As many of you may know, I travel quite a bit. I service over 100 different spas, varying in many different sizes. As my business grows, each minute of each day becomes more and more valuable. The saying that time is money, begins to form a true sense of being, and as my available time becomes scarce, I start to appreciate those who understand the true value of excellent time management.
It’s a topic I have been considering as a blog article
for several months, although, until this moment, when I am stuck in an airplane
between a screaming toddler and a snoring man, I haven’t had the time!
Wasted time is a resource that never comes back, it
can’t be regained, and if you live from appointment to appointment, it can’t be
extended. Time can be used as a negotiating tactic or a form of power. It can
be abused, and it can be gifted.
So as a business owner in the spa industry, one must
treat time as preciously as the clients that walk through your door.
The
Early Bird Gets the Worm:
Being early to work, appointments, and any
obligation in life is advantageous. From beating heavy traffic, to staying in
good standing with clients and employers, being early is always the best bet. If
you make it a point to be early to most appointments in your professional
career you will find that accomplishing tasks and negotiating with others is
much easier and your credibility stronger with colleagues.
Here are a few examples of early advantages:
Ø People
who arrive to work early exhibit a sense of organization, self-control, and
professionalism
Ø Arriving
early to a class, especially one you have paid for, guarantees you a better
seat, increasing your knowledge retention
Ø Many
businesses offer discounts for early hour appointments.
Ø Having
a reputation for being early or prompt will earn you preferential consideration
when asking for a raise or a promotion.
Ø If
you and your client are both early, you might be able to add on an extra
service to their ticket
Ø When
you have an unexpected event that causes you to be late, your reputation for
being punctual will allow for more patience when things do go wrong
There
Is No Such Thing As Being Fashionably Late In The Working World
In my career, I have to juggle interstate travel,
rental cars, luggage, flights, hotels, and customers with their own agendas,
yet I manage to stay on time or early 95% of the time. I am always perturbed when employees whose
place of work never changes, still manage to be late to (sometimes every)
training.
Nonchalantly, shrugging off being late as just another
part of life, is irresponsible and very expensive. If you chronically run late,
it means that certain decisions you are making are causing your tardiness.
Hitting that snooze button may be costing you hundreds of dollars each year
that you may not even be aware of.
As a business owner, late-comers are a drain on spa revenue
and on other employees. I think of chronically late employees and colleagues as
thieves, because by their own free will they are choosing an option that can
cost you more than the occasional shoplifter!
Consider how much your business makes per hour. Let’s
say $200 per hour divided amongst two therapists. Both therapists average 6
scheduled hours a day. Therapists #1 is punctual and arrives on time every day.
Therapist #2 is chronically late 25% of the time by 15 minutes.
Let’s do the math:
In a four day week: Therapist
A brings in $2,400 Therapist B
brings in $2375
In a four week month: Therapist A brings in $9,600 Therapist B brings in $9,500
In other words, therapist B costs your business $100
a month when compared to Therapist A, due to her/his own personal choices.
Another way to look at it is how much is customer
service worth? Late starts can push all of your appointments back, upsetting
good customers who have every right to look elsewhere for esthetic services.
When you lose a customer due to a service issue such as running late on
appointments, it costs much more than $100 per month in referrals.
Professionals with trouble staying on time, seem less
apt at their jobs. In our industry, being chronically late gives people the
sense that perhaps you are irresponsible on a fundamental level and that maybe
you are not 100% in control of yourself. Take a second to think about somebody
you know who is consistently late, and then consider what you or other people
might privately assume about that person. Would that be something you would
want anybody to think about you or your employees?
The
Good News
The best news about time management issues, is that
they are simply habits. In the end, you can actively change any habits that
might be costing you precious minutes. Thousands of books and tools are
available for those who need help or advice on more effective use of their
time. Just type time management into a google and there will be plenty of help
at hand.
