It is far from easy to run a hair, nail or beauty salon, much less ensure continuous increase of bookings. There is always something to do: manage contractors, organize the agenda, and promote the salon. Sometimes, even the most capable manager needs to see how they can improve business. This makes a shift in priorities necessary.
Each salon has its problems. Common ones include lack of visibility, stiff competition, and marketing. These establishments require specialized POS systems because they do a lot more than just accept payments. Beauticians, hairdressers, aestheticians, massage therapists, and manicurists have specialized needs that your average retailer and restaurateur doesn’t. Service professionals need solid scheduling tools, for example, and need to interact with clients in a much more personal way than a bike shop owner or a cafe owner.
The good news is that POS companies have started paying more attention to these unique requirements. The POS systems currently available on the market have features or add-ons that are specifically designed for salons, medical spas, yoga studios, and the like, which enable you to increase bookings.
Appointment Booking
POS systems for salons and beauty shops offer certain features that your salon can take advantage of to make operations simpler. Depending on your needs and business, you might benefit from appointment booking at the POS and online booking that integrates with the system. The staff scheduling features make it possible to assign staff to line up with bookings. Pre-authentication ensures the client has sufficient funds on their credit card before you perform a given service, much like starting a tab at a bar. You can assign commissions to individual employees in conjunction with services they book.
Retail features for salons offering a combination of services and goods can help increase bookings, as can loyalty programs. These entice repeat clients by offering free services, discounts, and other rewards for loyal customers. Pre-payment lets you collect a down payment when a service is booked. This protects your salon from no-shows. Mobile invoicing lets you pay your staff if they do makeup or hair on location, like at a party or wedding.
Some of these features might be “must-haves,” while you might not need others. You might consider still others “nice-to-have”. It all depends on your business’s specific requirements and industry.
Scheduling Features
While not being indispensible, built-in booking functionality will make your job a lot easier. Some salon POS systems integrate with booking and scheduling software apps, while others come with an appointment scheduling feature included. You will likely end up using a separate booking software program if your POS does not at least integrate with an appointment-scheduling app. This can make it hard to see who’s canceling, not showing up, and more. You will need to do a lot of extra work to track everything down.
It’s much simpler to have one centralized place where you can see everything that’s going on with your business, including sales, appointments, and staff assignments. A POS with compatibility with a third-party service or, even better, built-in scheduling also allows you to generate more detailed reports. This will offer better insights for your business and improve your bottom line.
The Right Salon POS System For your Business
Finding the right POS system can seem like a formidable challenge for most businesses, but especially a salon. Some providers offer excellent integrations to add helpful features and the capabilities you need to run a spa or salon.
Rebooking Options
When clients are paying, always try to get the rebooking in the salon, but if they don’t want to rebook right away, tell them about online bookings. Your POS system can enable that. What is more, they can book online from the comfort of their home.
Email Confirmations
Send all your clients email confirmations with their appointment details, even those who call in to book. In the email, inform them they can also book online and add your online booking link.
Send SMS or Email To Your Database
If you send an SMS or promotional email, always add a “book now” link. This approach works in two ways. It prompts the client to book there and tells people that they can book online through your website. Either way, you win.
Make the “Book Now” Button Easy To Find
If someone accesses your website, you should make it as obvious as possible that they can book in with you online! A lot of salons make the following mistake: they have online booking and promote it, but then, it’s very hard or impossible to find on their site. The “Book Now” button should stand out. To achieve this, use a contrasting color or place in on the website menu (put it in the navigation bar).
Salon Software Appointment Book
Some POS systems come with salon appointment books. These make scheduling simple, help you book appointments more effectively than ever before, and enable your salon to go paperless. Some of them are color-coded to make everything easy and save even more time and money. Combined with the other features of the salon management software, this will not fail to increase bookings. Use the power of technology to make business operations simple and focus on interacting with customers, especially if that’s what you do best.
Automated Marketing
It is easy to get promotions to the right clients at the right time – with the right POS system, of course. One way is by applying recurring campaigns. These make sure you never miss a birthday or anniversary. With a POS system, you can fully customize campaigns and target clients based on a vast array of aspects. You can analyze which campaigns are working most effectively with reporting tools with open rate visibility and powerful referral tracking.
Credit Card Processing
Last but not least, integrated credit card processing makes checkout simpler. There will be no more switching back and forth between systems as your customer waits. This processing enables secure storage of card numbers, which means you can also take online deposits, sell memberships, and charge for ‘no shows’.
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