ClinicSense Community Idea: Preparing for the future

Today's idea comes from Tyler - an RMT in Ontario, Canada.

"I know this situation is temporary, and I know that there will be many people in need of my services once this has passed. I am preparing now so my business is in a position to thrive. I have clients who see me on a weekly or monthly basis. Some of them already want 'first dibs' (so to say) on appointment availability once I'm open again. Then there are the effects social distancing will have on people. Isolation is not easy, it is stressful. And once my doors are open, I know there will be dozens of people that I can help get a moment of relaxation.

So what am I doing now to return to an absolutely packed schedule? I'm running a promotion where if a client books today, they will get an extra 15 minutes added to their treatment. Clients can book today for any time after June 1st and I am requiring a 50% deposit on the appointment. This allows me to make some money now while keeping cash flow balanced for future months. I have also made it abundantly clear that if I'm still closed come June 1st, their appointment can be rescheduled with no fee.

Since I have many clients that have massage therapy covered by their health benefits, my approach works better for my business than pre-selling gift certificates (because clients cannot make a claim on a treatment paid for with a gift certificate).

I hope that other ClinicSense customers are able to borrow my idea to help get through this time. And remember, this is temporary. Soon massage therapists everywhere will be in a position to help many people. Stay safe!"

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If you're looking to accomplish this with ClinicSense, here's how:

1. Go to Setup > Services and add an additional 15 minutes to your cleanup time. This makes time for the 15 additional minutes you will treat the client. Once your promotion is over, you'll just go back to this page and remove the additional 15 minutes.
2. Under Setup > Scheduling Settings > Pre-Paid Appointments, require all clients to pay a 50% deposit when they book online.
3. To block off your calendar until a future date, you can schedule a break, and make it last from today until the future date you have in mind.
4. Finally, to promote the deal, send an email campaign from within your ClinicSense account. You'll want to post to your Facebook and Instagram pages too.