Time is Money: Are You Safeguarding Your Most Valuable Asset?

3 common ways businesses are losing productivity—and the bottom line.

It’s been said that time is our most valuable commodity, as it’s the one thing in life we can never get back.

In business especially, where time translates to earnings, taking proactive measures to protect your time and maximize your productivity is mandatory.

Here are three common mistakes businesses make that may be costing them—in more ways than one and tips on how to ensure your time is honored when customers don’t hold up their end of the deal.

1. YOU DON’T REQUIRE A DEPOSIT

Requiring customers to make a deposit to secure an appointment for a service—even a small one—is a sign of solid intent on the part of the customer and an insurance policy for you. 

Service deposits separate serious clientele from those who may be indecisive, and as clients who make a deposit become ‘invested in’ your service, it also minimizes the chance of no-shows and lost revenue.

When appointments are honored, it is often standard to apply clients’ deposits to their overall balance.

2. YOU DON’T HAVE A NO-SHOW FEE

One or two missed appointments a week mean five to ten missed opportunities a month.

They add up. And they can seriously affect your bottom line.

Similar to service deposits, instituting a no-show fee policy is a great way to commit clients to the time and service they reserved and receive compensation in the case of a default. We like to think of no-show fees as being an approach of greater faith and optimism—as it assumes clients will keep their appointments and only ‘penalizes’ or requires a payment in the case they do not.

With a no-show fee, instead of charging a customer up front to reserve your time, when a reservation is missed you can recoup a portion of the scheduled service fee from a credit card preauthorization required to complete booking.

From medical practices to hair salons, service providers across industries have started protecting their businesses from missed appointments and last-minute cancellations by charging these fees—often the only way to earn back even a fraction of lost revenue.

3. YOU’RE DISORGANIZED

Are you still accepting and keeping track of appointments and managing your schedule offline?

If so, you’re missing out!

An online, automated schedule management solution like FlexBooker saves time, eliminates the hassle of tracking cancellations and reschedules and even briefs you daily as to what’s on your agenda for the work day. 

FlexBooker is also works for you as a great customer service tool that: sends out automated SMS and email reminders to reduce no-shows; enables customers to modify or cancel bookings by themselves; allows you to easily cancel and/or reschedule an appointment and alert all affected customers.