Like most hair and beauty specialists, you’ve got a knack for amazing transformations, which draw both loyal clients and first-time customers to the salon. They come in for your beautiful balayages, spot-on nail art, luscious lashes and wonderful brows, all of which took years to master, but you’ve got it down! However, one thing always seems to throw off even the most skilled specialists, and that’s staying organised - which is vital for running a beauty salon (or any salon for that matter) effectively. Although a lack of organisation doesn’t sound like such a great deal, it can truly have a negative effect on your work, resulting in a possible catastrophe - and we’re not exaggerating!
Remember that client from last month who told you they had a bleach allergy? You wrote this information down on their paper record card, which you just happened to lose. The customer walks in for their scheduled appointment and you begin working on their hair, no biggie. Suddenly, they begin complaining of itchiness and presto, you’ve got yourself a potential lawsuit. Alright, maybe this example was a bit too drastic, but more common issues caused by a lack of organisation can result in double bookings, poor financial decisions, and client loss. So what can you do to stay organised in the salon? Firstly, grab a digital salon helper (it can be found at the bottom of this article)!
Double bookings are a lot like stand-offs from old western movies - you (the stylist/beautician) are patiently waiting for your twelve o’clock client to show up while glancing over your paper appointment book. Then, you remember that you had another client at the same time, but you forgot to write them down. All of a sudden your door opens and both customers walk in and make their way to your chair, realising that they’re booked for the same time. A hair tumbleweed blows by and one says to the other: “This booking ain’t big enough for the two of us”. Jokes aside, double bookings not only put you in an awkward situation, but clients see that you’re disorganised and unprofessional, and you’re left to choose which client to treat and which one to let go.
To avoid this from happening in the first place, a reliable digital salon organiser is a must, and Booksy is just that! Even if you triple check everything and you run your salon with a well-organised paper appointment book, there is still room for error. Booksy, on the other hand, allows for only one booking per time slot, and that includes appointments made by your customers via the online booking page.
Everyone knows that keeping track of customer records is crucial in order to stay organised. A client has an allergy, a specific request, or a favourite topic to discuss during their treatment? Make note of this in their file. Need to save a colour formula? Store it in their record. Constantly updating customer files allows you to provide exceptional customer service during every visit. Now comes the problem - what if you’re too busy to summarise every client's visit? Or perhaps you run out of space on the client card? And what if you lose your records? Your salon is now in a standstill, however, it can get much worse.
The organisation of a beauty salon is vital for its success, but did you know that a lack thereof can land your business in hot water? In 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation went into effect, causing a great commotion in the hair and beauty industry. This regulation requires businesses to handle customer details with greater care than ever before. If a business loses, or sells customer data, or uses it without clients' consent, they can be faced with a potential lawsuit. Now ask yourself: “How secure is my paper notebook or my digital salon system?” That’s right, even some salon software systems are not GDPR compliant, meaning that customer data can be accessed by people outside of the owner and assigned employee. In Booksy, you can use different permission levels to secure the more sensitive parts of your business, and not just client files, but also salon statistics, messaging, promotions and many more.
When making sure the organisation of a hairdressing salon is up to standard, it is important not to forget about salon statistics, as they define your business’s standing. Since its nearly impossible to be 100% certain of your salon’s profits with just the help of a notebook and receipts, business owners have switched to salon software to do the job. But what are the risks of not exactly knowing how your business is doing? For starters, you probably won’t know when to launch marketing campaigns for increasing sales and attracting clients. A gut feeling that tells you your business is doing okay can be misleading and can cost you a lot of stress and money.
In Booksy, you not only have access to how much profit you’ve made in a given timeframe, but also to treatment popularity, staff activity, commissions staff have earned and even special offers' effectiveness report. Having this information at the palm of your hand allows you to more easily predict busy seasons, track staff work output and plan upcoming marketing campaigns.
Whether you run an extensive, multi-station salon or work from home, Booksy is the ideal smart salon helper for a business of any size. Grab your free trial and see for yourself!
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