Why do people no-show?

The bane of the service-industry existence and a core reason we’re all not allowed nice things (without paying in advance) any longer. Let’s talk about the dreaded, the incredibly frustrating, costly and frankly rather rude, no-show. 

Over the course of a year customers who book and then don’t turn up for their appointments will cost the hair and beauty industry millions, upon millions of dollars.

It’s – as we know – one of the biggest pain-points for any salon/spa owner.

On Flossie’s home turf, New Zealand, it amounts to roughly $100m and in the UK – it’s an estimated whopping ￡637m*. Just imagine how many blow-outs that could buy you…

There’s no excuse for a repeat offender.

From my personal stand point, the only time I’ve ever “no-showed” has been when I’ve plain old forgotten – a rare and unusual thing to happen, as I pride myself on a well-oiled diary. But on that odd occasion when it’s slipped past the goalie, I’ve grovelled and gone out of my way to make amends – usually offering to pay for the appointment and at the very least locking in the next one with a payment in advance. Sure, mistakes happen, we’re only human, and it’s how we handle them that builds back trust (and personal dignity!).

But what of the repeat offenders? Recidivist’s who don’t even blink an eye at ignoring the calendar reminders, missed messages and wanting phone calls? Seemingly they don’t care, as they fill up a diary and leave businesses empty-chaired on a regular basis. 

Too often we hear from salon owners, desperate for a solution to a growing problem. When they’re paid by the hour (and tips are the main source for a salary) plus are reliant on the age-old agreement of “book in now and pay me after”, then left empty-chaired, it’s little wonder they feel a hybrid of rejection, anger and bitter resentment. 

Now add in that it’s Christmas or a busy Saturday, where they’ve turned dozens of potential customers away and you’ll likely also get tears.

But why does it even happen?

What leads someone to just not turn up to a commitment they’ve made, even though it hurts somebody else? To find the answer, we reached out to some known No Show Nancy’s and asked them, confidentially of course, to help us understand. 

The answer? We’ve become a populace of Commitment Phobes. 

From their point of view, they get pounced on as they leave their last appointment and hustled into locking in a time. Awkwardly and reluctantly, they agree – not wishing to offend. 

I find this point deeply fascinating, in the same way that I’m intrigued by those who whilst in chair tell a stylist how much they love their new haircut, then the moment they leave the salon they send us (at Flossie) a tear-streaked message bemoaning the ruination of their life. Don’t get me wrong, we’re here to help and always will – but from a sociological stand point, it’s a similar driver. The desire to dodge offence over rides the desired outcome. But surely that’s illogical? From a breed of humans with an insatiable thirst for instant gratification and keeping up with outward appearances, how does that even stack up?

Welcome to the world of Instant Gratification.

Interestingly it comes back around to the Commitment. You’ve asked them to do something they don’t want to, they assume that you actually know that they don’t want to, and surely if you know them well enough, then you’ll know that there’s zero chances of them actually turning up for that appointment at all. In fact, they never saw it as a Commitment in the first place, more of an “expression of interest” – to which, unless they locked it away with finance, they owe nothing for. They live in a world where everything is “buy now”, but you’ve not asked them to put anything down – so surely, this isn’t really a contract or even a commitment.  

Welcome to the world of Instant Gratification, where the need for now, overrides the need for YOU. And before you get all high-horsey about manners (and look, I’m old-school and unafraid of the telephone, I get what the courteous thing is to do), it helps to start to consider how you’re seeing this mentality creep into your own behaviour. 

Here’s a good example. Taxi hasn’t arrived on time, stuff it, get an Uber. Did you call and cancel? Probably not. Restaurants have scrapped forward bookings for a reason you know, their no-show rates were off the Richter. People are getting a better offer at last-minute and changing their plans to suit themselves with zero F’s given to the business owner. Once again, not their problem, no contract signed.

And it’s not that their callous, hell, this was a group weaned on equal opportunity and “give everyone a medal for turning up” parenting – but they appreciate hustle and they respond well to terms they can respect.

The change of tides for moving forward.

The challenge the beauty industry has is that it’s supply network is old-school too and is still driving and rewarding “repeat bookings at time of check-out” as a metric. Yet, it’s a faulty, wonky and entirely out-of-date, irrelevant measurement that is akin to setting money on fire. Absolutely you’ll have a percentage of customers who are incredibly reliable and act the way you’re used to, but a growing, and I mean enormously growing populace are shifting their thinking and business owners need to shift with them. Taking to social media and ranting about how rude it is doesn’t fix anything, it creates further animosity and promptly puts your brand into the out-of-touch bracket.

Offering an alternative booking option (such as Flossie), in addition to your website (because the pain point isn’t just “when”, but “how”) gives the new breed of consumer options they can live with.

In any combative situation (of which this pain point has caused untold amounts), I always encourage participants to take a step back and consider the other sides point of view. Now that you’re armed with that, consider what more you could do to accommodate, rather than shun and in turn see that lost time turned back into precious dollars.

I do value comments and thoughts on this topic. Please drop what’s racing through your mind below.

Jenene Crossan, Chief Flossie

About Flossie.

Flossie is the smarter way to book beauty in seconds. It’s a salon API bringing prepaid customers. The app is both iOS and Android supported. Flossie serves to solve the biggest pain-point any spa or salon owner experiences; no-shows and last-minute cancellations.

For the end user, they can select from curated, Tried and Tested businesses. Choose the preferred time, stylist and location and know the upfront cost - plus get access to exclusive offers. 

Download the app here and if you’d like to chat further, do drop us a line, [email protected] or @flossiedotcom