How do you get customers to keep their detailing appointments...

RaydiantDetail

RaydiantDetail

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Hi All

Long time reader on the forum. I recently decided to start detailing as a part time business about a few months ago. I have been reading a ton on here. Practicing my techniques on my personal cars and worked on about 3-4 cars doing minor correction and protection services. I have received great feedback on my work. One thing I didnt do was take photos which I kick myself for now as my portfolio is sadly limited.

The problem I seem to be having now is getting clients to stick to their appointments. I find about 80% of them don't stick to the appointments they make with me to detail their cars. For example this weekend I was supposed to do 2 cars and both clients called and cancelled and said they would get back to me to reschedule. As I don't do too many cars maybe 2-3 a month currently it does suck especially because I get really excited to detail lol.

I guess this is something that probably happens often in the industry? As I do this part time I am not too concerned but one thing I would love to do is grow my business so that it could potentially be my income source one day.

What tips/ techniques do you use to get customers to keep their appointments with you or do you just follow up with the customer when they cancel after a few days to reschedule?

Anyway always looking for advice from folks on here :)

Thanks!
 
I feel your pain. I always text or message or email a day or two before my appointments to confirm. I do this to make sure they are coming, if they are going to back out, it gives me time to find someone else to fill their slot. Sometimes I can get a vibe from the person to see if they are going to no show. I had 4 interiors scheduled a few weeks ago on a Saturday. I messaged the lady, took about 4 hours to respond. She said she "hopes" her car would be done getting worked on by that day. I suggested moving her to another day just in case, never heard from her again.
 
Thank you for introducing or reintroducing this thread. It is real issue that for me starting out is a 'question mark' which I am seeking a game plan for.

I know for especially true for established high end type detailers down payment/deposit is not too uncommon. I'll see with that a cancellation fee (maybe 20%) often along with that.

Detailers will generally tend to be more strict with 1st time customers with means of payment.

A lot of this is put in and explained on their websites.

As I am just figuring this out, trying to find a plan that protects me yet doesn't alienate or make the customers feel like they are going through so many hoops my services are all of a sudden not worth it.
 
You should do what your doc or dentist does - reminder a couple of days ahead of the appointment.
 
Rod73 said:
Thank you for introducing or reintroducing this thread. It is real issue that for me starting out is a 'question mark' which I am seeking a game plan for.

I know for especially true for established high end type detailers down payment/deposit is not too uncommon. I'll see with that a cancellation fee (maybe 20%) often along with that.

Detailers will generally tend to be more strict with 1st time customers with means of payment.

A lot of this is put in and explained on their websites.

As I am just figuring this out, trying to find a plan that protects me yet doesn't alienate or make the customers feel like they are going through so many hoops my services are all of a sudden not worth it.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing about taking some form of down payment when the customer books a paint correction service especially because those are usually 1 to 2 day affairs. I don't want to go that route for a mini detail or a wash/wax package I provide because they may not see the benefit of coming to me and go down the street to the dude with the established shop who is pumping out wash/ waxes for 25$. Lol.
 
Belair said:
You should do what your doc or dentist does - reminder a couple of days ahead of the appointment.
Click to expand...

Definitely a great idea.

Maybe, it is just like anything else when it comes to sales. I used to do a lot of sales back when I was younger (like 10 years younger - lol), I remember the hustle and grind, I think I just need to get back to that and learn that fine line again.

Appreciate the advice :)
 
parttimer said:
I feel your pain. I always text or message or email a day or two before my appointments to confirm. I do this to make sure they are coming, if they are going to back out, it gives me time to find someone else to fill their slot. Sometimes I can get a vibe from the person to see if they are going to no show. I had 4 interiors scheduled a few weeks ago on a Saturday. I messaged the lady, took about 4 hours to respond. She said she "hopes" her car would be done getting worked on by that day. I suggested moving her to another day just in case, never heard from her again.
Click to expand...

I have had the same thing happen as well. Some people seem so gung ho when you describe what you do and how you will take care of their car and then after a few days you talk to them and they are not sure or they dont want to make the time investment of being without their car for a few hours etc. It's almost like they go through buyers remorse without actually making a purchase. Then you never hear from them again.

