You didn’t open a salon because you love booking appointments, right? Of course not. So, if you want to spend more time working with clients, you need to get your schedule in order. Once you start a salon, here are some calendar management skills to streamline your appointment-setting process.
Adopt online scheduling software.
Effective calendar management can’t be executed solely on a paper appointment book. It’s just not sustainable. And clients won’t think that it’s a charming personal touch; they’ll probably think that you’re hopelessly outdated. Even worse, they might wonder how long it will take for their appointment to get lost in the mess of scribbles.You will need to create a salon scheduling strategy that will elevate your business.
Square Appointments allows people to book appointments anytime, which can translate into more business since clients can schedule a service outside business hours, meaning that you can wake up in the morning to a full schedule without answering a single phone. Your clients will also appreciate the convenience of booking or rescheduling appointments on their own time — and without ever being put on hold.
The new Appointments app can speed up your checkout process and create a seamless experience for employees as well. In the app, you can pull up clients’ appointments, view their appointment and sales history, and take payments all in one place.
Get Started with Square Appointments.
Avoid booking errors.
Once one appointment goes longer than scheduled, it can be like a domino effect, decimating your day and aggravating your clients. The biggest culprit for this is not booking enough time per appointment. Online, you can set parameters for appointment length depending on the service. But if you have a receptionist who is scheduling services over the phone, he or she might not realize how much longer it takes to do full highlights instead of partial, or that a certain stylist is so chatty that his appointments take longer than average. Keep a list at the front desk of how long it takes each stylist per service so that your front desk help can schedule accordingly.
Reassess your calendar every morning.
You might have gone to sleep anticipating a certain schedule, but with online booking, some things may have shifted overnight. To implement calendar management best practices, start each day going over your schedule and making sure that you and your staff are prepared for any changes. And if you have a receptionist, get that person up to speed about any newly available slots to fill.
Keep clients updated.
Calling clients to confirm appointments might have been a good idea 20 years ago, but who has the time now? And if you do call, how many people actually answer? And let’s not get started on voicemail. You can (and should!) continue to reach out to clients, but do it the smart way — with automated appointment reminders. With Square Appointments, you can cut down on no-shows by sending reminders via email or text that prompt clients to contact you if they have to reschedule. Learn more on how to manage your Square Appointments account settings.
The Client Notifications feature allows you to effectively manage your calendar by sending automated updates about any schedule changes, like if the stylist is running behind. You can add a personal note, too, like “Running 20 minutes behind — lattes and a conditioning treatment are on me!” Since clients are expected to be punctual, they’ll appreciate that you respect their time, too.
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