Doctors also go to 10+ years of school. What’s your point? It’s your business and you can choose to run it however you want. I appreciate the way my electrologist ran hers and she obviously got lots of satisfied customers from it.
Sorry, I do not know to interpret the question: what is your point?
And believe it or not, I am very glad to hear that you are satisfied with the treatment you receive from your electrologist.
And yes, fortunately, no law requires me to call my clients to remind them that they requested an appointment freely.
I think a call is also nice and wouldn’t hurt. I make appointments after the dentist for 6 months in advance. I write it in my calendar, and before I had a smart phone I just left it since they always called me a week before to confirm. It’s usually always the hygienist that does the cleaning that would call me. I can understand if she’s just one person, but how long would it really take to one day a week spend an hour and just call everyone who’s appointment is coming up in the next week to remind them. I don’t know, just seems like something that would happen often especially when it’s 3 months to get in. It’s one thing if you call to book and she says you can come in in a few days and then you cancel, but 3 months warrants a reminder call or even email!
Well, it’s good to know that I am not the only one with an assistant.
My assistant called to clients quite often, but this is not to remind them of the appointment. She called to let them know I’m late with the previous client and the duration of the delay. I value my clients’ time as I hope they value mine.
If you actually have the Marble Floored Office with the Former Price Is Right Model Secretary, there is someone there to make such calls. I think that Dee will agree with me that those of us who are one person operations have no time for such courtesy calls. We have all we can handle just trying to find a way to feed ourselves in between appointments, and unless there is another client right there, the finishing client wants to chit chat with us and we just don’t get a lot of fee time to make reminder calls. Some of us are already working 7 days a week!
I understand the desire for reminder calls, and I understand that a business that makes them captures more revenue for doing it, but many of us are just too darned busy to chase after adults to remind them of the appointments they make.
Of course, I have out of town clients who somehow manage to forget their appointments, even though seeing me requires leaving town (which we would think one would remember a little bit more easily than driving across town).
In the end, I have to say that remembering the appointment is the responsibility of the adult who is pursuing the service. Any reminders from the practitioner is just a courtesy, (which, granted, tends to increase the financial intake of the business if done).
My electrologist was a one-person operation and made time for the calls. It doesn’t take that long to call the 5 people you have appts with the next day and leave messages…10 mins? 15 at most? And it shows you care. I appreciate it. Of course, it’s not a requirement, but just pointing it out from the consumer’s point of view.
Well these days, it’s not hard to set up automated text messaging for this kind of stuff!
I understand both perspectives but I think it can only be beneficial for both in the end.
I don’t say this to be argumentative, but those who know the people in the industry are laughing at that statement, as upgrading to new technology and utilizing your current equipment to the fullest extent is an ongoing fight in this field.
I will out myself here as an example. My cell phone (which were it not for my business, I would not even have ) is still a Sanyo RL-7800 bar phone. My friends love to make jokes like grabbing it and pretending to hand crank it, and saying, things like, “Hello! Operator! Can you get me Beachwood-45789” (trust me, older people are laughing harder than you are at that reference. Google it) I could have an Iphone, but I am not as willing to upgrade to that, as I would be the next Apilus, Silhouet-Tone, Instantron, Clarablend, or Fischer/Hinkle product.
One of my clients owns a multi-car dealership group, and asked me what car I would like to upgrade to, and I said 1996 Volvo 960. He shook his head, and said, “New car!” So I said, 2000 Volkswagen Passat TDI. He shook his head and said, “I don’t understand you.”
Now that I think of it, another part of this discussion is the very real fact that electrolysis providers are often in a place where they have to consciously remind themselves that they can’t make getting the client’s work done more important to them, than it is to the client. All of us have had that person who we have called, and admonished about how they are falling behind on treatment, to the point where we get accused of hounding them to make our money. At that point, no one believes us when we say, "No, its just that yours is an easy case to finish, if you just co-operate and show up when you are supposed to. I really wanted to get you done and out of here in the shortest amount of time. What’s in it for me? I get to see someone finish in 9 months flat, and tell their friends that it is possible.
I now understand the anguish of my Math and Science teachers who lamented to me that I was blowing their first chance to give a student a 100 average, and I was willing to settle for a 98 and 99 in those classes.
Here is the deal:
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Many of my clients call at the last minute, meaning a few days before they need a session and there is no need to remind them. They see a new hair growth cycle coming forth and want it off now. I work six, sometimes seven days a week. I can usually fit them in as opposed to the electrologist that works two days a week.
