You wake up excited about a full schedule and the money you’re going to make today. A few cancellations later, you realize you’ve got a bunch of gaps that are too late to fill. All too frequently (about 40 percent of the time) clients book lengthy appointments only to cancel at the last minute. When a client cancels, you’re stuck with extra time and unnecessary inventory on your hands—and less money in your pocket.
To help solve that problem GlossGenius is allowing users to require a deposit at the time of booking for any service. Stylists can still implement the fees outlined in their cancellation and no-show policy, too, but taking deposits will provide extra protection.
Here are a few ways taking deposits can change your business for the better:
Protect your income
Deposits are charged at the time of booking and are non-refundable, which means even if you’re stuck with a last-minute opening you can’t fill, you still earn money for that time slot. Now you can offer more expensive sessions with your clients and order niche supplies without worrying a no-show will hurt your bottom line.
Plan ahead with confidence
You no longer have to scramble to fill your day. Instead, if you want to hustle to get that spot booked, it’s because you want to and not because you need to. And for stylists with an appointment-dependent salon squad, you can schedule your team with confidence because clients will be incentivized to show up for your staff.
Welcome clients who respect your business
You deserve a clientele that takes your business seriously, and requiring deposits is one of the first steps toward helping you grow. Deposits will incentivize new and existing customers alike to actually show up for their appointments, so you can focus on demonstrating your exceptional talent and providing the best experience possible.
Being a little wary of scaring potential clients away by asking for deposits as you’re building your book is understandable. Because of this, GlossGenius made requiring this upfront payment completely optional. Because deposits are set at the service level, you can save them for your high-value appointments where you know a cancellation would cost you a significant sum of money. You can toggle deposits on or off at your discretion, and if you manually approve appointments, you can choose to not charge a deposit for certain clients.
For clients that you've chosen to require deposits from, they'll go through the usual booking process by selecting the service(s), date, time, and location, and fill in their information. If any of their selections require a deposit, a Payment Information screen pops up so they can enter their card details. For multiple services that require a deposit, the client will be charged the combined total amount of the deposits.
If a client cancels their appointment, any deposits related to that appointment go right into the professional’s account. However, if you cancel the appointment, you’ll have the option to refund the deposit to the payment method the client originally used. If you move an appointment to a new time, the deposit will not be impacted.
Because deposits are treated separately from cancellation fees, you can still apply no-show or cancellation fees up to the appointment value on top of the deposit, at your discretion.
If you're interested in learning more, GlossGenius offer a free trial. Check it out here.