Word of mouth vs online booking: which brings in more steady clients for you?

I've been cutting hair for about 12 years out of my shop in Cleveland. For the first 5 years, I ran everything off a paper book and word of mouth. Then around 2019 I switched to an online booking system. Now I'm wondering if I made the right call. My regulars from the old days still show up every 3 weeks like clockwork. But the online crowd? They cancel more, they're picky about time slots, and half of them ask for styles that take twice as long. Last week a guy booked for a simple fade online, sat down, then wanted a full scissor cut with a beard trim. Threw my whole schedule off. On the other hand, online has brought in maybe 15 new faces this month alone. So which side do you lean on - the old school personal referrals or the convenience of a digital book?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_singh14d ago

Seems like a stretch to blame the whole system for a few bad apples.

jadew6314d ago

Bet online booking filters out your loyal repeat customers automatically.

the_joseph14d ago

yeah i actually saw a post on twitter the other day about this exact thing. some guy was saying how he always books the same hotel chain and after like 10 stays his rates started going up instead of down. he called support and they basically told him nothing useful. its shady af honestly cause loyalty should mean something right? i feel like these companies use algorithms to figure out who will pay more and then jack up prices for those people cause they know youll book anyway. i mean think about it why would they give discounts to people who are already gonna pick them no matter what. its basically punishing you for being a loyal customer which is backwards as hell.