In today’s digital era, it is eminent to be ahead in technology for every business.
Businesses that fall behind technologically are crippling themselves. Yes, this is applicable for Salons and Spas too.
As of now, salon businesses that aren’t using online booking and calendars, risk being passed over for those that do. Aside from online booking, salon management software offers an abundance of operational hallmarks that provide the beauty businesses with a much-needed organization and improved efficiencies. These features include valuable tools such as inventory and customer management, sales reporting and analytics, and a lot more...
Here we are with the list of top 6 must-have features for every salon and spa management software:
Appointment Management
Easily the most fundamental thing salons and spas need from their software, appointment management made easy. And to be honest, if your management software doesn’t facilitate that, it really isn’t worth much. Not only should it be easy to find the next opening in your schedule, but it should also be a simple process to add, remove, or edit appointments whenever you or your customers want.
Software systems that understand the future needs of the beauty industry and its clientele also include client portals and/or features that allow customers to book appointments themselves.
Inventory Management
The next most important feature we’ll emphasize is inventory management. It’s a critical capability for salons that sell products as well as those that don’t. Salon management software tracks and records inventory of anything you use or sell in your salon. By doing so, it frees you and your team up to spend more quality time with customers and less time on counting towels and shampoo bottles. This saved time can provide a huge rev up efficiency. But clearly, there’s no point to dedicate time and staff to manually counting products. Efficiency aside, manual methods introduce a much higher probability for human errors.
Managing inventory with salon software not only improves effectiveness or accuracy, but the data accumulated in the process can be analyzed to quickly gain deeper perspicacity that would be missed with traditional methods alone. And this deep analysis isn’t limited to inventory data alone.
Engaging your Customers
Your customers are the ultimate bread and butter for your salon business. The sole contentment and ease that you’re going to provide will ultimately determine the success of your business. And that’s why customer on-boarding is so important for growing your business into leaps and bounds.
With the perfect salon management software, you can spot who your most valuable customers are. Sure, every customer is important, but when you’re able to assign a monetary value to each of your customers, some are inevitably more valuable to your business than others. Empower them by putting forward the software where they can access your booking calendar in a single go and fix the appointment right away!
There are many different ways to go about personalized marketing too. One example is the potential for email marketing campaigns. You can send special birthday promotions, “buy one get one for free” kind of deals on products customers have previously purchased, send email blasts about upcoming events at your salon or spa. Just keep in mind that all of these fun marketing strategies start with the data and insights gathered from your salon management software.
Customer Marketing and Acquisition
Salon and spa management software that doesn’t include marketing is only doing half its job. Finding new customers is essential to your success, and in today’s market, every tool you use should support this goal. Great salon and spa management software should include multi-channel booking capabilities.
People come to your business through various online channels, such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, your business website and more. It’s great to have a wide presence on the internet, but it’s even better to allow customers to make appointments directly through these services through a simple book now button.
Boosting Revenue and Minimizing the Churn
The easier it is for customers to interact with your business, the better you can establish and maintain cash inflows. You want your software to work with you here, not against you. Once you’ve got consistent revenue coming in, you can broaden your services, upgrade your salon or spa and even expand into new locations.
What you need is comprehensive business management software with the analysis and reports. They give you the necessary insight on customer behavior, revenue trends, financial performance, and seasonal changes, helping you better adjust your offers to maximize sales.
Workforce Management
Again, having all of your operations in one location is a great way to increase efficiency. It follows that using an all-in-one system that handles booking, merchandise, and staffing is one of the best things you can do for your spa or salon or both. Granted, that system needs to be intuitive and easy to use while also providing extensive features and flexibility. That’s not an easy thing to pull off. Make sure that the online management system you use can accommodate everything you need it to. Adding new team members, managing them from your head office, giving them limited access regarding their appointments, day offs, payroll and roosters, can help you smoothen your team management from anywhere through any device.
Salon management software provides a variety of capabilities to make your business more efficient and centralized. While you should make sure to look for the must-have features we’ve covered, you should also remember to take your time when selecting new software. Not sure where to begin with? Picktime online appointment management software for salons and spas is the best kickstart that includes most of the fashionable features. Get started now, sign up for free.