Pretty Lady hates it when a wishy-washy client with no boundaries calls up with a sob story, books an appointment during the time she normally goes to yoga class, then no-shows without a phone call. This client said she was 'having lots of personal problems'; Pretty Lady can guess what some of those personal problems might stem from. Alienating one's healthcare practitioner is a radically efficient way to cut oneself adrift in the world without a safety net.
How nice it is to be self-employed, however. One has an infinite number of employers, and is not tethered by a single rope to a single flake.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Grrr.
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9 comments:
Don't you think that letting us know that a client is making you frustated might not be the smartest thing you could do. I am not sure if it is ethical or not. Just that if a person who came to you for counseling and saw this on here, they might think you're a bit shallow? Just a thought.
But then, she didn't show up. if she didn't die or was close to it, I would chew her out something good. But if it was real, then well.. gotta be nice if it wasn't their fault. Maybe...
if a person who came to you for counseling and saw this on here, they might think you're a bit shallow?
It is my experience that persons who stand one up without a phone call are generally too ashamed of themselves to glance at one's website ever again, assuming that they even know you have one, which they don't. I have been relying on this aspect of human nature for years. ;-)
The down side, of course, is that it is awfully hard to get those folks to pay up once they stop showing up. Inevitably they have taken time w/o paying for it that one could have sold to someone else, or at least spent doing something more worthwile than waiting for a no-show!
My former clients, at least, always seem to pull a 'forgot my checkbook' the week before they vanish.
Those who legitimately didn't show up--unexpected hospital visit or car break down, usually--tend to call with abject appologies, offers to pay for missed time, and much groveling within a couple days. (Which is funny, because I make it perfectly clear that if it's an emergency, we'll schedule a make-up lesson, and I've never asked for groveling. Life happens, especially when one has children, after all.)
This is completely true, Boysmom. Either people have character or they don't--the price of the missed session is usually the price you pay for getting them out of your life. My school told us to 'make people pay for no-shows', but I have found this to be as unrealistic as attempting to re-book every new client as soon as the session is over. This just means that I get stood up that much more often.
Oh, and the ones who 'forgot their checkbook'--do you phone them, politely and repeatedly, until they cough up? I used to be the sort of person who would let it go, but lately I have taken to being more assertive, and have found that some people actually do respond to sharp words.
Well, being a music teacher, if they are not in the middle of vanishing, I will most certainly see them next week. If they don't come back, I don't bother calling after the money: it's just not worth the hassle. I wonder if there is some way I could deduct it from tax returns, I shall have to ask my accountant friends. (I do hate that self-employment tax.)
The only way I could see to 'make people pay for no-shows' would be to take their credit card number when they first sign up for lessons. . . that seems a little unrealistic.
There is one mother who requires regular phone calls to get payments here. But she does, eventually, pay up. And after two years of teaching her child, I don't worry about her. I just don't write our budget relying on her paying by a certain date.
I tend to be pretty flexible with payment arrangements after the student or family has established a history of several months with me. Those who quit seem to do it in less than four months.
sorry about your missed yoga lesson - some people just believe the world revolves around them, and you should drop everything at their beck and call...
btw, LOVE the best of PL column. Love it. :)
Always learning, if you have read every document in the 'Best Of' column since discovering this blog yesterday, you have been shamefully neglecting your patients, and thus have no call to talk about lack of consideration. But thank you ever so much for the kind words.
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