When you close unexpectedly
Planned closures get handled: the Christmas week goes on the website and everybody knows. It is the unplanned ones that cause damage — a burst pipe, a bereavement, a day nobody can get in — because the phone carries on ringing and the calendar carries on offering times for a day you will not be there.
Two separate failures
The first is people arriving at a locked door, which is bad and finite. The second is worse and invisible: new bookings being taken for the affected days while you are dealing with whatever closed you. You do not find out until the following week, and by then you have a list of people to ring and disappoint who had no idea anything was wrong.
Do these three things first
Before anything else. It stops new bookings immediately and takes thirty seconds, and it is the step people do last.
A plain sentence. "We are closed today because of a burst pipe and reopening Thursday" is far better received than a normal greeting on a day you cannot deliver anything.
Somebody whose Tuesday is cancelled should leave with a Thursday, not with an apology and a task.
Contacting the people already booked
Work down the day you are closed and ring those people directly — it is the only part that genuinely needs you, and the earlier the better. Somebody told at eight in the morning rearranges their day; somebody told at four has already taken time off work. The order to work in is by appointment time, and the message worth giving is a specific alternative rather than a promise to be in touch.
Afterwards, put the hours back
The overlooked step. A business that blocks a week and forgets to unblock it spends the following month turning callers away from an empty diary, and nobody notices because there is nothing to notice — the calls simply stop converting. Whatever you changed, change it back on the day you reopen.
Frequently asked
Block the days in the calendar. It stops new bookings being taken for a day you will not be open, takes thirty seconds, and is the step most people do last.
Plainly what is happening and when you reopen. A normal greeting on a day you cannot deliver anything is worse than an honest sentence.
As early as you can, working in appointment order, with a specific alternative rather than a promise to be in touch. Somebody told at eight rearranges their day; at four they have already taken time off.
Putting the hours back. A business that blocks a week and forgets spends the next month turning callers away from an empty diary without noticing.