Did you ever follow up with her after a day/ two? Sometimes the "I understand, but I book up really fast and I want you to see the benefits of what I offer, lets book a new time/ date now" works - sometimes they just say no they will get back to you - then follow up with them next day. Some people get pissed but majority of people like the follow up.
 
Zach from attention to detailing gave me a excellent tip.

Get deposits when they want to make an appointment plain and simple.

If they ask why ? You tell them , when people call after you leave and book an appointment saturday afternoon, and the person that calls and wants saturday afternoon i tell them no thats not open, they will understand and if serious will leave the deposit.

I had one guy wanted full paint correction and coating, on a s550 (huge car) i got a 200$ deposit from him he rescheduled with me for 2 months.

If i never got the deposit i would of never seen him, he would of forgot about me in 2 months.

Not because he didnt want to do it, but because life happends and you get busy.

That is if you in a fixed location, if your strictly a mobile detailer thats hard, if they just call you, but even if you are mobile, and go to see a car before you work on it, get a deposit to ensure your time isnt being wasted.
 
In my opinion all you need to do is make your appointment process more official. Think of any type of purchase you make that requires to schedule ahead: airfare, hotels, dentist, etc. In many cases you will speak to someone on the phone or interact with a website which is where you "click a button" or speak with someone who confirms your purchase. You may get an immediate email confirmation or some other form of physical receipt as further confirmation of the purchase. Later, as a reminder, you could get yet another confirmation of your purchase in the form of a reminder email or courtesy call informing you of your agreed upon day/time for the appointment.

If all you do is talk to someone on the phone once and tell them "yeah, yeah, blah, blah, let's meet on day xyz at such and such time." They may not have even written the information down anywhere. Even if they did they could have lost the paper (or napkin) they used to record the information. They might not even have your contact information in front of them to know WHO THEY CALLED. I've had multiple people call me asking "Um... I made a detail appointment but I can't remember which company it was with....... was it you?"

TD;DR: Sending several different purchase confirmations and appointment reminders will, without a doubt, significantly reduce the likelihood for your customers to cancel without notice.
 
Doesn't happen to me often. Maybe I am lucky. What I do is confirm the appointment at the end of the conversation when the person first calls me. Then I tell them I will call the the night before to confirm. When I confirm on the night before the appointment I tell them I will call them when I leave for their place to give them an heads up about 30 mins before I show up. Only a handful of time has someone cancelled on me at the last minute.

I think taking a deposit could work. So far I have not seen a need for it but if I had repeated cancellations like you do, I would very likely do that. The only issue is that my CC processor (Square) charges more for manual transactions. But on a small amount like 20-50$ that would not make much of a difference.
 
Calendyr said:
Doesn't happen to me often. Maybe I am lucky. What I do is confirm the appointment at the end of the conversation when the person first calls me. Then I tell them I will call the the night before to confirm. When I confirm on the night before the appointment I tell them I will call them when I leave for their place to give them an heads up about 30 mins before I show up. Only a handful of time has someone cancelled on me at the last minute.

I think taking a deposit could work. So far I have not seen a need for it but if I had repeated cancellations like you do, I would very likely do that. The only issue is that my CC processor (Square) charges more for manual transactions. But on a small amount like 20-50$ that would not make much of a difference.
Click to expand...


FWIW, you can invoice (e-mail) the customer with Square. When they pay the invoice, it's at the usual 2.75% rate. Though I am not sure how one can incorporate that in a smooth way or on website. There ARE shopping cart plug-ins that could be used - to pay a deposit.

Also, my niece, an esthetician, schedules a service called "Schedulicity." (sp???) It allows clients to book the appt. I think she may do some client billing off that as well. If they blow off 1 or 2 appts, they are locked out of the system!

Just some food for thought.
 
Joe@NextLevelDetail said:
Zach from attention to detailing gave me a excellent tip.

Get deposits when they want to make an appointment plain and simple.

