How Much Time In Between Client Sessions Is Enough? Stop Overwhelm, Burnout And Increase Your Profits! Working a time-for-money schedule can be tricky when you book clients and they show up late or you need to see a client at 8am and 8pm! Sometimes clients dont show at all or they ask for extras during the session and it can be difficult to try and facilitate good customer service while honoring your schedule. I know it is absolutely exhausting to feel like youre at the mercy of money (your clients schedule), but Im going to show exactly how to avoid the hassle and make more money in less time. Have you ever arrived on time for a hair or massage therapy appointment only to sit in the waiting room for 15-30 minutes? Frustrating, right? This is a clear sign that the business owner does not have control over their schedule and is not practicing good boundaries in business. Whats worse is when you accommodate bad behavior yourself by allocating more time in between clients so the next client doesnt have to see your poor business boundaries in action. Dont let that be you! The reality is your time management is getting you all mixed up! However, the cool thing is that its fixable and you can take control over your schedule rather than it taking control over you. As the business owner, its your job to facilitate the ins and outs of your schedule. Constantly finding yourself having to make up time and allowing the client to be late means you are in a codependent relationship with them. Codependency comes from avoiding conflict over staying on task. Its a common mistake that is made frequently by small businesses, but the good news is it can be changed. The first thing you want to do to tighten your schedule is set up policies, or boundaries, in your business. Asking your client to respect and follow your business boundaries sounds so much clearer and friendlier that respecting your policies. What are you going to do if a client is late and has every excuse in the book or had an emergency that couldnt be avoided? Here is a 3-step process: Step 1: Physically print out your policies and put them in front of the client where they will be able to see them on a constant basis; usually where they hang their coat or put their shoes. Step 2: Verbally tell them your policies at the time of checkout when youre re-booking their next appointment. Here is a short script I use to let my clients know about lateness in my practice: Here at (XYZ business) we have a 10-minute policy. After 10 minutes of being late, your appointment is forfeited and offered to the next scheduled client, so if you are running late please make sure you call the office. The late time will be deducted from your appointment time and there is a 50% fee for any and all missed appointments. This ensures that each and every client gets their time allocated to them as my schedule is very tight. So to avoid all that just make sure you are here 5 minutes before your appointment and we will be all set. Thank you for respecting that boundary. Step 3: Email your client your policies website link. What about when a client asks you to show them an extra yoga pose or work on a specific area of the body during their massage session and theres only five minutes left in the scheduled time slot? A great way to manage this is by asking the client five minutes before the session is done if theres anything else that they would like you to work on and letting them know theres only five minutes left. This ensures that you stay on target with your time and they feel supported and heard. Personally I dont do this very often because I find most of the time Ive already addressed the issues that the client is having, but every so often I will do this especially with clients that regularly ask for extra time towards the end of the session. The point here is that your client needs to understand how your business runs and its your job to communicate that to them. They are not going to remember everything the first time working with you so you must be repetitive. The first 5-7 sessions I see a new client I go over my 3 most important policies; the 24 hour cancellation policy, lateness, and testimonial emails. Source: relaxationbusinesscoaching/innercircle/
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 14:31:20 +0000
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