No Appointments

Bronze Star · 05-22-2002, 12:10 AM

I knew as I was writing my thread about charging a "no show" fee that the subject of walk in only and no appointments would come up. For future reference... it's okay to start a new thread. I didn't want to overkill by posting two new topics back to back, but the problem of appointments has been plaguing me for quite some time.

If you don't take appointments, please let us know if you ever did... how did you make the transition? What has been both the positive and negative affects of switching? Also... how many beds do you currently have, including your mix? We currently have 8 units, 5 base beds, 1 base standup, 1 standup VHR and 1 Sunergoline 600 Classic.

The phone is driving me insane... "Hi can I reschedule?" "What time do you have, my schedule is flexible. (I repsond) No, that's no good... what else ya got?" Appt time "Hi I'm stuck in traffic, there's been an accident, I won't be there." This is on top of manicure, pedicure and waxing appointments, clients coming in to tan and beds to clean... oh and while we're at it "Can you clean the pedicure station... my next appt just walked in and I need it now!"

Tommie · 05-22-2002, 01:09 AM

Sorry for taking your topic away from the original subject, Bronze. I didn't think it would go that far.

But I just remembered another point that made me switch to no appointments: If you have a 20 minute bed, someone calls on the phone and wants it at 5pm, you have to book it out for half of an hour.

When the client comes in you realize that she is just starting to acquire her base tan this year and she is very fair skinned. She will go 8 minutes in your 20 minute (now booked out for 30 minutes due to undressing, applying lotion, estimated tan time and re-dressing). You've just sealed that bed to one occupant in one half hour (if you've been lucky another client comes in that will take up ONLY the remaining 10-15 minutes, so you're not late for the next appt).

When they call to make the appt you don't ask skin type, estimated tanning time, etc. so you book out the half hour.

So with this happening frequently during the start of the season, you could see how this would hurt your session counts for the day.

With no appts it doesn't matter how long they will go, the next client from the list is patiently waiting.

-Tommie-

fungirlz · 05-22-2002, 07:40 AM

We do not take tanning appointments either..
In room treatments must have an appointment..but no tanning appointments..
Walk in.. jump in or hang out and wait..
It works perfect for us..

Bronze Star · 05-22-2002, 07:55 AM

Chris can you give me more details: how many beds, if you ever took appt, why the switch, what's been the best benefit or drawbacks and what your bed mix is.

My theory is that no appointments works for larger salons. Someone prove me wrong by giving me specifics.

tangirl · 05-22-2002, 08:11 AM

Bronze -

We have never taken appointments. When we bought our first salon last year we did a survey of the customers asking if they wanted an appointment style set-up. We got an overwhelming "NO." Most people like to tan when it is convenient for them. And, 9 times out of 10 they don't know when they will have that "convenient" time.

We have 5 20 minute base beds and 2 12 minute upgrade beds. Yes, we have our days when the lobby is full and there is a 30 minute wait. But, this waiting period gives you the perfect opportunity to educate customers about after-tan products, etc.

I should be able to help answer this question better next week. We take over salon #2 on the 24th. She is currently doing appointments. We will probably keep it that way until we have had a chance to survey the current customers.

BooBop · 05-22-2002, 08:44 AM

When I bought the salon, the previous owner did appts. on 5 base beds. I kept it up until this year.

Oh the phone. Hated it. No show, reschedule. No I want bed #~~~~~

So this year I posted notices back in Nov. or Dec. changing to no appts. I now have 7 base, 1 booth, and 5 upgrades. I was worried about my lunch crowd complaining and not being able to accomodate them in the short time frame they have. BUT! It has worked great. I now get very few calls and when I do I just tell them to come in when they get ready that no appt. is needed.

It has been an overwhelming benefit for my clients and our staff! We get more personal one on one with each client while they are in the salon. (not hasseled with the phone interrupting.)

If someone wants a particular upgrade bed, they mostly will call just before coming in to see if it is available. And this is working great as well.

I wish I had made this change a long time ago!

Chippp · 05-22-2002, 09:04 AM

No appointments, never did never will, If you buy enough equipment your clients don't need to wait more then a few min.
Beds are cheap why not buy enough?

Kimmee · 05-22-2002, 10:05 AM

I just opened my salon in Feb.

We have never been on appointments.

We are walk in only. I have 5 base beds right now and rom to upgrade to 3 more rooms.

My customers like the freedom they have. and in SC there is the 24 hour rule in between sessions and this way they keep up when they can come or not. The longest wait I have ever had has been 20 minutes and that was because a customer wanted to wait on a particular bed. When I am full the most people may wait is 3-7 minutes.

