Creating a Holiday Cancellation Policy That Protects Revenue at Your Salon or Spa

The holidays are a busy season for your salon or spa, which can be great for growing your business and your revenue. But, you also need to prepare for unexpected cancellations. Whether you’re trying to safeguard your revenue from cancellations or you want to reduce your salon’s no-shows, a strong holiday cancellation policy is the answer. 

Why a Cancellation Policy Matters 

Whether we’re talking the holiday season or a random Tuesday in March, cancellation policies are a big deal. They help you: 

• Protect your revenue: The biggest benefit of a cancellation policy is revenue protection. When a client cancels at the last minute, you lose out on the revenue that comes from that appointment, and limited notice makes it harder to fill that time with a new client. With a well-crafted cancellation policy, you can discourage last-minute cancellations and maintain a portion of the revenue lost. 

• Establish clear expectations for clients: It might feel challenging to maintain positive client relationships with a cancellation policy, but setting expectations up front is the kindest choice for everyone. With a clearly communicated policy, your clients know what’s expected of them, and you can prevent repeated cancellations that hurt your business.  

• Represent your stylists: Like your business, your stylists are also financially impacted when a client cancels. They lose out on paid hours and end up with unfilled time between appointments. Cancellation policies are an ideal way to protect your stylists’ interests and ensure your clients respect their time. 

• Simplify appointment management: Last-minute cancellations leave you with open time that you can offer to another client. With enough notice, it’s easier to fill in gaps in your appointment book and maintain a steady flow of business.  

What to Include in Your Holiday Cancellation Policy 

Your policy should include these key elements: 

Clear Terms for Notice 

The most important piece of your cancellation policy is the notice requirement. Consider how much notice you need for cancellations to feel manageable during the holiday rush. A common notice period is 24 hours, but you have to know your scheduling needs. You might find that 48 hours will make cancellations more manageable for your team. If you already have a cancellation policy in place, you could increase the notice window for the holiday season.  

Means of Contact 

Understanding the notice requirements for cancellation only gets a person so far. Make it clear how a client should cancel if they need to. Having multiple contact methods can make the process a little more accessible. A phone number and email address are both great places to start. If you use online booking software, you might also have a way to cancel through your website.  

Booking Fee 

Booking fees or deposits are a great way to protect your revenue. Deposits are often an incentive for clients to follow through with their appointments, but they also prepare you for the unexpected. If a client has no choice but to cancel, you keep the deposit and prevent a total loss.  

Your booking fee can be the same for every service, or you can adjust it based on a service’s time investment. For example, a root touch-up might be a $50 deposit, and a full cut and color might be $75. 

Additional Policy Terms 

Beyond cancellations, including policies on no-shows and late arrivals can be a smart way to protect your stylists’ time and your revenue. For example, you can charge a late fee for clients who show up 15 to 30 minutes late. If someone shows up more than 30 minutes late (or not at all), you can treat it as a no-show.  

No-show penalties can be as strict as you feel is necessary. In some cases, a no-show means only keeping the booking fee. Other times, salons and spas charge 50% or even 100% of the booked service. These policies are designed to prevent no-shows, but if they do occur, it’s important to enforce them. 

Enforcing Your Cancellation Policy 

It’s great to have a holiday cancellation policy for your salon, but that policy has to be enforced to be effective. 

Make Your Policy Accessible

A cancellation policy is only as strong as its accessibility. If you uphold the policy without making it clear that it exists, you run the risk of damaging your client relationships. How you communicate your cancellation policy to your salon clients is up to you. It’s best practice to have the cancellation policy front and center when a client is booking an appointment, whether it’s a message on your online booking platform or a message over the phone. 

It’s also helpful to have your cancellation policy readily available on your website. Consider incorporating the terms on a frequently asked questions page or including them on your services pages. 

Require Clients to Accept Your Terms 

Attaching your cancellation policy to the scheduling process is a best practice. Make it more powerful by requesting that your clients accept your terms. This step can be baked into the online scheduling process.  

When a client requests an appointment, you can have them check a box saying they agree to your cancellation policy. With this extra layer of reinforcement, you can feel more confident that your clients are aware of your rules. 

Inform Your Staff 

Your employees will uphold your cancellation policy with your clients, so it’s important they understand the terms inside and out. Say a stylist answers the phone from a client requesting a cancellation for an appointment that same day. Your stylist can then inform them that the cancellation is outside your notice requirements, so the client will not receive their deposit (or any other terms you identify). 

Cancellation Policy Templates for Spas 

For a short, direct cancellation policy, your business could share the following message: 

• “To reschedule or cancel, please do so at least X hours before your scheduled time. If you cancel with less than X hours of notice, we will charge a fee equal to X% of the booked service. Call us at XXX-XXX-XXXX or request a cancellation online.” 

If you want to provide additional context, you can opt for a longer policy: 

• “At [salon name], we value the time of our clients and staff. In order to accommodate as many clients as possible, we ask that you provide at least X hours of notice for cancellation. If you cancel your appointment with fewer than X hours’ notice, we will charge a cancellation fee of X% of your booked service. If you miss an appointment without notice, you will be charged a no-show fee of $X. To cancel or reschedule your appointment, call us at XXX-XXX-XXXX or visit our online booking page. We appreciate you choosing our salon and respecting our terms.” 

Below is an example of a simple late arrival policy you can share with customers: 

• “To respect the time of our staff and other clients, please arrive within 15 minutes of your scheduled appointment time. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will be charged a late fee of $X. Arriving more than 30 minutes late will be considered a no-show, and you will be charged a $X fee.” 

Get Started on Your Cancellation Policy for The Holiday Season 

Preparing for the holidays can mean many things: working on employee schedules, stocking your inventory, or filling your appointment book. Part of that prep should be making sure you have a cancellation policy in place that will protect your revenue and your stylists’ time. In the end, what kind of cancellation policy your salon has is up to you, and should feel right for both the culture of your business and your bottom line. The important thing is to have one and enforce it—whatever that may look like for you. 

Request a demo to see how Meevo can help you reinforce your cancellation policy, simplify operations, and save you time!