Your Cancellation Policy Is Getting You Cancelled

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We rethink cancellation policies through hospitality, not fear. We show how a loud, punitive stance can push loyal guests away and why better systems—not bigger warnings—solve most no‑show issues.

• roots of “cancellation” and “policy” and why language matters
• the viral all‑caps policy post and what it signals
• contrast with luxury hospitality and leading with warmth
• how fear‑first messaging creates guilt and churn
• guardrails vs hammers as a policy mindset
• target 5–10% cancellations and read the data
• systems fixes: rebooking, reminders, future picture, confirmations
• coaching teams away from social media copy‑paste policies
• culture over consequences and rewriting the policy voice
• practical exercise to test tone and guest feeling

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
What if I told you that the very thing that is
protecting your salon mayactually be pushing guests away?
You know, your cancellationpolicy, it's a big word thrown
around these days.
The one that you're promoting onsocial media in all caps with
dollar signs and explanationpoints might be the exact reason

(00:25):
that clients are ghosting you.
You know, they're shrinking whenthey walk back in, or worse,
never coming back at all.
And so today we're going to divedeep into why your cancellation
policy could actually be gettingyou canceled.

SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
Love this topic.
So let's actually dive in firstwith the word cancellation.
You know, it's from the Latinword canceller, which means to
cross out to make void.
And isn't that exactly how itfeels?
It's like your books are full,your team is ready, and then

(01:05):
poof, a no-show wipes it allaway.
You know, and that's truly whywe set policies, you know, and
the word policy comes from theGreek word polis, meaning city.
And so a policy was never meantto be punishment.
It was created to keep order sothat everyone could could

(01:28):
thrive, truly, you know.
So, but here's where it getstricky.
Sometimes without even meaningto, a cancellation policy can
tip too far, you know, and so aloyal guest calls with a genuine
emergency, or a new client readsa strict rules list before
they've even met you, or a teammember enforces the rules in a

(01:52):
way that feels cold or robotic.
And suddenly the very thingthat's supposed to protect your
business starts to push peopleaway.

SPEAKER_00 (02:02):
You know, Lindsay, it got me thinking of that uh
screenshot that you just sharedwith me.
Was it like a nice picture?
And can do you remember what itsaid?
It was like all in a caps locks.
Yeah, tell us what it said.

SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
Actually, I've got it right here.
So it was all in caps and it hada beautiful picture of hair, and
that's what actually made mestop.
Um, and then, you know, when youstart to read what it what it
said on there, it saysannouncement starting, you know,
the date, uh, Tuesday, September30th.
No show appointments willreceive a$100 fee.

(02:37):
This fee does not go towardsyour next appointment, it goes
to pay for your serviceproviders and their hourly pay
because no one gets to work anddoesn't get paid.
And it went on and on and on.

SPEAKER_00 (02:52):
Wow.
I was I remember, I was like, ohgoodness, wow.
You know, it got remember wewere thinking about that too.
Like, man, like we've stayed atthe Ritz before.
And like every time we go inthere, it's never about the
cancellation policy, right?
I've never even seen it.
Like, that's more about likethat hospitality making us feel
warm and welcome.
So it's like just interesting ifyou flip the script for salons.

(03:14):
Like, why do we think thatthat's the thing that we have to
market to?
And I love what you said,Lindsay, about the word policy
itself is not made to be apunishment.
Like it's really just there toprotect you because yes, well,
there'll be one or two, or maybethree, four, or five clients
that you need to use the policyloan, policy on absolutely.
But just like the writs, it'slike it doesn't have to be the

(03:35):
forefront of everything.
And I think that's the placethat we're losing credibility on
as salons and salon owner or andas being salon owners is because
we're making that the firstthing that a guest sees.

SPEAKER_01 (03:47):
That's so true, Jen.
And you know, I think a lot ofsalon owners think if they don't
post a strong cancellationpolicy that people are gonna
walk all over them, you know.
But like it's almost like thebelief that like if they're
tough, if they aren't tough,they're gonna lose money,
they're gonna lose respect,they're gonna lose time.
But here's what actually happenswhen you put your cancellation

(04:09):
policy front and center.
You know, the wrong people, theone, the ones who like are truly
abusing your time, they don'teven see it, you know.
But the right people, your loyalguests, the ones who love you,
are the ones who do see it.
And when they see it, they feelguilt.

(04:30):
You know, they remember that onetime life happened, like they
had a sick kid, a flat tire, afamily emergency, whatever their
reasoning was.
It doesn't even matter, youknow?
But now instead of walking andshining like they usually would,
oh my gosh, I'm so excited tosee you.
You know, they walk in smaller,they dim their light, you know.
And here's the truth guiltyclients don't become loyal

(04:54):
clients.
Guilty clients, they avoid, theycancel more, or you know, they
just simply fade away.

