Smart moves | Pocketmags.com
Professional Beauty
Professional Beauty


5 mins

Smart moves

Whether you are planning to invest in salon software, or want to maximise the use of a system you already have, there are a number of key areas to consider

Understand your own business needs and goals

“A lot of salons think they have to install the ‘all singing, all dancing’ software that other salons have, but they soon realise that they are only using 20% of their new system, while being saddled with additional fees that they hadn’t budgeted for,” says John Donnelly, managing director, Digital Salon.

“Sometimes it’s best to start off small and work your way up to a full management system as your salon grows.”

“Before committing to purchasing salon software, it’s important you’re clear on what your needs are, the services you provide and the level of assistance that would support your business,” says Miranda Matthews, managing director, Treatwell UK and Ireland.

“Smaller salons will not get value from a fully integrated system, and the cost of it will not benefit the business,” says Martin Flynn, founder and managing director, OK Who’s Next. “They need to look realistically at their requirements, and then look at suitable software. A system with a lot of features that will never be used doesn’t make financial sense for the salon.”

“There are a wide variety of software options available to salons,” says Ronan Perceval, CEO, Phorest Salon Software.

“Some come with a monthly subscription, and some just charge based on the number of appointments. But what’s important for the salon business to understand is the return on investment they will get if they commit to the right software.”

Online booking

“Most clients want the flexibility of being able to book their appointments 24/7, so if your salon is not offering online bookings, then you are undoubtedly missing out on sales,” says Donnelly. “But be careful when you’re choosing an online booking system – some promise to introduce new clients to your salon, but charge up to 35% of the appointment value for the privilege. This might sound like a fair price to pay for getting a new client, until you realise that as soon as the client leaves your salon, that same company is marketing them to make an appointment with your competitor so that they can get another introduction fee.”

“App booking should be a standard for any type of salon software,” says Flynn. “It is no longer adequate just to have an online booking form on your website, as a lot of websites are not mobile-friendly. An app puts your offerings literally in the palms of existing clients, as well as potential new clients.”

“Software should take care of the heavy lifting, allowing you to spend more time with your clients,” says Perceval. “So whether it’s online booking, or your very own branded app, these features give your clients access to your salon any time, anywhere, allowing bookings to be made day and night.”

User-friendliness

“As you and the team will be using the software every day, it is vital all your needs can be accessed quickly and easily,” says Oliver Cahill, chief commercial officer, Premier Software. “For example, does the diary screen show multiple staff columns with rows of bookings at a glance, or do you need to click into another section? It is much quicker to analyse the day’s diary if the details are on one screen, especially if client appointments are colour-coded for when they have booked, arrived and departed.”

“Salon software must be intuitive and easy to use for both staff and clients,” says Flynn. “Many packages are overly complicated, with too many interfaces and reports. Clients also need something that will let them book an appointment and service of choice in seconds.”

“The software should be also be accessible; it needs to work for a wide range of demographics, ages and capabilities, and be a seamless experience overall,” says Matthews.

Staff and stock management

“Salon software can highlight the employees with the most appointments, which can be used for the staff roster, so that the workload can be amended accordingly,” says Matthews.

‘Before committing to purchasing salon software, it’s important you’re clear on what your needs are, the services you provide and the level of assistance that would support your business’

“This, in turn, can make salon owners’ lives easier when it comes to time management of the team, and who has what capacity.

“Software can also easily check salon stock, products and prices of treatments, which can help reduce time and stress for the business owners. As well as fulfilling the job of many professionals in one system, it can recognise when a salon business is low on a product and send orders to suppliers.”

“Not only can software reduce time and stress, it saves money,” says Donnelly. “Salons have a lot of money tied up in stock – waste and pilferage, as well as over-stocking, comes straight out of the salon’s bottom line, so it pays to keep a close eye on stock levels.”

‘Most clients want the flexibility of being able to book their appointments 24/7, so if your salon is not offering online bookings, then you are undoubtedly missing out on sales’

“Stock-taking can be a dreaded task in a salon, but a software system can help make it a quick and easy one on your to-do list,” says Perceval. “For example, if your software is integrated into your point of sale facility, this will help you keep your stock take up to date.”

Integrated marketing options

”With so many clients using social media every day, it is important you advertise your services and products on these platforms,” says Cahill. “Salon software can make this process smoother by removing the kinks. If the system contains marketing filters for email and SMS, it’s very useful for filtering clients based on specific criteria, so you can market to them accordingly. That way, you can target the right clients and maximise your marketing efforts.

“Software can also save client marketing preferences, which is important in the age of GDPR compliance,when marketing communications should only be sent to clients who have opted in, and given consent. Without software to validate this on each client card, it can be easy to neglect to update any information such as this, and be in breach of GDPR.”

“While there are many marketing tools available, having software that looks after all aspects of your business, including your marketing, will save you time and money, and will ultimately make for an easier and more seamless experience,” says Perceval.

This article appears in the July/August 2022 Issue of Professional Beauty & HJ Ireland

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  COPIED
This article appears in the July/August 2022 Issue of Professional Beauty & HJ Ireland