Writing for people who run service businesses
Product updates, practical guides and what we are learning from salons, garages, clinics and trades across the UK.
47 articles
What a 20% discount really costs you
A fifth off the price is not a fifth off the profit. On a typical service it is closer to half. The maths gets worse the better your discount performs.
Payments,Rebooking before they leave the chair
The eight seconds between finishing the work and taking the payment is worth more than any marketing you will do this year. Most businesses spend it saying goodbye.
Customers,How to spot a client about to stop coming
Clients rarely leave in a huff. They drift. The drift is visible in your own data weeks before it becomes permanent. Here is what to look for.
Customers,Client notes worth keeping and ones that will get you in trouble
Good notes make a client feel remembered. Bad ones are a data protection problem sitting in your system waiting for somebody to ask for a copy.
Customers,Loyalty schemes that do not give away your margin
Most loyalty cards reward people who were coming anyway. A scheme is only worth running if it changes behaviour and changing behaviour costs less than you think.
Customers,The first appointment decides the next twelve
A new client makes their decision about whether to come back long before the work is finished. Most of it happens in the parts of the visit nobody rehearses.
Customers,Getting your business quoted by AI search
People are asking assistants for a recommendation rather than scrolling ten blue links. What gets a local business named in that answer is not what got it ranked.
Marketing,Email, SMS or WhatsApp: which one gets read?
Each channel has a different cost, a different open rate and different rules. Picking one for everything is the mistake. Picking per message is the answer.
Marketing,Writing a service menu that books itself
Most online booking pages lose people at the menu. Too many options, industry names nobody recognises and no way to tell which one applies to them.
Marketing,What to post when you have no time to post
You are not going to become a content creator. You are going to take four photos a week while working and put them out with a sentence. That is enough.
Marketing,Where to put your booking link
Your booking link is your shopfront and most businesses have it in one place. Here are fourteen places it should be and the four that convert best.
Marketing,The first 24 hours of a data breach
A lost phone, a misdirected email or a stolen laptop starts a 72 hour clock. Knowing the order of the first few steps is the difference between an incident and a crisis.
Compliance,