No Shows

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on June 12, 2011 at 6:22pm

OK, I was wrong about those who get a card over the phone- those who actually DO see clients also do this...   It works in California for those who actually see clients.   Not convinced it would work in Tulsa....  but for those on the coasts- try it!

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Permalink Reply by Marti Liebowitz on June 12, 2011 at 6:53pm

Melissa, do you confirm your appointments with your clients ahead of time? If you don't, maybe that would help. I typically don't, for no real good reason other than I don't want to give a new client an easy opportunity to back out. The ones that don't show up are usually the ones that wanted to see me for help getting organized, or help with time management, or those who insisted on seeing me as soon as possible. The rest of my missed appointments are usually last minute reschedules or cancellations due to finances. Once a client is established, they don't usually flake out on me and I don't have too many unexplained "no shows".What I have encountered more often than not are clients who don't take the time to write down our appointment time and seem to rely on a call to remind them of their appointment. I don't chase down no shows unless they are established clients, but I find that most usually contact me to apologize and rebook. I allow them to do this one time. If it happens twice I'll gladly reschedule them again, but only if they pre-pay. I haven't yet figured out a way to comfortably require prepayment for all sessions. It's not customarily done here, but I'm not going to say it wouldn't fly here in Colorado because I don't know. My weight loss packages are the only success I've had with that, but only after the free consultation. Most of my clients pay me in cash or by check, I've noticed. Maybe 1/4 pay by credit card.

 

I once had two clients, a husband and wife, who both wanted to be seen for separate but similar issues. Based on the nature of the wife's concerns, I asked for a commitment of at least three sessions, to be pre-paid. The husband passed me his credit card, and before I could run it changed his mind and paid me for her first session in cash. He flat refused to pre-pay for his wife's continuing sessions, claiming he had other bills to pay, but they both promised up and down she'd return for the next one. And, as I expected, I never saw or heard from either of them again.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa J. Roth on June 12, 2011 at 7:13pm

I did a Groupon and most of the no-shows of returning clients were the Groupon people.  I assume most of them did not have the money to continue with the sessions after the discounted session.  A couple of people told me so and we did not set a follow up appointment for them.  A couple of the others set appointments but did not call or show up.  We send a reminder email about appointments and all they would have had to do was reply that they were not going to keep their appointment.  But, recently I even had a referred client stand me up.  I do not like it and want to come up with some creative ways to handle this in the future.  Yes, I always have work I can do in the meantime but I set aside the time to see that client and could have done my work from home or could have appointed someone else.  I seriously do not think taking a CC# PRIOR to a session would fly in the republic of Boulder, Co.  I will have the web guru put a paypal button on my web site so clients can pre-pay their session.  That's a great idea.  Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig - HypnosisAustin on June 13, 2011 at 5:29am

Out here in the wild of Bastrop, Texas, I find that a courtesy call the day before the session is generally enough to prevent no-shows. However, if I get a no-show, I won't re-book that client without pre-payment.

 

Sean Wheeler of Atlanta, in his recent interview with Craig Eubanks, said that after setting up an appointment on the phone, he sends an email in which he asks the client to confirm the appointment with an online pre-payment. (He books weeks in advance and caters to smokers.) He gives the client a specific amount of time--I think he said a week--after which the appointment is cancelled if they haven't paid. The nice thing about doing it online is that he doesn't have to take and store their credit card numbers.

 

James

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Permalink Reply by Doctor Alan Eastman on June 14, 2011 at 4:06pm

Hello,

 

Yes we used to have this happen a lot, not so much anymore. In the psychotherapy world there is a thing called "pre-session change". See by the time the client has called or emailed you they (some) may have begun to change their behaviors all ready. The client to be must do a number of things before they get their appointment, such as ask others who to go see, Internet research, using the phone book, and finally taking the step to call you and book. Some studies have shown that up to 60% of clients have already set the course for change to take place. That is, they feel better just by taking the first step and feel that therapy may be unnecessary at this point. Why they don't call to cancel is another story....

 

Hope this helps,

Alan Eastman, Ph.D.

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Permalink Reply by GAIL GUEVARA on June 14, 2011 at 4:37pm

Melissa ~

 

I have not read through all of your posts, but for new clients I will call 24 hours in advance. This helps to re-establish connection and confidence.

 I also incorporate coaching and other healing modalities into my practice so the client pays first through PayPal.  If I am working only on hypnosis-client issues such as one to three sessions they still pay in advance.

 

Hope this offers some food for thought.

~Gail

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