6 Ways to Set up and Manage an Online Booking System: The Role of Automation in Modern Salons
Today's modern salons are finding it easier than ever to automate, streamline, and improve day-to-day operations using software technology. Online booking systems that schedule appointments and manage your payroll, POS system, and even your marketing campaigns, will greatly improve your workflow and let you focus on bringing in more clients.
Salon owners can get back nearly 10 or more hours in their week when they adopt an online booking system that removes the need for them to manage, or delegate, administrative tasks. This is especially imperative for salon owners of multiple locations. Let's take a look at six ways that you can leverage an online booking system to do more than just appointment scheduling
1. Online Appointment Booking
Undoubtedly, the number one benefit of today's salon technology is appointment scheduling software. While it certainly helps facilitate scheduling appointments made over the phone, the real boon for salon owners and employees is online booking software. Quite simply, an easy booking process equals quick revenue generation.
While there are still some salon customers who prefer to make appointments by phone, most clients are looking for the easiest way to make their appointments on their own time – and that isn't always during salon hours. Voicemails left while your front desk staff is already on the phone with another client can be overlooked, leading to missed booking opportunities and even lost clients. Or, your clients might be managing their time in places where a phone call simply isn't convenient or appropriate.
Today's salon clients want online bookings available 24/7 with appointment scheduling apps and a booking page in the palm of their hand. The ability to book, cancel, or easily reschedule appointments online saves your customers, as well as your front desk staff, valuable time. And in the case of a rescheduled booking, an open appointment on the schedule can quickly be snapped up by another eager client. So, an easy-t0-use booking system is a must-have for today's modern salons.
Automated Reminders and Confirmations
To enhance online scheduling of appointments, custom features such as automated SMS reminders and email reminders, as well as appointment confirmations, are extremely helpful. These key features can reduce scheduling conflicts and missed appointments. Automatic reminders will reduce these occurrences, protecting you and your staff from loss of income.
2. All-in-One Point of Sale for Bookings, Payments, and More
An all-in-one POS system that goes beyond appointment scheduling and will also process and track client payments, retail sales, gift cards, payroll and more will do wonders for your financial processes. Not only will you have peace of mind that your records will be accurate to the minute, but it will also make it easier for your to securely manage client financial information, help you streamline your online store, and provide absolute transparency in your payroll, tips, and commissions.
Card-on-File Option
Having a card-on-file option is a great benefit for you and your clients. Having your client's credit card on file facilitates seamless, contact-free online payments for completed appointments. You can also take deposits for appointments at the time of booking if your salon has this type of policy in place. Taking deposits can discourage no shows and cancelled appointments reducing lost income for you and your employees. And your clients will receive an automatic email or text receipt with each charge, making every step along way easy for them – and your front desk staff.
Streamline Your Online Store
Leverage your online booking system to boost your online store sales in a numbers of ways. You can set up and recommend products in your online store and encourage subscriptions for recurring income. Consider matching suggested products along with services in the online booking process, or at checkout, to increase sales of those products. You can also sell gift cards in your online store – a great way to bring in new potential customers!
You can set up customer reward programs where clients earn points toward services and products that they might not have previously considered. You will also want to consider organizing memberships and packages to make available to your customers. These types of programs are convenient for your clients and provide a steady stream of recurring income to your salon.
Transparency with Payroll and Tips
A centralized platform that can automate your payroll, tips, and commissions is an absolute must for modern salons. The management of tips and commissions can be a complicated, unwieldy process when done by hand. Many salons calculate payouts based on a complex numbers of factors that can include salary pay, hourly pay, bonus sales, type of job, seniority, and more. Your employees want to see their income in real time, and automating this process with a scheduling software designed specifically for the service industry is the best way to reduce human error and make everybody happy.
3. Targeted Marketing Campaigns
Marketing is a critical endeavor for any small business to be successful and grow the company brand. Social media is a great way to reach new and potential clients. But when you want to increase revenue quickly, your best bet is with your current client base. Targeted marketing campaigns are easily organized with your scheduling software.
Automated email marketing and text marketing campaigns are easy to set up and deploy, allowing you more time to spend with customers and managing other aspects of your business. They can be set up in advance and your scheduling software can be used to carry them out on your determined schedule. Here are some tips for using your online scheduling for targeted marketing campaigns:
Target the Right Clients at the Time They're Most Likely to Purchase
This can be as simple as creating marketing campaigns that email or text your clients with coupons or suggestions for retail products in your salon, add-on services, or discounts for booking recurring appointments. When you create the campaign you can set it to send these marketing messages to clients in the week ahead of an appointment that they already have on the books.
