How to deal with Unscheduled, Off-Peak Appointments?

Almost 99% of appointment service providers face the off-peak problem. Customers are less interested in beauty, health or sport services at certain times of day. Off-peak appointments are hard-to-sell and are also known as „slow” because their income producing capability is less intensive. What factors are behind the off-peak phenomena and how can you make the most out of it?

Seasonality

Seasonality is mix of trends, fashion, weather and all kinds of other factors. Is doing sports currently trending? Yes, it is a fact, but the highlight is upon running, Pilates and yoga – so sports like swimming are undervalued today. There are two things you can do to ride that wave: always know what is trending – keep yourself professionally updated and be flexible – try to integrate those into what you are doing.

Payday proximity

It is rather a beauty marketing recognition than sport or health (thanks to their common monthly passes) that average customers tend to schedule appointments not too far from payday (last and first few days of the month). It is not hard to imagine that going to a spa for a relaxing, anti-aging massage or to a senior hairdresser for a party haircut feels the best when the pocket is full. As an appointment service provider you want to focus your opening days and hours on this period. As for your own holidays, aim for the middle of the month.

Daily working hours

Earlier I shared a story about a squash court owner who understood how greatly his income is affected by his customers’ daily digesting habits. If their stomach is full they won’t come to play a running-intensive, active sport. Not until they are incentivized to adapt. There is one greater power than lunchtime and that is daily working hours. On weekdays from 8am till 4pm almost 80% of potential clients are unable to come. On weekends the Saturday mornings are the more muted times. This leads up to an unbelievable vacancy rate at most salons and sport centers. They are open but the lack of clients leads only to facebooking…

I have a solution for you! Based on how far the payday spike is, try to experiment with different opening times. Instead of being closed Sunday-Monday, occasionally try a Monday-Tuesday “weekend”. You could serve clients who do not have time on weekdays but can save some for the weekend better. 

My other tip would be to incentivize an alternative appointment for clients calling you. If a new-ish client tries to set her next appointment, instead of turning a page in your calendar to the next week, ask this: “Would you be interested in tomorrow 10 a.m. for a 30% discount?” It is last minute, it is off-peak but you have definitely made it more interesting with the price. 

About the Author: Balazs Monos is the founder of Reserveline, a marketplace that lets service providers sell their unscheduled appointments to potential customers at discounted prices. Balazs has spent 7 years in sales and marketing in both B2B and B2C fields. He offers free consultations on client acquisition and pricing strategy for local service providers from and around London.

Also find him on Twitter! @reserveline

  

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The one question every service provider should ask their customers

Before stepping into the deep waters of customer acquisition and retention, let me tell you how I became a returning customer at a hairdresser. It was a nice summer day. I looked at the mirror and decided to have a haircut. I called my regular hairdresser to set an appointment but had no luck – she was fully booked for the rest of the week (at least for the appointments that could’ve fit my schedule). I needed the haircut badly, as my family later confirmed, so I made a few calls and got another hairdresser.

Long story short the haircut was way better than what my regular hairdresser could do and the environment was more appealing as well. However one does not simply throw away their well-established partnership with a service provider. My decision to change was based on an important psychological factor. I felt cared. And to create this feeling the hairdresser only needed a little proactivity.

He told me: “Your hairdo will hold its shape for 21 days. If you were satisfied, may I book you an appointment for around that time?” Of course I said yes! Bang, I’d just become a returning customer.

According to my quick survey more than half of the service providers are waiting for the customer to schedule another appointment and not using this simple sales technique to encourage them to return. This kind of approach – to actively try to invite the client to another appointment – requires a little bravery and minimum effort and, at the end of the day, can result in huge success when it comes to returning customers.

In almost every part of the sector there are services similar to haircuts, needed by customers on a regular basis (e.g. private yoga or Pilates classes, Swedish massage, regular health checks, hair coloring, etc.).

Here are some tips how to motivate clients towards returning:

Pilates

“Because of X, Y and Z your body posture is unhealthy. This could lead to pain and joint problems. We could prevent it with a well-structured, 6 month therapy. If you liked my private Pilates class, I can schedule your next appointment.”

Massage

“As I understood from our conversation, you are living a stressful life. This massage you just had works to fill up your energy reserves, before any serious stress inducing event (meeting, conference, race or contest). Would you like to schedule something to prepare you for these?”

Fitness

“Your body has a wonderful shape, it just needs a little sculpture. If you are interested in having a V-shaped body, I am currently forming a new group where we are learning strength training and nutrition together. Would you like to join?” 

To transform a new client into a returning customer you need to set a target that relies heavily on their original motivation of visit. This target needs to be simple, accomplishable, inspiring and original enough to create the feeling of care. Do not wait for them to make the call or to pop in at some time. Make them feel good, set a goal and create an inspiring environment for your customers. They then will more likely to return and stay with you and your services as a loyal client in the long run.

About the Author: Balazs Monos is the founder of Reserveline, a marketplace that lets service providers sell their unscheduled appointments to potential customers at discounted prices. Balazs has spent 7 years in sales and marketing in both B2B and B2C fields. He offers free consultations on client acquisition and pricing strategy for local service providers from and around London.

Also find him on Twitter! @reserveline

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