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The ones with advanced appointments (more than two weeks away), they just show up as responsible adults should and the ones who don’t may find it difficult to get another appointment at their time choosing.
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Adults who have to be reminded, well, I’ll zip my lip on this one.
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Highly motivated clients don’t miss appointments. It’s like if you offer someone one thousand dollars to show up, you better believe they will be there with their hands out stretched wanting that money!
In the past, when certain clients couldn’t be counted on to show up, I would give them a reminder call and they still would forget!!
So put me on the side of no reminder call or automated e-mails or calls. For my business, it is a waste of time and I have an aversion to chasing down adults who should have learned about responsibility and organization in their life skills “class”.
Actually James, this is something that could be set up on one’s computer. All you would need to do is select the names of tomorrow’s clients and hit send on a template message.
As I said, I think it’s not necessary but it can be helpful for both sides. Not everyone has an amazing memory and at times of stress, it’s easy to forget or mix up the day or time of your appointment. I know I always look forward to my electrolysis appointments but I still always double check to make sure it’s on the day my brain is telling me it’s on.
Anyway, my clinic doesn’t even have a computer. Everything is on paper 
Ok I see this has started some opinionated differences. I never intended for that to happen, but let me clarify. I DO NOT need reminded appointments, especially when they are weekly, I can remember that just fine. I can even remember a doctors appointment I make 3 weeks in advance. But like I said, when an appointment, no let me clarify, A CONSULTATION, IE. for 15 min, is 3 months in advance, yeah a phone call, maybe an email the week before would have been nice. She doesn’t need to call EVERY regular client, because yes, that is THEIR own responsibility, but come on, 3 months! That deserves a call, I’m sorry.
Hi:
For what it’s worth, if I had to wait 3 months for an electrolysis consultation I would find someone else.
Secondly I have found a day planner to be a valuable tool for marking down appointments, etc… I use the old fashioned kind which uses paper and pen. I can check things out for weeks or months in advance.
The only people that remind me of appointments are the dentist and hairdressers, but I don’t really need it.
Alicia
My point was not reminding clients who can’t keep track of their own schedule. My point was that you could make your life a bit easier if you had this set up and thus avoided no-shows. You’re not going to change these people by refusing to do this.
James, there is a huge difference between getting a brand new car and using new technology. The car still does the same - gets you from point A to point B (brand new just means better looking and with more bells and whistles). New technology is much like new epilators - it makes your life easier.
Alicia, dentists and hairdressers are not reminding you for your sake. They’re doing it for THEIR sake, so they can avoid losing business (i.e. via no-shows).
What’s that I was saying about upgrading to a higher standard being a hard row to hoe in this industry? 
James: You’re still taking on new clients right?? I want to do other parts of my body as well (i.e. stomach and back) would you take this on, or am I at a loss of hope.
I seriously consider sending an e-mail to prospective customers by 2011.
What I do not know is how these messages are going to get my clients (elderly).
By the way, most of them do not have all the time in the world. Spanish grandmothers are busy caring for their grandchildren while their daughters attend her job, thus saving money in the babysitter and this helps pay the mortgage on the house. This is more than enough, but some of these grandmothers restless, get out in time to attend an adult school and out of illiteracy caused by a stupid civil war.
In my country there are 5 million unemployed (a historical number), but the Ministry of Education gives each child 10 old year, a computer.
Maybe sending the e-mail to these children, they can notify their grandmothers.
I don’t think it is their fault for not reminding you because how are they supposed to remember that your consultation was 3 months later? They’d probably forget by tha time. Your appointment is amongst many others.
At the moment, I am still taking new clients, but my year is getting close to booked up. There are only so many people one can see.
James: Can I ask you, if out of towners see you, how do they come weekly? and are you able to clear large areas or will I need to come weekly?
I don’t intend this to sound mean, but I don’t know how it is that I constantly state that I clear my clients completely (if they give me enough time) and we see each other once every 6 to 8 weeks after that. I don’t have a single client that I see weekly, once we have achieved First Clearance.
When I say that I do things a little bit differently, I mean it. After first clearance, the soonest one would come back would be 2 to 3 weeks. The most aggressive schedule I would ever do would be once every 3 weeks. That would have me working on hairs no one notices, before they get long enough to be noticeable.