Gain More Customers with Referral Programs
If you have a client reward program set up, email and text marketing campaigns are a great way to leverage it to bring in new customers. Use your booking system to send send referral links in your marketing campaigns to current customers. Your current customers can earn rewards for each referral, and you can offer new clients incentives such as discounts on multiple services, recurring bookings, retail items, unlimited bookings, and more.
Recover Clients Who Have Not Visited Your Salon Recently
Targeted marketing campaigns are a great way to recover lost clients or simply nudge those who haven't visited in a while. Consider sending these clients a coupon with custom pricing, such as 25% off popular services. You can take it a step further and make the coupons redeemable during a time when bookings are typically lower than usual for your salon.
Include a Booking Link
Always include a direct booking link or a link to your main booking page in these marketing efforts! Make it as easy and effortless for clients to seize the opportunity when it comes their way.
4. Streamline your Business
For the small business owner and service provider, day-to-day business processes can easily become a chore. When you're busy juggling customers and employees, managing inventory and supplies, and keeping track of payroll, things can quickly become overwhelming. This is another area where your online booking software can automate tasks to save you bundles of time, money, and stress.
Say goodbye to your Google Calendar and Sheets, and say hello to custom features that are designed specifically for today's modern salons.
Improve Your Payroll System
As mentioned above, payroll can be complicated for salons and the various complex ways that staff can earn their pay. An automated system to track and record payroll for all types of earning systems is critical. From timecards to salary and commissions to tips, today's salon software technology can handle it all.
Effortless Inventory and Supply Ordering
You want your front desk staff paying attention to clients, booking appointments, handling phone calls, and being available to accept payments. So, you don't want them distracted with unnecessary tasks like counting product bottles for inventory and ordering purposes. Using your online scheduling software, you can save time by easily managing purchase orders and streamlining your inventory counts. Inventory is automatically synced with every sale, so your data is accurate to the minute.
Customize Your Employee Schedule
Configuring staff scheduling can feel like an overly complicated puzzle – and rarely does it ever feel done. Things happen. Employees get sick, take vacations, or go to important professional development courses and trainings. A real-time scheduling solution will undoubtedly save time that you prefer to spend on more important tasks. It can process multiple schedules, match availability, fill in gaps, and improve salon workflow all the way around.
5. Improve Client Management
Successful client management is crucial for the modern salon. Customers have high expectations, and if you don't deliver they will find a salon that does. Use your online booking system to keep track of customer details and improve client management in a number of ways and you'll quickly notice improved customer satisfaction – and that leads to loyal, long-term clients.
Here are some tools that a great salon software can offer for client management:
Keeps extensive customer records with personal info
Complete service, purchase, class, and communication histories
Store detailed notes like formulas or preferences, and customized intake forms
Offer self check-in via the check-in kiosk
6. Leverage Reports and Analytics to Track Business Goals
Data might not be the sexiest thing in the world of beauty and wellness, but for you it's the name of the game. The analytic and reporting capabilities of today's online booking systems are invaluable.
This data will help you identify the best-selling products, services, classes and more. It will help you make decisions that drive revenue growth. It can also help you determine the success of your business endeavors with the ability to assign and track goals.
Combine these data capabilities with the automated marketing sales tools discussed above and you have a true powerhouse program that will help you make strong, confident business decisions.
Award-Winning Salon, Spa, and Fitness Management Software
Whether you own beauty salons, a fitness business, a spa, or similar business that provides professional services, STX is a software that you want to consider when shopping for a booking system that goes beyond managing online appointments.
And the beauty of STX is in its intuitive and flexible user experience. Your customers will love the ease with which they can book an appointment, check on available services, or even pay upfront for their appointments. Your staff can accept bookings without back and forth emails or a time-consuming phone call, and they can send push notifications to clients with any last minute appointment reminders or schedule changes.
Best of all, STX can meet all of your critical needs as a modern salon owner. With advanced features for credit card processing, SMS reminders, email marketing, business management and more, STX can propel your salon towards success.
Say goodbye to double bookings and say hello to positive reviews when you elevate the salon experience with STX!