your services.
So let them tell you, and then take that feedback as constructive criticism, and whether you're applying it to becoming more professional and having a professional appearance, or you need to brush up on your skills, whatever that is, do that for your business. Because if you don't, what's going to happen? You may not have a business for much longer, unfortunately.
I do not want to see that for you. So our last scenario is, guests are repeatedly no showing you, they're late canceling, or they're rescheduling their services a bunch. This comes down to not setting or holding your boundaries.
Now, I understand how difficult it is to be authoritative, but when you're not, your business suffers. Just remember, it's not personal. You don't hate these people because you're setting boundaries.
It's not personal, it's business. If you allow bad behavior, you will get bad behavior. Start implementing no show policies, late cancellations, rescheduling policies, require a deposit, or a credit card to hold appointments.
Make sure that you are following through with your stated policies. In all of my appointments, I have a form, they have to complete their intake form and check off and sign that they have read my policies and that they agree and I require a credit card. So when I have someone who reaches out through text or DM or whatnot asking for an appointment, I always send them to my booking link because they have to agree to my policies before I will book them and they have to give me a credit card.
And if someone is fighting you on that, then they're probably not the right guest for you. They are most likely going to cause you heartache in the end. They're going to be the ones that cross the boundaries who don't care about whether or not they're showing up or they just they aren't going to respect your time.
They aren't going to respect you and they're not the right guest. So those who value you, they're not going to cross those boundaries. They're not going to give you a hard time.
And I mean, your happiness and mental health are more important than constantly having to deal with clients who are just crossing boundaries and showing you no respect. And the sooner that you can understand that and be authoritative in your business, the easier and smoother that your business will be. I will not tolerate bad behavior like that in my business.
I have guests I value very much, and they don't ever give me a hard time. If they are sick, I know that they're sick, and I allow them to cancel because, one, I don't want them coming in when they're sick. But if they're constantly canceling and saying that they're sick and that's a habit that they have, then they're no longer going to be my guest.
And that invites another guest who respects me into my business. It just opens up that space for someone else to come in. So, there you have it, my friend.
My tips on overcoming inconsistent bookings. I hope that you found this episode valuable. I truly want to see you succeed.
And I hope that I am providing you with valuable knowledge, insight, and actionable steps to build a strong and profitable business. So until next time, stay inspired, stay fabulous, and happy business building.
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