If they ask why ? You tell them , when people call after you leave and book an appointment saturday afternoon, and the person that calls and wants saturday afternoon i tell them no thats not open, they will understand and if serious will leave the deposit.

I had one guy wanted full paint correction and coating, on a s550 (huge car) i got a 200$ deposit from him he rescheduled with me for 2 months.

If i never got the deposit i would of never seen him, he would of forgot about me in 2 months.

Not because he didnt want to do it, but because life happends and you get busy.

That is if you in a fixed location, if your strictly a mobile detailer thats hard, if they just call you, but even if you are mobile, and go to see a car before you work on it, get a deposit to ensure your time isnt being wasted.
Click to expand...

Nicholas@Autowerx said:
In my opinion all you need to do is make your appointment process more official. Think of any type of purchase you make that requires to schedule ahead: airfare, hotels, dentist, etc. In many cases you will speak to someone on the phone or interact with a website which is where you "click a button" or speak with someone who confirms your purchase. You may get an immediate email confirmation or some other form of physical receipt as further confirmation of the purchase. Later, as a reminder, you could get yet another confirmation of your purchase in the form of a reminder email or courtesy call informing you of your agreed upon day/time for the appointment.

If all you do is talk to someone on the phone once and tell them "yeah, yeah, blah, blah, let's meet on day xyz at such and such time." They may not have even written the information down anywhere. Even if they did they could have lost the paper (or napkin) they used to record the information. They might not even have your contact information in front of them to know WHO THEY CALLED. I've had multiple people call me asking "Um... I made a detail appointment but I can't remember which company it was with....... was it you?"

TD;DR: Sending several different purchase confirmations and appointment reminders will, without a doubt, significantly reduce the likelihood for your customers to cancel without notice.
Click to expand...

Calendyr said:
Doesn't happen to me often. Maybe I am lucky. What I do is confirm the appointment at the end of the conversation when the person first calls me. Then I tell them I will call the the night before to confirm. When I confirm on the night before the appointment I tell them I will call them when I leave for their place to give them an heads up about 30 mins before I show up. Only a handful of time has someone cancelled on me at the last minute.

I think taking a deposit could work. So far I have not seen a need for it but if I had repeated cancellations like you do, I would very likely do that. The only issue is that my CC processor (Square) charges more for manual transactions. But on a small amount like 20-50$ that would not make much of a difference.
Click to expand...

AllanS said:
FWIW, you can invoice (e-mail) the customer with Square. When they pay the invoice, it's at the usual 2.75% rate. Though I am not sure how one can incorporate that in a smooth way or on website. There ARE shopping cart plug-ins that could be used - to pay a deposit.

Also, my niece, an esthetician, schedules a service called "Schedulicity." (sp???) It allows clients to book the appt. I think she may do some client billing off that as well. If they blow off 1 or 2 appts, they are locked out of the system!

Just some food for thought.
Click to expand...

Thank you everyone for all the helpful feedback . Looks like I need to do some work on my end.

1. See how to work in taking a deposit for any services scheduled probably for higher priced/ heavy appointments like paint correction/ coating work.
2. Making the appointment more official by sending out email/ text reminders when the client books as well as 2-3 days before a reminder, and a 1 day before reminder as well.
3. I need to get on Square, right now I just accept cash and paypal, but I do not have a card reader.
 
Have someone in the wings. I always have someone looking for asap. I tell them they are on the cancelation list and also a firm appt. Never punish the people for canceling.
 
How many overbook appointments, like the airlines do (they tend to overbook flights by 10-20%)?
 
Ive worked in restaurants for years and they do the same. We always run a small cancelation list for people looking to get in without advance notice and it always works well, and everyone is happy. If cancelling makes you angry. Keep a organized log of clients if they show a pattern. Let them know. "open table" does it. Open Table will not let you make a reservation after three "no call no shows".
 
In the restaurant industry, no shows are a fact of life. I think I read somewhere that 20% of people who make reservation either don't shpw or show with a lot less people than planed.

I don't feel we have this problem in the detailing industry. I would put the rate at less than 5%. In my experience anyway.

Maybe you could ask for deposits only if it's someone who has cancelled before.
 
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