Scheduling Customers

[garyg7133]

I have had 2 experiences with potential customers this summer that made me wonder about scheduling.On both occasions, the customer contacted me and I gave pricing and availability. Since I only detail P/T I have limited appointments available. Both times I gave the customers until the following day to confirm. Yesterday I had another customer call to request the same date and as he is one of my better customers I wanted to make sure I could get him in. I explained that I already had the date tentatively scheduled but would reach out to the customer who had not confirmed yet. Long story short, I informed the one that I was waiting on that another customer had booked the day and that she could book in the future. Just curious how long you are all giving customers to confirm appointments before moving on to the next customer?

 

[Audios S6]

I do PT, though it ends up being 40+ hours many weeks spread out at odd times. I give them the 3 soonest dates and tell them final booking is on a first come, first serve basis. If a date gets taken, I follow up immediately and let them know a date has been taken and offer the next soonest as an alternate 3rd date. So something like:

...my next available dates are September 4, 5 & 6; I also have availability the following week if these dates don't work for you. Final booking is on a first come first serve basis.

Hi Joe, I wanted to follow up and let you know that September 5th has been booked. I am still available September 4 & 6. My next available date beyond that is September 8th. I do still have availability the following week as well.

 

[LSNAutoDetailingLSNAutoDetailing is verified member.]

Schedule the person for an open date other than the slot currently filled, but have a "cancellation list" like your doctor. Ask them if you get a cancellation, if they're ok with a short notice call to fill the slot opened up by the cancellation. Once you get a number of folks to agree to a short-notice call, you'll have a virtual pool to call if someone cancels.

Secondly, you are PT, thus you should be a bit more selective in the customers you take. You'll know if someone has commitment issues... stay away from them. And lastly if you decide to take on clients with commitment issues (your gut should tell you that when you go do the VIF), ask for a 20% non-refundable deposit.

The VIF process does many things beyond just reviewing a vehicle, it gets you out and talking to the customer. My average VIF process is one hour with the customer and vehicle. By the end of the presentation they are fully educated and usually "all-in". I've only had one cancellation, and my gut told me they would... When I did the VIF the guy balked about pricing, tried to haggle.... Those aren't my type of customers. So I was actually happy he cancelled and I had a person lined up on the cancellation list.


Good luck!

 

[garyg7133]

I'm usually pretty selective with my customer base like you said. One of my customers posted my number on their neighborhood facebook page and I've gotten a couple of referrals from him. This was one of those customers and oddly enough the customer who posted my number is the one who took her slot. I had "that feeling" about her but since she was getting estimates for 2 vehicles I wanted to at least give her a shot at keeping the slot. I actually did deny a previous customer this summer as they had not only had a commitment issue the first time I booked them, but the second time I showed up and there was no car for me to work on as her girlfriend has gotten mad at her and taken the car. I charged her $75 for packing up the car and making the 10 minute drive. This year she called in April for an appointment and right out of the gate I told her my next opening was in August. Never heard back. Thankfully at this point I'm booked solid up until I close for the winter so I don't have to worry about booking anyone else. Next season though i'll be taking up front deposits with rain date riders.