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SEARCHRunning a salon takes work. Between keeping guests and employees happy, managing finances, and drumming up business through marketing, you have your hands full as a salon owner. The good news is that technology can help you by automating and simplifying many of your routine tasks, so you have more time for the exciting aspects of being a business owner. But how do you choose the right business management tool from the countless options out there?
*This article was repurposed with permission from Zenoti.
Running a salon takes work. Between keeping guests and employees happy, managing finances, and drumming up business through marketing, you have your hands full as a salon owner.
The good news is that technology can help you by automating and simplifying many of your routine tasks, so you have more time for the exciting aspects of being a business owner.
But how do you choose the right business management tool from the countless options out there?
Consider Your Business Needs
As a salon owner, your to-do list includes items like appointment scheduling, payment processing, and inventory management. Look for a software platform that offers all the features you would regularly need, while streamlining your operations and helping you meet guest needs better.
Be sure to invest in a system designed for the beauty and wellness industry. A complete cloud-based solution takes the hassle out of running your salon by keeping your operations, marketing, and financials in one place. It’s more efficient than switching between different systems for each facet of your business.
Key Software Features
As you map out the needs of your salon to a software platform, keep these features in mind:
Intelligent appointment booking
Seven out of ten salon and spa guests prefer online booking to calling in. Today’s customers expect to be able to self-serve 24/7. The beauty and wellness industry is catching up to using technology to provide superior guest service, and salon owners who don’t adapt risk getting left behind. As a salon owner or manager, your goal is for guests to leave your business feeling great, with your software adding to their positive experience, not taking away from it.
Targeted, personalized marketing
Seek out software that lets you segment your customers based on visit frequency, purchase history, and demographic information like age and gender. With intelligent software, you can do a one-time setup of promotional offers triggered by customer birthdays, for instance. You can also have the software identify lost customers with high average ticket sizes to win them back with personalized promotions.
Employee management that empowers
As a busy salon owner, you need software that enables employee scheduling, communication, and management, all within the same platform. In addition, empower your staff by giving them tools to manage their own day, gain insight into their performance, and access information on their earnings and commissions.
Advanced inventory management
Choosing the wrong business software could cost you hours spent on stock takes and reporting. When you manage your inventory data on one platform, it leads to greater stock-count accuracy, helps you track shrinkage and pilferage, and speeds up the response time for restocking your top-selling items.
Benefits of Business Management Software
Salon owners and managers who want to create a better guest experience, increase productivity, and boost revenue should evaluate their current software to see if it’s meeting the needs of their business and their goals for growth.
It pays to modernize with an all-in-one cloud-based platform that simplifies appointment scheduling, automates personalized marketing campaigns, empowers employees with mobile app-based tools, and streamlines inventory management.
Beauty and wellness businesses using Zenoti enjoy 20% higher average booking prices, 50% less back-end admin, and 35% fewer no-shows.
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