How do you get customers to keep their detailing appointments...

[AllanS]

Doesn't happen to me often. Maybe I am lucky. What I do is confirm the appointment at the end of the conversation when the person first calls me. Then I tell them I will call the the night before to confirm. When I confirm on the night before the appointment I tell them I will call them when I leave for their place to give them an heads up about 30 mins before I show up. Only a handful of time has someone cancelled on me at the last minute.

I think taking a deposit could work. So far I have not seen a need for it but if I had repeated cancellations like you do, I would very likely do that. The only issue is that my CC processor (Square) charges more for manual transactions. But on a small amount like 20-50$ that would not make much of a difference.

FWIW, you can invoice (e-mail) the customer with Square. When they pay the invoice, it's at the usual 2.75% rate. Though I am not sure how one can incorporate that in a smooth way or on website. There ARE shopping cart plug-ins that could be used - to pay a deposit.

Also, my niece, an esthetician, schedules a service called "Schedulicity." (sp???) It allows clients to book the appt. I think she may do some client billing off that as well. If they blow off 1 or 2 appts, they are locked out of the system!

Just some food for thought.

[RaydiantDetail]

Zach from attention to detailing gave me a excellent tip.

Get deposits when they want to make an appointment plain and simple.

If they ask why ? You tell them , when people call after you leave and book an appointment saturday afternoon, and the person that calls and wants saturday afternoon i tell them no thats not open, they will understand and if serious will leave the deposit.

I had one guy wanted full paint correction and coating, on a s550 (huge car) i got a 200$ deposit from him he rescheduled with me for 2 months.

If i never got the deposit i would of never seen him, he would of forgot about me in 2 months.

Not because he didnt want to do it, but because life happends and you get busy.

That is if you in a fixed location, if your strictly a mobile detailer thats hard, if they just call you, but even if you are mobile, and go to see a car before you work on it, get a deposit to ensure your time isnt being wasted.

In my opinion all you need to do is make your appointment process more official. Think of any type of purchase you make that requires to schedule ahead: airfare, hotels, dentist, etc. In many cases you will speak to someone on the phone or interact with a website which is where you "click a button" or speak with someone who confirms your purchase. You may get an immediate email confirmation or some other form of physical receipt as further confirmation of the purchase. Later, as a reminder, you could get yet another confirmation of your purchase in the form of a reminder email or courtesy call informing you of your agreed upon day/time for the appointment.

If all you do is talk to someone on the phone once and tell them "yeah, yeah, blah, blah, let's meet on day xyz at such and such time." They may not have even written the information down anywhere. Even if they did they could have lost the paper (or napkin) they used to record the information. They might not even have your contact information in front of them to know WHO THEY CALLED. I've had multiple people call me asking "Um... I made a detail appointment but I can't remember which company it was with....... was it you?"

TD;DR: Sending several different purchase confirmations and appointment reminders will, without a doubt, significantly reduce the likelihood for your customers to cancel without notice.

Doesn't happen to me often. Maybe I am lucky. What I do is confirm the appointment at the end of the conversation when the person first calls me. Then I tell them I will call the the night before to confirm. When I confirm on the night before the appointment I tell them I will call them when I leave for their place to give them an heads up about 30 mins before I show up. Only a handful of time has someone cancelled on me at the last minute.

I think taking a deposit could work. So far I have not seen a need for it but if I had repeated cancellations like you do, I would very likely do that. The only issue is that my CC processor (Square) charges more for manual transactions. But on a small amount like 20-50$ that would not make much of a difference.

FWIW, you can invoice (e-mail) the customer with Square. When they pay the invoice, it's at the usual 2.75% rate. Though I am not sure how one can incorporate that in a smooth way or on website. There ARE shopping cart plug-ins that could be used - to pay a deposit.

Also, my niece, an esthetician, schedules a service called "Schedulicity." (sp???) It allows clients to book the appt. I think she may do some client billing off that as well. If they blow off 1 or 2 appts, they are locked out of the system!

Just some food for thought.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful feedback . Looks like I need to do some work on my end.

1. See how to work in taking a deposit for any services scheduled probably for higher priced/ heavy appointments like paint correction/ coating work.
2. Making the appointment more official by sending out email/ text reminders when the client books as well as 2-3 days before a reminder, and a 1 day before reminder as well.
3. I need to get on Square, right now I just accept cash and paypal, but I do not have a card reader.

[dano126]

Have someone in the wings. I always have someone looking for asap. I tell them they are on the cancelation list and also a firm appt. Never punish the people for canceling.

[jwgreen6]

3. I need to get on Square, right now I just accept cash and paypal, but I do not have a card reader.

PayPal has a card reader. That's what I use.

[jwgreen6]

How many overbook appointments, like the airlines do (they tend to overbook flights by 10-20%)?

[dano126]

Ive worked in restaurants for years and they do the same. We always run a small cancelation list for people looking to get in without advance notice and it always works well, and everyone is happy. If cancelling makes you angry. Keep a organized log of clients if they show a pattern. Let them know. "open table" does it. Open Table will not let you make a reservation after three "no call no shows".

[Calendyr]

In the restaurant industry, no shows are a fact of life. I think I read somewhere that 20% of people who make reservation either don't shpw or show with a lot less people than planed.

I don't feel we have this problem in the detailing industry. I would put the rate at less than 5%. In my experience anyway.

Maybe you could ask for deposits only if it's someone who has cancelled before.