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research_paper_by_fatimata_sidibe.docxRunning head: BUSINESS RESEARCH FOR DECISION MAKING 1
Scheduling Policies 7
Fatimata Sidibe
Scheduling Policies
MGT 6OO
2/01/2014
Dr. Dyrren D. Davis
Scheduling Policies
Introduction
Scheduling policies and its influence on customer satisfaction, many salons constantly monitored appointment made by their customers because products, material, number of employees needed to serve customers are based on how customers they are likely to see per day, week or month. Employee wages, taxes and benefits are all based on revenue, as are plans made to grow the business and drive it forward.
When a customer makes an appointment and don’t show up for their appointment, product ordered and paid isn’t used, employees who are on-site to work are paid for their time but don’t generate revenue. It is definitely an issue for the business because the loss can be substantial, not to mention that just on no show per day at an average cost of $50 comes close to a $20K loss per year. As a results, many salons are now trying to mitigate the loss that this no show situation causes by charging anywhere from half to full fee when a customer chooses not to honor the reserved appointment. So the question to be asked is: what is the influence of scheduling policies on customer compliance?
Literature Review
By summarizing what is known, no show up customers affect salon owners since it is a serious revenue problem. Clients who miss appointments without calling to cancel are wasting your time as well as preventing you from filling your day with appointments that produce revenue, and while it’s impossible to completely stop no-shows from happening, but the policies and procedures you put into place can go a long way in making them a rare occurrence.
Critical work already done states that the most profitable salon owners invest time to not only define their strategy but also to develop a plan to bring that strategy to life. These owners walk into the salon every day with a clear view on how they will reach their goals day by day, month by month, and year by year. This dedication to planning sets them up for positive results for not only this year but for their entire career.
1. Know Your Rules
Some stylists have to adhere to their salon's policy when it comes to no-shows, and others get to set their own rules. If you're flying solo on this one, know your rules, stick to them, and clearly let your clients know your policy when it comes to no shows so there aren't any surprises. When it comes to a no-show policy, you have to be consistent. The sign on your station saying you charge full price for missed appointments won't always do the trick, if they actually no-show, charge them and you can bet they'll never miss another appointment again.
2. Create a no-show policy
Many salons will have a no-show policy that notifies the customer of any consequences they may have to deal with, should they not show up or show up too late to their appointment. It is really up to the salon owner to decide what they would like those consequences to be, whether they fine a customer for not showing up, or limit the time they spend with a customer who is late by cutting out one of the treatments they had booked. Be sure to make the policy clear to prevent any confusion. If there is a strict policy in place that your customers are warned of before making their booking, they may be less likely to cancel at the last moment. Also, a policy can also act as a good customer service tool; should someone show up late expecting to miss out on an element of their treatment, but you’re then able to accommodate them, they’re more likely to sing your praises because you’ve made an exception for them.
3. Take deposits
For treatments that are likely to take a fair amount of time or are relatively costly, you could always ask your customers for a deposit. This way, they will be less likely to simply not show up, as they have already put some money toward the treatment, and if they don’t show up, you’ll have still made some money from the appointment and could even fit in another customer. Make sure your customers are aware that the deposit is non-refundable, though consider offering the chance to rebook, which would allow you the chance to make a happy customer and ensure revenue makes it through the door.
4. Use the time wisely
When a customer doesn’t show, you can suddenly find yourself with little else to do, so why not try to use the time wisely? Use your salon software to check to see if any other customers were desperate for the appointment and give them a call to come in if they are free. If there is no one to fill the slot, you could use the time to practice your technique, take some flyers into town to promote the salon, or spend some time on the social media pages, engaging with clients. As well as this, it’s always worth keeping a marketing list of clients who may be available at short notice on particular days and sending out a text to them using your salon software.
5. Get Creative
If you don't feel comfortable straight up charging your clients for work you never did, at least protect yourself and your time by implementing some sort of penalty for no-show clients. One of my colleagues has three strikes you’re out rule and will no longer accept appointments from clients that no-show three times in a row. Another stylist I know adds a fee onto their client's service the next time they come in.
If you still don't feel right charging them, at least keep a sign at your station saying you will charge full price for missed appointments. Sometimes the threat alone can coax a client into warning you when they can't show up. You may have a problem though if a client ever tries to call you on your bluff!
5. Confirm
This step might seem like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many confirmation calls can fall through the cracks. If you are a freelancer, this step is all the more important since you won't be relying on a receptionist to confirm with your clients for you. Not only is a confirmation helpful for you, but it's also a professional gesture towards your clients. Communicating can make all the difference when it comes to your clients showing up.
6. Know When to Let a Client Go
One of the hardest things to do as a stylist is telling a client that you no longer can see them. You have to stay strong when you find yourself in this kind of situation. Your client will most likely try and talk you out of this decision, they'll make promises that they'll show up and stop wasting your time, but you must stick to your decision. It's perfectly acceptable to send an email in this situation so don't feel like you have to talk to them face to face. In fact, it's probably better to contact them by email or phone because the last thing you want is for a client to make a scene in the salon. Time is money, and if someone is consistently wasting yours, it's time to let them go.
Areas of insufficiency in this research include not finding many research made on scheduling policies for salons owners which makes it kind of hard to investigate others view point that could help me decide which one suit my business the best.
My area of research interest is to find out ways to avoid losing money and continue to generate revenue, even when a customer fails to show up for their appointment. It is very important for me to investigate about this issue as it has been affected my business for a while now. Some of my customers have been making appointment and either come very late or doesn’t show up at all, thus, causing my business to lose money. So the purpose of this study is to find out if I can get my customers to agree to some kind of compensation for this kind of loss.
Rationale
A specific question addressed for this issue is that if I change my scheduling policies, then will that affect my customers’ compliance?
By outlining the scope and relevance of the study, the independent variables in this case will be scheduling policies and the dependent variable will be customer compliance.
The hypothesis statement will then be, if a change in scheduling policies will influence the customer compliance? It is very crucial to find out if I could chase my customer away by doing so since there might be many implications of my hypotheses as adopting new policies can affect customer compliance. They can either choose to honor my new policies or choose not to honor it.
Indeed, I don’t regularly charge for late arrival, late cancellation or no show up since no one wins in that situation. But since it has been affecting my business, my plan will next be to weight in a scale the component of scheduling policies and components of customer compliance and find out if a change in scheduling policies will positively or negatively influence my customer compliance.
Reference:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=scheduling+policies+and+its+influence+on+
customer+appliance
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-high-cost-of-no-show-customers
