Reopening: How to effectively manage client bookings

The idea of reopening after such a long period of time away from the nail desk can be daunting, especially with clients eager to finally have their nails done. However, it is important not to get burnt out within the first two weeks of reopening; structure your diary accordingly to ease back into life behind the nail desk and prevent feeling overwhelmed.

Just think – if you cram as many clients in as possible in the first fortnight, they’ll want to rebook in three week’s time – so your diary may keep bottlenecking. Stagger appropriately to ensure an achievable return. We chat to some nail professionals who share their tips… 

“Previous lockdowns have taught us that without proper management, our diary will be chaotic for the first two weeks with a lull before clients return again. This isn’t good for our cash flow or our staff health/morale after such a long period off work,” comments Tracy McGoogan, INK London educator.

“Our staff members will gradually return to work and appointments will be during our normal opening hours without adding extra hours or shifts. We really need our customers to return but I also need to consider the business and our team.”

“It’s going to be very tempting to book in as many clients as possible during the first few weeks of reopening,” adds Ruth Munro, Magpie Beauty educator. “I’m going to structure a smooth return to business to ensure I’m not too overwhelmed during the first few weeks by sticking to 45-hour weeks with lunch breaks.

“Beauticians are notorious for working exceptionally long days without breaks; although I managed this before lockdown, I want to make my health a priority which reflects in my reopening hours. I will be allocating extra time per service too, as I will be slower and have to clean more than usual in-between clients.”

Online booking services:

Use the remaining time before reopening to organise your website and social platforms and prepare information that will save you and your clients time.

“We have sent mass comms to our clients who opt in, either by SMS or email explaining to them how they can book and when – hopefully diverting the majority of the traffic through our online booking services instead. We have set up customer information sheets on our website so we could refer clients to the FAQ pages to save almost relentless responses to similar questions,” reveals Paulina Zdrada, owner of The Nail Lab Salon & Academy.

“Online booking certainly takes away a huge amount of the stress and allows your customers to breeze back into the routine.”

For more hints & tips on reopening, check out the April 2021 issue of Scratch. Subscribe here.