Dealing with cancellations
As massage therapists we will all be faced with a client canceling their session at the last minute some time or another. How we deal with this will affect the whole profession. We teach people how to treat us as Dr. Phil says. When we allow clients to cancel at the last minute without paying for a session we are telling them that our time is not valuable.
The big struggle with charging for last minute cancellations has to do with our fear of losing that client. The real question is do we even really want that client at all as it appears that they don’t respect our work or time enough to be responsible for their actions.
When we say things like we will let that one go because they are a good client or tell them we won’t charge them if they rebook we in a sense are trying to “caretake” them and take responsibility for their life. We don’t want them to not like us because we ask them for money.
But when you took the time and energy to be there for the appointment and you locked them into your schedule so that no one else could take that time - what you are saying when you just let that slide is “I don’t value myself enough so why should you”.
Afterall it is a business we are running. A business is built on a strong framework of policies and procedures and compassion. But is letting people slide and not pay for a last minute cancellation really compassionate or is it “caretaking” ( when we try to take responsiblity for others. You can read more about caretaking at www.thebodyworker.com and the highly recommended reading section and at Jack Blackburns website -see “Caretaking” )
Now if you are reading this and saying what about a death in the family can’t you excuse that? While that is a serious situation I still believe that anyone who respects your time will still want to pay you for it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I have struggled with this for the last 17 years and there is no easy answer. But the more I learn about myself, the more I see how everytime I make excuses for the client not to pay me for my time, I give up a little piece of myself.
Now I try to be more up front with people and inform new clients of my cancellation policy right in the first phone call and then have them sign a statement on their first visit at the end of the intake form. What this does is establish the ground rules.
There are many ways to handle cancellations - charge the whole amount or charge a $25-$35 fee or even charge depending on how much notice they have given you.
Do you want to allow for people being sick, for family emergencies, for them getting stuck at work? What about those who just plain forgot?
What you do with each client does reflect on the profession.
These suggestions can help you be more effective in ethically managing clients who push your scheduling and time management limits. BY DIANNE POLSENO
Increase Your Income by Reducing “No Shows”
By Colleen (Steigerwald) Holloway, LMT
December 18th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
I have dealt with the problem of cancellations time and time again. I have my patients sign a cancellation,no show,and late policy form in my office now and find that it’s effect has been positive from every client. When I am talking to them in my treatment room I acknowledge that they have signed this form and ask if they have any questions about it. Although some don’t actually read and could easily be signing their “first born” over to me:) My stance on the issue is that we have both signed a form stating the office policy on 24 hour cancellations and such that I charge accordingly after all this is a business and my time is more valuable then maybe I am charging.