This is great because we do not have the hassles of the phone constantly ringing and I use the extra wait time to educate the customers on something whether it be a new lotion or something in the press. It also allows me to have them see our sanitation practices because I will be like come on back and chat with me while I clean your room for you! They love that!

I chose to use this method for the fact that I hate appointments... I want to go when I get the urge to go and sometimes it is an impulse to pop in!

The only time the phone rings is if a customer want to know what time they tanned last so they don't come too early and I always welcome those calls!

Hope this helped

Bronze Star · 05-22-2002, 10:11 PM

We had a long talk today about going to No Appointments... we have basically the same number of base beds and upgrades units as everyone else. Why do we feel it might not be adventagdeous (sp?) to go walk ins only is because of our local demographics. Our clients are tied to their cell phones and their appointment books. We work closely with them to sell them the package that suits their individual needs and tanning goals. For instance, brides are steered toward me for overall service: lotions, packages and appointment times. Their schedules are as tight as our appointment scheduling. Our appointments don't typically run behind and we can, on occasion, accomodate the walk-in tanner. We schedule five across on the hour and the half hour and two appointments at the quarter past and one appointment at 45 past the hour. We are chiefs at appointment management and receive few complaints.

Is it possible that because we are on the East Coast and living life in the "fast lane" that our "fast lane" tanners would balk at a walk-in only schedule? I think the transition would be difficult for them to handle after 7 years of business and would potentially seek greener pastures. Comments?

_________________
"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it's fun and games you can't see..."Bronze@bronze-star.com[ This Message was edited by: Bronze Star on 2002-05-22 21:11 ]

Bronze Star · 05-22-2002, 10:17 PM

One more thought... the only reason we would switch is to ease the phone traffic. That's it. Basically our system isn't broke. So why fix it? Eventually we have a second computer when we start scheduling our appointments electronically. Until then we are stuck with an appointment book that is located only at the front counter. Once that is complete... the phone will be answered and ALL appointments for the entire salon will be answered by a receptionist. That includes our manicures, pedicures, waxing as well as tanning. Until then... we're suffering growing pains and transition pains.

05-22-2002, 12:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
Bronze Star Join Date: Apr 11 2001 Posts: 2,732 Rep Power: 8	I knew as I was writing my thread about charging a "no show" fee that the subject of walk in only and no appointments would come up. For future reference... it's okay to start a new thread. I didn't want to overkill by posting two new topics back to back, but the problem of appointments has been plaguing me for quite some time. If you don't take appointments, please let us know if you ever did... how did you make the transition? What has been both the positive and negative affects of switching? Also... how many beds do you currently have, including your mix? We currently have 8 units, 5 base beds, 1 base standup, 1 standup VHR and 1 Sunergoline 600 Classic. The phone is driving me insane... "Hi can I reschedule?" "What time do you have, my schedule is flexible. (I repsond) No, that's no good... what else ya got?" Appt time "Hi I'm stuck in traffic, there's been an accident, I won't be there." This is on top of manicure, pedicure and waxing appointments, clients coming in to tan and beds to clean... oh and while we're at it "Can you clean the pedicure station... my next appt just walked in and I need it now!"

05-22-2002, 01:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tommie Join Date: May 10 2002 Posts: 50 Rep Power: 0	Sorry for taking your topic away from the original subject, Bronze. I didn't think it would go that far. But I just remembered another point that made me switch to no appointments: If you have a 20 minute bed, someone calls on the phone and wants it at 5pm, you have to book it out for half of an hour. When the client comes in you realize that she is just starting to acquire her base tan this year and she is very fair skinned. She will go 8 minutes in your 20 minute (now booked out for 30 minutes due to undressing, applying lotion, estimated tan time and re-dressing). You've just sealed that bed to one occupant in one half hour (if you've been lucky another client comes in that will take up ONLY the remaining 10-15 minutes, so you're not late for the next appt). When they call to make the appt you don't ask skin type, estimated tanning time, etc. so you book out the half hour. So with this happening frequently during the start of the season, you could see how this would hurt your session counts for the day. With no appts it doesn't matter how long they will go, the next client from the list is patiently waiting. -Tommie-

05-22-2002, 07:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
fungirlz Join Date: Jan 17 2002 Posts: 4,753 Rep Power: 8	We do not take tanning appointments either.. In room treatments must have an appointment..but no tanning appointments.. Walk in.. jump in or hang out and wait.. It works perfect for us..

05-22-2002, 07:55 AM	#4 (permalink)
Bronze Star Join Date: Apr 11 2001 Posts: 2,732 Rep Power: 8	Chris can you give me more details: how many beds, if you ever took appt, why the switch, what's been the best benefit or drawbacks and what your bed mix is. My theory is that no appointments works for larger salons. Someone prove me wrong by giving me specifics.

