I guess that I am the accountant in the example.
First of all I usually know which work or meetings with clients are emergencies and which can be handled any time in the next 2 weeks.
When the major client calls to book the appointment I inform him that I already have an appointment at that time but will try to reschedule my other commitment to accomodate his schedule. Often times the major client will suggest an alternative time to meet. If not I call my original appointment and ask if it would be a problem to reschedule to another time. In most cases it is not but if it is I tell the major client that I will have to meet him at some other time.
I have been doing this for a number of years and have never had a real problem. My clients do not seem to have a problem with it because if the small client had a major crisis I would attempt to accomodate their schedule in preference to a routine meeting with a major client that could easily be rescheduled.
Just curious. Would you reschedule an appointment with a regular who gets a reduced rate in order to see someone who pays full price, or perhaps for another regular who asks for an overnighter on short notice? In other words, which is more important...business relationships or cash?
and nobody gets bumped over.
As usual, Sendona is 1st Class! Unfortunately, others sometimes manipulate the schedule or cxl you for a "better deal, i.e. more $."
An appointment is a committment, unless some unforseen or unusual circumstances arise. That definition does NOT include a 'better' offer for your time. Cancelling an appointment is reserved for real emergencies only.
That can be a win-win for everybody.
I'm no stacker......Since I only book one client a day, and take time off to pursue my career, it would not be in my best interests for my finances to ever consider losing an established client. However I have had to let some go, since I have a do not break appt. policy that goes into effect after three times. A couple others I lost because they called excessively without booking, or showed up unexpectedly where I work, or rang my intercom to see what I was up to. Good grief! I messed up once due to my phone not functioning (no ring), and that client has a freebie, redeemable anytime. The only time I could see an advantage to what you are talking about is if she worked for an agency, then she would have a higher cut for an overnighter. It sounds like she is going to shortchange herself in the long run. In this business, it is always good to have regulars. I do not reduce my rates for regulars. They are at the price they met me at. I will at some point raise them again, maybe when I do this movie, or when I finish this tattoo, whichever comes first. Of course if Belladonna (Ms.XXX) has her way with me, (she moved to my neck of the woods) I'll probably die and go to heaven.
An appointment is just that. One does not know if the appointment that is scheduled, might verry well become a valued regular as well? And even if he doesn't it really should not matter. Cash is short lived........but a loyal reg that you enjoy, is what makes it all worth while!
Cheers!
Kylie
I've never no-showed/no-called on any Gent. I'm a woman of my word and following through on promises is part of life. It's one of the many things I love about me! I'm a helluva gal... just ask me and I'll tell ya!
There may always be greener looking grass on the other side of the fence, but why risk or waste another person's time to find out? There is always tomorrow, etc, to make time for the person who calls when you already have plans. We all deserve respect. As far as I'm concerned, respect rules over dollars every time!
kisses~Cindy
Thanks, Ladies!
The way I do business is first come first serve..it doesn't matter if is a regular or first time..that is the right way do work.
Shaye
From my experience and from chatting with other provider friends, yes, on rare occasions, ALL of us have rescheduled when a special offer came up.
(Notice I said "rescheduled," not "no-showed".)
Let me give you this analogy: say you're an accountant and have a client scheduled for Friday at 5:00 for an hour. Suddenly one of your biggest clients calls and says he is leaving town but must meet with you Friday afternoon for several hours to go over his taxes, and that's his only available time.
Knowing he is an important client and your fee will be $1200-$1500 rather than $300, I bet many men would have their secretaries call to reschedule the original client for the following week.
So, yes, it does happen, but not very often.
Would you really want a lady to turn down a $1500 overnight booking so she could keep your $300 single hour appointment? There is no question that she'd be harboring some type of resentment about having to see you at the cost of her more lucrative meeting that she had to bypass.
The way I look at it, if I'M a regular of the lady, I care about her, and I'd want her to do as well as she can, and I'd want her to trust me with her honest situation. And if I WASN'T a regular of hers, I'd really not have any expectations to the contrary.
Here's my advice for the ladies when a longer or more lucrative booking opportunity comes your way for the time that we had previously scheduled. Unless I'm from out of town and ONLY can see you on a certain date and time, I would ASK you to contact me when a situation like this comes up, whereby you ASK me to re-schedule, and offer me an extra 30 minutes of your time thrown in for free, in addition to the time we had already agreed upon at the regular rate for my inconvenience. You would be surprised how quickly I would say yes. And that would be a win-win for everybody.
Good suggestion, sdstud! 
No one likes to feel that they are being taken for granted.
SP
For a de-facto price break, I might be VERY willing to let myself be taken advantage of.
I used to work as an economist in the Utility industry. We had a class of customers called commercial interruptible customers. Those were the ones whom we could shut off whenever demand exceeded supply on the system, without significant advance warning. In exchange for this treatment, they got a lower rate for all their power. Most of our biggest commercial customers WANTED this rate class. It meant that they needed to have their own short-term generating capability, and battery back-up. But the amount that they saved over time made this a great deal for them.
All I am saying is that, within my home town, for a lady I would see regularly, and didn't need to book a hotel, this same type of concept in a rate structure would actually be a great deal, if the price break or the free bonus time were significant enough.
I take note that you choose to post under an alias on this topic and perhaps to do so is understandable and even prudent. I've chosen an alias simply to protect the identity of a reviewed provider whose identity might be revealed if I went with my regular handle.
To some extentI agree with the premise you have put forth. It is not unreasonable to point out that in other business transactions as well rescheduling does take place for reasons that are quite practical from a purely financial point of view.
As you imply it does happen, and yes it should be kept to a minimum.
One approach might be to reveal to a client who is potentially a regular, when a regular is extended a LOWER RATE, that there may be an occasion when a new client who is paying the higher rate or scheduling a multi hour appointment that it may be necessary to reschedule a regular client. In that way you are upfront about the policy and don't have to spring it on the guy from out of the blue. The key is to reveal the policy at the outset and then the client can make a more informed choice as to whether or not he is willing to continue the relationship under such a policy.
Such a policy is okay with me because I am an infrequent participant in the hobby and I'm fairly flexible with respect to scheduling. On the other hand I can understand that some may lack that flexibility and would object, justifiably from their point of view, to being rescheduled.
Perhaps the first approach should be to try and book an alternative time slot for the new client or the one scheduling a multi hour appointment. If a regular client does not receive a REDUCED RATE then the suggestion I'm putting forth here tends to breakdown.
I'm not a proponent of the notion that the "bottom line" should be the sole factor in how one chooses to approach the conduct of one's business. There are intangibles associated with having an established and trusted clientele that may supercede some occasional boost to the " bottom line".
Just my two cents.
I guess that I am the accountant in the example.
First of all I usually know which work or meetings with clients are emergencies and which can be handled any time in the next 2 weeks.
When the major client calls to book the appointment I inform him that I already have an appointment at that time but will try to reschedule my other commitment to accomodate his schedule. Often times the major client will suggest an alternative time to meet. If not I call my original appointment and ask if it would be a problem to reschedule to another time. In most cases it is not but if it is I tell the major client that I will have to meet him at some other time.
I have been doing this for a number of years and have never had a real problem. My clients do not seem to have a problem with it because if the small client had a major crisis I would attempt to accomodate their schedule in preference to a routine meeting with a major client that could easily be rescheduled.