Cancellation policies: make one, enforce it, and feel good.

You asked for it! My thoughts on enforcing a cancellation policy, and some highlights below.

Be clear about your policy. Decide what it is, 24 or 48 hours, etc. and make it very well known. List it on your website and brochure. If clients schedule appointments by email or online scheduling systems, make sure it appears in all email communications. Verbally explain it when new clients schedule by phone, and better yet, send confirmation emails to all new clients that include directions to your office, the cancellation policy and any other office policies you may have.

Have clients sign or initial to acknowledge receipt and explanation of your cancellation policy.

Decide when you will enforce it. Will you make exceptions when a client is sick? For weather situations that make travel dangerous? Decide. Having guidelines created ahead of time will help you when the situation comes up.

Enforce it. Every time. Say, “I’m so sorry you missed your schedule appointment. I would love to get you scheduled for another. But first, I do need to charge you for the appointment you missed. Would you prefer to give me a credit card number over the phone, or drop a check in my mailbox this week?”

What if the client resists and doesn’t want to pay for the missed appointment? Let go of the client. Simply say, “I’m so sorry you feel that way. However, it’s important to me that my time at work be accounted for, so I choose to enforce the cancellation policy. If you don’t want to comply with that policy, I understand that you’ll want to find another massage therapist.”

(Did you catch that? You don’t ‘have’ or ‘need’ to enforce it. You ‘choose’ to. Just like you may ‘choose’ to make exceptions, but you never ‘need’ to.)

Don’t argue about money, or need or details. Don’t get sucked into someone else’s drama. You can be kind and say, “If you need more flexibility in scheduling, I’m just not the best massage therapist for you.” It’s a bad match, just let it go.

Remember: if you enforce the policy regularly, you’ll build a clientele who will self-regulate, not miss appointments or automatically pay you when they do. That will free you up financially and mentally to make exceptions when you want to. It works both ways.

PS- This ‘getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations’ bit comes from a conversation with a friend about how to navigate romantic entanglements. And it’s useful in EVERY aspect of one’s life. Just let that simmer for awhile.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Massage and social media: when only “just right” will do
• How to shut off the faucet
• Communication for Millenials. And everyone else, too.
• Office Space, a renter’s checklist
• Reaching my full clientele, in a nutshell.