05-22-2002, 08:11 AM	#5 (permalink)
tangirl Join Date: Jul 6 2001 Posts: 2,184 Rep Power: 8	Bronze - We have never taken appointments. When we bought our first salon last year we did a survey of the customers asking if they wanted an appointment style set-up. We got an overwhelming "NO." Most people like to tan when it is convenient for them. And, 9 times out of 10 they don't know when they will have that "convenient" time. We have 5 20 minute base beds and 2 12 minute upgrade beds. Yes, we have our days when the lobby is full and there is a 30 minute wait. But, this waiting period gives you the perfect opportunity to educate customers about after-tan products, etc. I should be able to help answer this question better next week. We take over salon #2 on the 24th. She is currently doing appointments. We will probably keep it that way until we have had a chance to survey the current customers.

05-22-2002, 08:44 AM	#6 (permalink)
BooBop I love Derf!! Join Date: Apr 5 2001 Posts: 9,497 Rep Power: 13	When I bought the salon, the previous owner did appts. on 5 base beds. I kept it up until this year. Oh the phone. Hated it. No show, reschedule. No I want bed #~~~~~ So this year I posted notices back in Nov. or Dec. changing to no appts. I now have 7 base, 1 booth, and 5 upgrades. I was worried about my lunch crowd complaining and not being able to accomodate them in the short time frame they have. BUT! It has worked great. I now get very few calls and when I do I just tell them to come in when they get ready that no appt. is needed. It has been an overwhelming benefit for my clients and our staff! We get more personal one on one with each client while they are in the salon. (not hasseled with the phone interrupting.) If someone wants a particular upgrade bed, they mostly will call just before coming in to see if it is available. And this is working great as well. I wish I had made this change a long time ago!

05-22-2002, 10:05 AM	#8 (permalink)
Kimmee Join Date: Jan 10 2002 Posts: 426 Rep Power: 7	I just opened my salon in Feb. We have never been on appointments. We are walk in only. I have 5 base beds right now and rom to upgrade to 3 more rooms. My customers like the freedom they have. and in SC there is the 24 hour rule in between sessions and this way they keep up when they can come or not. The longest wait I have ever had has been 20 minutes and that was because a customer wanted to wait on a particular bed. When I am full the most people may wait is 3-7 minutes. This is great because we do not have the hassles of the phone constantly ringing and I use the extra wait time to educate the customers on something whether it be a new lotion or something in the press. It also allows me to have them see our sanitation practices because I will be like come on back and chat with me while I clean your room for you! They love that! I chose to use this method for the fact that I hate appointments... I want to go when I get the urge to go and sometimes it is an impulse to pop in! The only time the phone rings is if a customer want to know what time they tanned last so they don't come too early and I always welcome those calls! Hope this helped

05-22-2002, 10:11 PM	#9 (permalink)
Bronze Star Join Date: Apr 11 2001 Posts: 2,732 Rep Power: 8	We had a long talk today about going to No Appointments... we have basically the same number of base beds and upgrades units as everyone else. Why do we feel it might not be adventagdeous (sp?) to go walk ins only is because of our local demographics. Our clients are tied to their cell phones and their appointment books. We work closely with them to sell them the package that suits their individual needs and tanning goals. For instance, brides are steered toward me for overall service: lotions, packages and appointment times. Their schedules are as tight as our appointment scheduling. Our appointments don't typically run behind and we can, on occasion, accomodate the walk-in tanner. We schedule five across on the hour and the half hour and two appointments at the quarter past and one appointment at 45 past the hour. We are chiefs at appointment management and receive few complaints. Is it possible that because we are on the East Coast and living life in the "fast lane" that our "fast lane" tanners would balk at a walk-in only schedule? I think the transition would be difficult for them to handle after 7 years of business and would potentially seek greener pastures. Comments? _________________ "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it's fun and games you can't see..."Bronze@bronze-star.com[ This Message was edited by: Bronze Star on 2002-05-22 21:11 ]

05-22-2002, 10:17 PM	#10 (permalink)
Bronze Star Join Date: Apr 11 2001 Posts: 2,732 Rep Power: 8	One more thought... the only reason we would switch is to ease the phone traffic. That's it. Basically our system isn't broke. So why fix it? Eventually we have a second computer when we start scheduling our appointments electronically. Until then we are stuck with an appointment book that is located only at the front counter. Once that is complete... the phone will be answered and ALL appointments for the entire salon will be answered by a receptionist. That includes our manicures, pedicures, waxing as well as tanning. Until then... we're suffering growing pains and transition pains.

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