Creating and Supporting Your Essential Salon Policies
By Amanda Lenz, Product Club Educator

Essential Policies

Deposit/Credit Card Policy

• Requiring a deposit or credit card on file for clients to book appointments is a common policy to reserve appointments
• If this policy fits your business model, decide if it works better to require a deposit (certain percentage or flat dollar amount at time of booking, to be applied to appointment upon completion) or a credit card on file (to be charged based on Cancellation Policy or No-Show Policy parameters)
• Real Talk: I have switched to a suite setting, but even prior to this I found that what worked best for me was to require new clients to provide a deposit upon booking their appointment. I require a deposit of 50% of the service that is being booked, which is non-refundable but is transferable one time (life happens!). Current and long-time clients were not affected when I decided to start taking deposits; the purpose of the deposit for me is to ensure a new client is serious about booking and will show up for the scheduled appointment time.

Cancellation Policy

• A window of time before a scheduled appointment in which the client can cancel without penalty, meaning forfeiting a deposit, being charged a cancellation fee, or being recorded as cancelling appointments resulting in further limitations when booking. This window of time may be 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours, the choice is yours! Keep in mind that you want to leave enough time to fill a spot if a client cancels but not to create a policy that does not allow for emergencies or flexibility for clients.
• Make sure that you remind clients of their appointments. Online booking platforms offer text or email appointment reminders, and the ability to see if clients confirmed their appointment via these methods. I still prefer to call if I see that any client has not confirmed an appointment by the text or email link so I do not end up with a gap in my schedule whenever possible.
• Real Talk: I have rarely had to enforce my Cancellation Policy. I currently have my policy that any Cancellation within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment will result in a 50% charge of the service missed. This requires I keep credit card information on file for clients, and that I make sure that information is up to date. Truthfully, there are so few people who consistently would cancel last minute that I chose to speak to those clients directly and explained that I would need them to give me more notice or I will have to have a deposit for future appointments. Alternatively, you can offer for a client to contact you the week of a desired appointment to see if you have any openings. Sometimes it’s the client that can have (schedule) commitment issues!

No-Show Policy

• This is an absolute with limitations ultimately needed. There are definitely circumstances where a client might accidentally No-Show for an appointment due to accident or illness. Forgetting an appointment can be avoided with a consistent appointment reminder and confirmation system.
• Wording matters with this one, because clients do not necessarily understand what a ‘No-Show’ is, or how it affects us in our industry. Be precise and assertive but keep the message light. For example: ‘No-Shows occur when an appointment is missed, leaving gaps in stylists schedules that cannot be filled last minute by clients on the waitlist. Please be mindful that although we know mix-ups can happen, there may be a charge for a missed appointment for 50% of the missed service. In certain cases, a deposit may be required for holding future appointments. Thank you for your understanding!’ Including a Thank you at the end of your policy explanation helps keep the tone friendly.
• Real Talk: A regular, loyal client No-Show is different than a New client No-Show is different than a regular, inconsistent client No-Show, meaning this will be a policy you may decide to word with some interpretation (see above example with ‘in certain cases’). Determining what sort of client relationship is worthwhile to you within each of these scenarios is important when applying your No-Show policy. There are clients who genuinely make a mistake and miss an appointment and there are serial offenders; I have a different application depending on the person I am dealing with.

Refund Policy

• Refunds are typically for products sold, and less commonly for services, as we typically try to resolve services through redoing them. A product Refund Policy may be something that offers a refund on products returned within 2 weeks of purchase, as long as there is no less than 1/4 of the product used. Sometimes an exchange for another product or credit towards another product is a reasonable option rather than an actual refund.
• If you decide to offer refunds on services because a client is unhappy with a result and there is no other resolution to satisfy the client, consider if you offer full or partial refunds in your policy. A partial refund might be because you will still be commissioning the stylist for the services they completed or covering the products used in the service and only refunding the service cost itself. This decision is personal based on the salons financial policies and desires.
• Real Talk: I always offer to redo services if a client is every dissatisfied, or if I do a service and feel that we didn’t achieve the desired results I will sometimes wait to charge the client until they return for an adjustment appointment to avoid the difficulty of having to refund a client for something and missing the opportunity to rectify it. With that being said, I also believe that sometimes it is better to resolve an issue quickly and simply and that can be with a refund. You can also offer someone credit for services rendered and they can have a gift certificate for the dollar amount spent to use as they choose on future services.

Redo Policy

• Redos are common enough to require a policy. They may be small or large adjustments needed for services that have been recently completed, which is why it is important to establish parameters that a redo falls within.
• A Redo Policy may state that a redo is considered a service adjustment done within 1-2 weeks of the initial visit and includes only services that were previously done. For example, if you have a client who decides they want to try a single-process color in an auburn shade, and then they want to be more of a blonde color after seeing themselves in auburn hair, that would not be an actual redo. If you had the auburn shade take too dark, look orange, or have patchy deposit, those would be issues that may warrant a redo. Redo services are also typically no charge services which is why it is important that they parallel the original service that was done.
• Redo services also may need to be done by the original stylist that completed the service in order for them to fall under the Redo Policy at certain salons; as a salon manager and owner, I always offered the client to see the original stylist first and if they were not comfortable with that, I would do the service myself.
• Real Talk: I would much rather make sure my client is happy with their haircolor or haircut and that I have the chance to make adjustments than to have them go to someone else. Make sure your Redo Policy is client-friendly enough that your clientele does not feel it will cost them more money if something adverse happens to their hair. And maybe even more importantly, let your client know that you want to know how they like their hair. If I have a client make a significant change, I will try to follow up myself within a week or so just to see how they are adjusting. I have had a few times that the client wants to come back in for some sort of tweak or change- and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity for the redo!

To create policies for you, your salon, or suite, stay focused on the most important situations to your business model; then build off of that. The biggest mistake I see stylists and salon owners make is to create or change policies based on a single situation involving one or two clients. Keep in mind that you may have isolated incidents or moments that occur which will require you to manage those experiences, but not to necessarily change the rules for the entirety of your clientele. Ultimately, don’t let the behavior of one change the experience for all. Stay focused and create and present policies based on positive messaging and motivations for you and your clients.