SPEAKER_00 (05:04):
Yeah, that's so true.
They just simply fade away.
So when you think about like,here's the real breakdown like
for cancellation policy to newguests, you know, truly a harsh
cancellation policy screams,this place is risky.
Like, I'm gonna need to thinkabout this before I go in there.
You know, to your loyal guests,like Lindsay was saying, it kind

(05:25):
of whispers like, hey, if youmess up, you'll be punished.
And then to your team, itsignals, hey, we care more about
rules than relationships.
So I could see like that salonowner posting it, her team being
like, Oh, ooh, yeah, yeah, Ilike it.
Give me more of that, right?
But like if you think about it,like your real goal is to, you
know, create amazing experiencesfor guests.

(05:49):
It's not punishment, it's youknow, just a cancellation policy
is just there for protection.
You know, it should be aguardrail, not a hammer.

SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Jen, that is huge.
It should be a guardrail and nota hammer, you know, because
here's the truth like life isgonna happen, you know, and so
here's what you need to knowplan for a five to 10%
cancellation rate.
Just have a plan for that.
That's normal, that's life, youknow.

(06:20):
But but I think it's also greatto know if your cancellations
are higher than that, you don'thave a policy problem, you have
a systems problem becausethere's, you know, maybe the
guest experience isn't magneticenough.
You know, maybe you're notplanning a big enough future
picture for your guests, youknow, or maybe your pre-booking

(06:41):
process is weak, or maybe it'sthat you're not calling to
confirm appointments or, youknow, sending out texts or
emails or whatever your remindersystem is.
Because you guys shouting yourcancellation policy will not fix
those leaks.
It's just duct tape over thereal issue.
And I and I really think too,you know, one of the best

(07:03):
reminders when we're thinkingabout this is, you know, when
somebody on my team comes to meand they're like, hey, I've had
so many cancellations.
The first thing that you need todo as a salon owner is actually
look and see how manycancellations they've had.
Because if they've had three outof a hundred clients, they're
doing great because we'replanning on five to 10%.

(07:25):
But if they've had 30 out of100, okay, let's see what's
going on.
How can we make this a moremagnetic experience?
Um, because it is a systemsproblem at that point.
It's, you know, there's not adesire for those people to come
back.
And I think another key thingthere is like, have you ever
called out sick?

(07:45):
Have you ever been late?
Because if you have, then you'vealready sent that signal to your
guests that that's, you know,where we're at, you know, and
also, you know, think about thatas a human being.
Like if you've ever called out,if you've ever been sick, if
life has ever happened to you,well, it's happening to
everybody else that we'reserving to.

SPEAKER_00 (08:04):
That's so good.
You know, and Lindsay, I think alot of uh where this stems from,
too, if you're scrolling socialmedia, is you see a lot of uh
booth renters or call closetpeople, or you know, when you
say closet people, I mean sweetpeople, uh, you know, and they
don't have the marketing systemsin place.
So they're scared to death whenthey get two cancellations in

(08:24):
one week because their entirelivelihood depends on that.
And so I think that's where wereally have to have these
conversations with our team too,just like you said, and to make
sure that, you know, they havediscernment on really truly
understanding what's true forthem and to not just be
scrolling Instagram, read acancellation policy and be like,

(08:44):
oh yeah, they have one.
That means we need one too.
So I think they're that is areally beautiful opportunity to
view and look at as well.
Because truly, if you think ofyour salon like a city, you
know, cities have laws andconsequences, but they don't
plaster giant posters everywherescreaming a hundred dollar fine
if you jaywalk.
Whoop, I might have a hundreddollar fine if I lived in that

(09:06):
city a time or two.
Yeah.
Uh, you know, the rules arethere, yes, but like what cities
promote is the culture.
They promote the food, themusic, the lifestyle.
And you guys, your salon shouldbe the same.
So you got to lead with culture,not consequences.

SPEAKER_01 (09:24):
I love that.
You know, and so here's anexercise that you could do, you
know, to really anchor this in.
Write down your currentcancellation policy and then ask
yourself, you know, if this werethe very first message a guest
ever saw about your salon, whatfeeling would it create?

(09:46):
Would it create excitement,safety, trust, or would it
create fear, guilt, and the ickis what I like to call it, you
know?
Um, because if it's not trustand excitement, rewrite it.
Think of the message that you dowant to craft for them to see.
How what's gonna open them up toalready create that feeling that

(10:08):
they want to buy things whenthey get in there?
They want to experience thattransformation.
They really want to see what'struly possible for them.

SPEAKER_00 (10:16):
Yeah.
So you guys, here's the bottomline is like your cancel
cancellation policy, it existsto protect your time and your
team.
But when you promote it tooloudly, you know, you risk
canceling the very relationshipsthat you're actually trying to
build.
You know, the key is balance.
It's firm enough to preventchaos, soft enough to build

(10:38):
trust.
And so you have to ask yourself,is your cancellation policy
protecting your guests orpushing them away?
Because your salon is your cityand your policy is just the
guardwell.
So let it guide, not hammer.
Because in the end, the realsecret to salon success isn't
fear, it's actually trust,vision, and relationships that

(11:01):
shine.

SPEAKER_01 (11:03):
Thanks for tuning in.
Share this with another salonowner that you know could really
get some great insights fromtoday's episode.
And we look forward to seeingyou again next.