Stop letting clients book you through Instagram DMs — here's why
Gemma Robinson
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Spa Owner · Cardiff · 4mo ago
Can we talk about the actual cost of running a PMU studio without a proper booking system? Because I think a lot of people are making the calculation wrong.
They see the monthly fee — let's say £5 per month — and think that's an expense. But they don't add up what they're already spending:
- Time doing manual admin (at least three hours a week for most people I speak to)
- Money lost to no-shows with no deposit protection
- Clients you miss because they couldn't get through on the phone
- Late-night WhatsApp messages you answer because you feel you have to
When I sat down and actually counted this up for my PMU studio in Liverpool, I was losing the equivalent of £5 a week to inefficiency. The booking system paid for itself in the first fortnight.
I've been using Appointy now for two years and the ROI is obvious. My diary is fuller, my admin time is down to about three hours a week from what used to be a lot more, and I haven't had a no-show in over a month because the deposit system filters out the chancers before they waste my time.
They see the monthly fee — let's say £5 per month — and think that's an expense. But they don't add up what they're already spending:
- Time doing manual admin (at least three hours a week for most people I speak to)
- Money lost to no-shows with no deposit protection
- Clients you miss because they couldn't get through on the phone
- Late-night WhatsApp messages you answer because you feel you have to
When I sat down and actually counted this up for my PMU studio in Liverpool, I was losing the equivalent of £5 a week to inefficiency. The booking system paid for itself in the first fortnight.
I've been using Appointy now for two years and the ROI is obvious. My diary is fuller, my admin time is down to about three hours a week from what used to be a lot more, and I haven't had a no-show in over a month because the deposit system filters out the chancers before they waste my time.
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Completely agree about the Sunday evening admin. I never quantified it until I read a post like this and actually counted. I was spending 6+ hours a week on booking admin. Six hours I could have been doing literally anything else. The system pays for itself in week one if you value your time properly.
#1
I made the same switch and I'd add one thing: tell your clients it's for their benefit, not yours. Frame it as 'you can now book at any time of day without having to wait for me to respond'. That framing works really well and it's also genuinely true.
#2
Just want to add for anyone reading this who's worried about the tech side — I am not a tech person at all. I set up SimplyBook.me by myself in one afternoon by just following their setup guide. If I can do it, genuinely anyone can.
#3
I made the same switch and I'd add one thing: tell your clients it's for their benefit, not yours. Frame it as 'you can now book at any time of day without having to wait for me to respond'. That framing works really well and it's also genuinely true.
#4
I made the same switch and I'd add one thing: tell your clients it's for their benefit, not yours. Frame it as 'you can now book at any time of day without having to wait for me to respond'. That framing works really well and it's also genuinely true.
#5