For a small business, losing out on pre-booked appointments can be devastating - but while there are many reasons why a client might have to cancel, your job is to protect your business!

Here’s how you can set a clear but firm policy that will keep your clients happy, and prevent your business from being exploited! As a permanent makeup artist, it is important to understand how valuable your time is and this should be reinforced, to protect your business and your income.

Have a clear cancellation policy

Whenever someone books with you, they should get a written confirmation of the terms of their appointment, including your booking and cancellation policy.

Make sure that includes the deposit amount and what time frame they have to cancel within, ideally allowing yourself time to fill the appointment if they do. Be clear about how they can cancel or change their booking and whether the deposit can be used for another appointment. Some artists will charge a late fee for last minute cancellations that must be paid before they’ll rebook an appointment – this is usually when they don’t have sufficient time to fill a cancelled booking slot.

For instance, you might allow clients to change their appointment more than a week ahead and retain their deposit, but only once. Then they might have up to 72 hours before the appointment in which they’d only lose their deposit. If they don’t try to cancel until the last three days, charge another fee to rebook and keep their deposit.



…and stick to it!

This might all sound a little harsh - illnesses and tragedies do happen, and maybe you’ll be tempted to let the odd situation slide. That’s of course up to you, but try to be strict at sticking to your policy or it’ll never be respected.

Save any exceptions for your most valued customers but even then, always put you and your business first. If you develop close relationships with your clients, it can be awkward to remain professional and reinforce policies but all clients (even if they are your friends) need to respect your time and your money – especially with a luxury service. A single no-show can cost your business hundreds of pounds!

Offer a reminder

Whether you write it down on a booking card or set up an appointment alert for your client, make sure you’ve made it as easy as possible for them to get the right date and time. SMS appointment reminders are a popular choice, meaning clients get their reminder directly to their mobile phone 24 or 48hrs before their appointment – some even give the client the option to reply and confirm their slot.



Have a wait list

If an appointment gets cancelled, the best thing to do is fill it up as soon as possible - this is where a wait list can really come in handy! Offer discounted treatments to clients willing to come in at short notice, and make up the shortfall from the cancelled booking’s deposit. Your social media can be a useful place to advertise last minute cancellations when a new appointment frees up!

Say no

If someone’s messing you around, cancelling late and generally causing you extra stress, you can always suggest that they visit another artist. Turning down a client is hard, but ultimately better than losing money (or your sanity!). Especially in the early stages of your career, it can feel like you need to say yes to every client but if you start seeing those red flags straight away, don’t be afraid to stand your ground.

While it can be tough to put your foot down, a solid cancellation policy and deposit scheme can really help to protect you and your business, ensuring that you get paid fairly for your time and hard work! PMU is a luxury service with a high price-tag, meaning that no-shows are expensive and detrimental to your business and success.