Now this doesn’t usually happen to me but this week it did… this week I had 5 hours of no-shows!

I am not going to lie; one of them really got under my skin in a big way!

The no-show that bothered me the most was that of a local beauty biz school instructor. And sadly, she has done this twice!

I consider myself an educator in the beauty biz industry and as such, it really bothered me that a beauty school instructor – someone who clearly knows better – would do this. She’s not respecting the very same boundaries that she should be teaching her students to create and uphold in their businesses.

She’s not practicing what she is hopefully preaching.

Oh and in case you are wondering…

Yes, she was sent a no-show invoice for the appointment and has been removed from our online booking system until the invoice is paid.

My week of no-shows, combined with the struggles I see each and every one of us dealing with on a daily basis, is what triggered me to write this letter for all clients to consider when booking with a beauty biz practitioner.

Dear Jane,

Fortunately, this letter is not meant for 80% of clients who visit estheticians, hair stylists, nail techs and massage therapists (approximately) every four to six weeks for a beauty TLC appointment.

This message is meant for the 20% of clients who need a gentle reminder or maybe a new awareness surrounding a dilemma that directly affects an industry that is full of practitioners who are committed to helping you look and feel your beautiful best.

Now before I jump into the dilemma, let me first give a big heartfelt thank you to the 80% of you who really don’t need to read this letter. You are the 80% who view us as the professionals that we are – we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

For the 80% of you who commit to the appointments you make, who run on time, and who would never no-show on a practitioner – thank you.

You are the 80% who enable us to generate levels of success that allow us to invest in the best products and continuing education to provide you with amazing results.

You, beautiful 80%, are not only the reason we love what we do, you are the reason we can pay our bills, support our families, put food on our tables, and keep our business doors open.

For the 80% of you who understand that it takes mutual respect to run a professional beauty biz – Thank You!

Now for the other 20% of you, let’s talk…

To those of you who minimize, or worse yet, completely disregard, the policies of a beauty business, I want to help you understand what happens when you decide to no-show, or chronically run late to your appointments.

Maybe you don’t understand this, but when you choose to not show up for the appointment you scheduled, the practitioner you booked with does not get paid. 

Most beauty biz practitioners rely on their bookings to pay for the necessities of life.

Before deciding to no-show for a future appointment, please consider how you would feel if you showed up at work and your boss informed you that they were going to deduct hours of your pay each week because they felt like it.

Here’s the thing, when you no-show for your appointment, you are essentially taking money away from the practitioner.

In a service business where appointments must be booked for services to be rendered,  your appointment time is reserved for and dedicated to you and only you. They can’t ‘sell’ that time to someone else if they don’t know in advance that you aren’t going to be there.

If you will kindly give your practitioner a 24-hour cancellation notice, they can usually fill the spot and everyone wins. It’s not a lot to ask and it makes a huge difference.

Now, for those of you who may show up but always run late, let me share what happens in that scenario… most often it means that you will lose out on your investment (at least part of it).

Here’s why…

Your practitioner may be forced to rush, or will be working under pressure, which results in the quality of work being less than what it would otherwise be.

You won’t get the full benefit of what you are required to pay for. In this case, you may feel slighted, but the practitioner will feel crappy too. As a practitioner in this business, I can tell you that we all want to give every client our best. We take great pride in our work and it feels awful to have to do a rush job and be unable to give you 100%… no one wins.

I know I speak for many when I say that we practitioners, go to work every day with our clients’ best interest at heart. We love our work and our work is providing you with great service. When you show up on time, this gives us the ultimate opportunity to provide you with a fantastic experience.

I will conclude this letter by saying beauty biz practitioners understand that clients are human too and as such, we all make mistakes. And, we know that emergencies will come up too. We are always willing to work together for a win-win and even give a free pass when it’s the right thing to do for an 80% type of client who encounters the rare urgency that prevents them from being able to make it in.

Thank you for respecting our policies and allowing us to show up as professionals who are grateful for the opportunity to earn your business.

Live Beautifully,

Lori

And before closing, I want to share a final thought for all you beauty biz practitioners too…

If we all took a step in the direction of creating – and enforcing – strong business boundaries we would start to see a positive shift in how are viewed and respected as professionals. Strong boundaries are the foundation of a strong business.

Eliminating no-shows, chronic late-runners and those last-minute cancellations begins with gaining the confidence to create and honor our business policies.

Is there anything that you would add to that client letter? Join the conversation below.