Reducing No Show Rate

CXL Automotive · August 7, 2016

I've been thinking of methods to reduce the no show rate for appointments. Taking deposits from your clients is definitely a good way to do that, but doing so removes the trustful relationship between you and your client. The whole premise of a deposit is essentially "Hey, I don't trust you to appear for your appointment so I'm going to take your money and give it back to you when you show up".

After some time of reflecting, I tried to put myself in the client's shoes. What would make me WANT to come to my appointment so I wouldn't even think about changing my mind?

One word: incentivise.

What other value could you provide for your client other than your tinting service?

There are a lot of ways to provide your client an incentive to appear for his/her appointment such as:

1) Small discount for showing up x minutes before their appointment

Provide a small $10 discount if they show up, say, 20 minutes before their appointment. This provides them a cash incentive to show up. I'd much rather take a small hit of $10 than lose an opportunity to earn $200 from a job.

2) Gift card

Same concept as above, except they receive a $10 gift card of their liking. There are a bunch of electronic gift card retailers where you can just buy a card online and have the code sent to their email.

3) Raffle

If they show up x minutes before their appointment, you enter their name into a raffle for a small but popular item.

4) Rebate referral program

After their appointment is finished, have them send their friends and family over to you. For every referral they send, they receive an electronic gift card of their liking.

These are just a few of many ideas that you can use. Get creative!

Really hope this helps you guys out if you ever get a chance to try it, please post here if you've noticed a reduction in your no show percentage so we can all benefit from it.

Cheers.

DynamicATL · August 7, 2016

Great idea, definitely thinking outside the box. I have posted it before, but this is how we do it now which helps a lot. Same as any solution, it is not 100%, but we went from 10 per week to 1-2 per week. We use to book people in our scheduling system any time they wanted...1, 2, 3 weeks out. The problem with this is in Atlanta there are a lot of things going on including traffic which can easily change peoples plans by the time the date arrives. Now we write their info down on a list and explain to them that we will call them 1 day before the day they want. This is to confirm they still can come in and we then schedule them in our system. We explain that we have to talk to them that day otherwise they have no appointment. Along with this, our schedule system sends out texts/emails for reminders. It is more work to call these people everyday to confirm, but it helps a lot.

CXL Automotive · August 9, 2016

Great idea, definitely thinking outside the box. I have posted it before, but this is how we do it now which helps a lot. Same as any solution, it is not 100%, but we went from 10 per week to 1-2 per week. We use to book people in our scheduling system any time they wanted...1, 2, 3 weeks out. The problem with this is in Atlanta there are a lot of things going on including traffic which can easily change peoples plans by the time the date arrives. Now we write their info down on a list and explain to them that we will call them 1 day before the day they want. This is to confirm they still can come in and we then schedule them in our system. We explain that we have to talk to them that day otherwise they have no appointment. Along with this, our schedule system sends out texts/emails for reminders. It is more work to call these people everyday to confirm, but it helps a lot.

That's a great way to do it! Thank you for sharing

Glass Tinting Supplies · August 13, 2016

Great ideas fellas!

I don't get many no shows.. Maybe 2-3 a year.

But I send out a text when the booking is made with date, address, price, etc..

My method now is if a customer doesn't show, if they want to reschedule another date, they must pay in full then and there or it's 'no tint for you!' They can not show up for the tinter across town...

If they don't think that is fair, after not showing to an appointment without even calling, then I don't want their business.

If someone doesn't show twice, that is the last work I will ever do for them. Hence I get very little no shows...

Might sound harsh, but not showing up, and not calling either is something that a-holes do.

Also, I am not sure how, but I think you can sometimes tell if someone is going to be a no show when they book in...

When folks say.. "Pencil me in for this day", I just tell them that I don't have a pencil, I have a pen. You want to book, or you want to wait until you are sure you can make it?

To be honest, I don't mind when I have a no show from time to time... I get a chance to clean up and catch up with little jobs. Cars for me at this stage are just a hobby. I can often make to same money from a 2 day commercial job, then I would make from tinting cars for 3 months. I just enjoy the mix of work...

Cheers.

bman848 · August 13, 2016

I dont get too many no shows. Happened to have 2 on Thursday though. I send out a reminder text message the afternoon before the appointments and that seems to work good for me. I actually enjoy the no shows sometimes. It gives me a chance to catch up on things. I was able to get a much needed haircut and got my watch battery changed out Thursday. It worked out good. I am also pretty good at predicting no shows. Dont ask me how but i can pick them out by how they talk on the phone.

Edited August 13, 2016 by bman848

DynamicATL · August 14, 2016

I actually enjoy the no shows sometimes. It gives me a chance to catch up on things.

:lol You get a cancellation and realize you can actually take a lunch.

bman848 · August 14, 2016

Haha exactly. I also had a nice sit down lunch with my daughter. Life is good.

blade · August 14, 2016

i'm not gonna babysit customers. no-show = get other things done. there's always something around the shop that needs to be taken care of.

CXL Automotive · August 15, 2016

i'm not gonna babysit customers. no-show = get other things done. there's always something around the shop that needs to be taken care of.

That's true. Everyone has different ways of viewing things for sure!

For myself, I'd rather do as much as I can in order to get their business. Every client counts, especially when you're a small-timer.

Just my $0.02.

DynamicATL · August 20, 2016

I wanted to add a recent change that we did that seems to be helping with people bring tardy. It has only been a week, so a little premature, but so far so good. If you have a scheduling system that texts your customers reminders, then make sure you add in the reminder to be on time or early. It took me a minute to reword it right in ours since the character spaces are limited, but all of our appointments so far have been on time or even early. Yesterday alone one was 30 minutes early and another 50 minutes early. The 50 minute early person even said he came in early because of the text.