A voucher book at reception
December is busy. Partners and friends buy gift vouchers for facials, skin treatments or a set value. They are handwritten from a book at reception, or sold by phone and posted. The book records the number and value, sometimes.
In February, a client arrives with a voucher for a set amount and wants to use part of it. Reception writes the remaining balance on the back. In April, another voucher turns up whose number is not in the book at all. Someone may have forgotten to write it in, or it may not be genuine. You honour it, because you are not sure.
Why vouchers get tangled
A voucher is a small liability that moves around: sold by one person, redeemed by another, possibly in several visits, months apart.
- Paper vouchers with handwritten numbers and no central record.
- Part-redemptions tracked on the voucher itself.
- Phone sales and online sales recorded in different places.
- Expiry dates written on the voucher but not tracked.
- Vouchers restricted to certain treatments, which some clients try to use on others.
Voucher rules on injectable treatments need thought too. A voucher for anti-wrinkle treatment may not be something you want to sell, given prescriber and advertising considerations. That is your policy to set with your adviser; the system should make it easy to follow.
What loose vouchers cost
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Unrecorded vouchers | No way to check whether a voucher is genuine |
| Balances on the back of a card | Disputes and possible double use |
| Unknown outstanding value | No idea how much future work you owe |
| Missed online sales | Last-minute gift buyers going to clinics with online vouchers |
| Inconsistent expiry | Some expired vouchers honoured, others refused |
The outstanding value is the one that catches owners out. Every unredeemed voucher is work you have been paid for and not yet done. After a strong Christmas, that can be a meaningful sum, and it arrives in the diary in January and February whether you planned for it or not.
Vouchers that track themselves
- Online voucher sales from your website or booking page, paid through Stripe or your clinic software, with a unique code and an emailed or printable voucher.
- Reception sales recorded in the same system, so every voucher has one record however it was sold.
- Redemption at checkout by code, deducting the amount used and keeping the balance on the record, not on the card.
- Restrictions by treatment type where you want them, applied automatically.
- Expiry handled under your terms, with a reminder to the holder before it lapses, if you choose to send one.
- A report of outstanding voucher value by month sold, for you and your accountant.
Fresha, Pabau and similar systems include vouchers. Where yours does, we configure it; we add an online shop only where it lacks one.
Life after the fix
Gift buyers can buy a voucher at 11pm on 23 December and receive it instantly. Every voucher is checked by code at the desk, so fakes and mistakes are caught. Balances are always right, and you know exactly how much voucher value you are carrying into the new year.
Reception stops maintaining a paper book, and the argument about the balance written on the back of a card never happens.
Recipients who have not used their voucher can get a friendly reminder before it expires, which tends to bring in a first visit from someone who might otherwise have forgotten, and who may well become a regular.
Sound familiar?
- Gift vouchers are handwritten from a book.
- Part-used balances are written on the voucher.
- You have received a voucher you could not find a record of.
- You do not sell vouchers online.
- You do not know the total value of unredeemed vouchers.