#78 Booking & Cancellation Policies - Can You Have Them?
Today’s topic is crucial for all small businesses recovering from the last two years. We’ve all experienced clients and customers failing to show up, cancelling at the last minute or asking to reschedule without any notice.
So, can you impose financial requirements on your booking and cancellation policies?
In this episode, I’m covering booking and cancellation policies and the questions surrounding what to consider, how to set them up and whether you can enforce them.
If you don’t have booking and cancellation policies that are clearly detailed, fair and in alignment with Consumer Law within your terms and conditions, you’re leaving yourself exposed as a small business owner with terms you won’t be able to enforce.
I’ll take you through everything you need to think about and consider when writing specific and unique booking and cancellation policies for your business. This isn’t a cookie-cutter approach and I encourage you to take a moment and think critically about how much time you need to rebook a cancelled appointment and how much money you may potentially lose for no-shows.
Of course, I don’t want to negate the human aspect of business. Emergencies come up suddenly for everyone so I’ll talk about how you can handle those situations where you don’t feel it fair to slog your client with a cancellation fee or loss of deposit.
If you want to learn more about tailoring your terms and conditions to fit the needs of your business, check out my Resources Page or book in for a call here.
TOPICS DISCUSSED AND WHERE TO FIND THEM:
[1:03]: Can I impose financial requirements on my booking and cancellation policies? Yes, provided they are fair and are included in your terms and conditions which are given to clients BEFORE they engage with you.
[1:37]: Check out my Resources page for more information regarding terms and conditions.
[1:49]: In your booking and cancellation policies, get really clear on what you want to achieve. Usually, you can require 48 hours notice for cancellation policies but tailor it to your business.
[2:44]: If you want to take a deposit with your bookings, you must outline it very clearly in your terms and conditions. Think about #1 the timeframe for rescheduling or cancelling, #2 percentage of consultation for cancellation fee and #3 when a client will forfeit their deposit.
[4:02]: When you’re clear on these 3 points, we can draft them into your terms and conditions. You must update every method your clients use to make a booking (ie. website, email etc.).
[5:03]: It’s not OK to have someone book on your website and then you send an email saying thanks and here’s the terms and conditions because they didn’t get to consider it BEFORE they chose to book.
[6:17]: Having correct policies and processes in place and in accordance with Consumer Law you’re setting yourself up for success. However, you will have to consider the business side. You don’t have to enforce your policies if there is a last minute human reason (but you can if you choose to).
[8:22]: There is no cookie cutter solution, you have to come up with documents that will work for you and your specific business.
LINKS:
Resources mentioned:
Blog & Resources | Business Legal Advice — TM Solicitor
Previous episodes mentioned:
What legal documents does my business need?
How Ts and Cs work with your business processes & systems
Check out my course Getting Paid Made Easy here
Get your copy of my Annual Legal Checklist here
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