Why Trade shows are great for every Salon

We have attended Professional Beauty North for quite some years now and it’s always a pleasure to return to Manchester Central to meet new people. As a business, whether you are just there to visit or if you are exhibiting, it is a great place to network and find out about the latest products and treatments. Especially for salon owners, trade shows are great opportunities to purchase new equipment and gather inspiration for the salon. However, if you have ever attended a show you know how busy these can get. Businesses try to talk to you about their products and services and try to offer you the latest deals. It is easy to lose focus on what exactly you need and why you came to the show in the first place.

One of the best pieces of advice we can give you is: come prepared!

Download the event show guide or go on the events website. There you can look at the list of exhibitors and work out which stands you want to visit prior to the event. There is nothing worse than turning up to a busy event hall, with no idea where companies are located within the exhibition and then running around frantically to find them! Many companies also offer appointments you can take advantage of. So if you are interested in a new machine or product try get in contact with the business before the event to schedule a session with them. This will help with the buying decision and gives you an opportunity to ask all your questions.

'Shows are great for discounts and testers. Take advantage of any discount and exclusive offers!'

If you own a business, are about to open one or even if you have a favourite brand to stock up on, then these places are perfect for you. Why? Because often at trade shows you have the advantage to get discounted rates on most items. Especially if you’re on the lookout for new products, equipment or anything else. Now will be the perfect time to get them. Most products and businesses at trade shows offer VAT free items and services, meaning you already save 20% on your overall purchase. On top of that are most exhibitors willing to negotiate little extras on top of that. All you have to do is ask. 

It is therefore important to know what you want.

Most people come to a trade show roughly knowing what they want. Before signing up to an event, it is useful to go through your salon with an action plan in mind. Are there things that need to be replaced? Would you like to learn about a new treatment and sign staff member up for courses? No matter what it is, take some time aside to think about your business and if there is anything to improve that you can potentially get at the trade show. Exhibitors are experts in their field and it’s a great way to get more info, test products without committing to them straight away.

As visitors, you can easily get overwhelmed with all the stands at the show, so make sure you get out the events brochure for a better overview. We have said it before that the best thing prior to a trade show is preparation and it’s true, otherwise you might waste your money on products you don’t really need just because the sales person talked you into it. Therefore, collect all relevant information whilst you are there. Take brochures, business cards and goody bags that will help you to gather information. Don’t get pressured to make a decision straight away. To companies you are a potential customer and they will be happy to wait a few days for you to decide if it will guarantee them a sale.

Grow your network!

As much as you visit a trade show to find resources that will be beneficial to your brand, don’t forget that this is a perfect opportunity to target vendors that may be interested in your company too! All people that attend beauty trade shows are interested in the sector and there is no better way than to hand out your own business cards and build a relationship with potential prospects. Trade shows are such sociable events that you should be prepared to do a bit of brand-promoting whilst you’re there.

Overall, trade shows are a great annual event you should visit to invest in your business and to work on your salon goals. It can be easy to lose focus and business goals when bombarded with information that does not even seem relevant to you. The trick is, no matter if you are a visitor or an exhibitor to keep a clear head and to know exactly what you are trying to achieve from the show. If you are attending this year, why not pop by and say hello. We are located at stand E84 From Sunday to Monday, 9-5pm. 

If you’re still thinking about it but haven’t signed up, click on the link to register for tickets. https://registration.n200.com/survey/364r05ev8wm44?actioncode=NTWO000123RTD&partner-contact=2qth72wjsj7nu

Salon Tracker x

Feature of the Month - Filtered Marketing

It’s that time again! Our latest feature of the month is filtered marketing, and how you can use it to benefit your salon. Our customers often contact us asking for help sending out their latest campaign, mainly just because they want to make sure they’re doing it right. With the world becoming more and more digital, it’s important that you as salon owners use this to your advantage, and it can be done directly from our Salon Tracker Software.

One of the most obvious advantages to marketing would be that you can target certain customers and audiences. With our built-in sophisticated marketing suite, you can send SMS messages, emails and letters to your clients, however the SMS feature is the most useful to salons with around 98% of SMS messages being opened, making it the perfect way for you to reach out to your clients. Although it may be a thing of the past, you can also send letters and emails to your customers, our marketing suite does all the work for you, all you have to do is send them out.

Salon Tracker comes with 8 pre-filtered campaigns, a custom campaign and 20 marketing filters, however even with the pre-filtered campaigns you can still edit and change them to how you would like. Perhaps you want to try and attract customers who haven’t visited your salon for a while, the system will track customer spend and highlight the customers that haven’t had an appointment for a while. An example of how the pre-filtered campaign would look is:

Hi <<Forename>>

You are missed! All appointments booked before [ENTER DATE] will receive [ENTER DISCOUNT] discount.

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply

A great way to make use our marketing suite would be by planning ahead and using our schedule feature. For example, if you are going on holiday, but you want to send out an SMS marketing campaign, you can plan it before and make sure that it will send even if you are away. Another great way that you can use our marketing feature would be to make sure that you are organised and prepared for any offers or deals that you will be doing. Say you are wanting to send a bank holiday campaign you would use our custom campaign feature; two pre-filtered campaigns can already be found on the software for a Summer sale and a January sale. An example of a campaign SMS message that you might want to send for a bank holiday deal could be:

Hi <<Forename>>

We are offering a free [ENTER VALUE] voucher with every booking made this week, which will be redeemable on bank holiday Monday!

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply

After sending a marketing campaign you might want to see if and how it has effected your sales, with our reports feature our software will do the math for you. You can use the Sales by Hour report to see which times you might want to use the marketing features to help increase sales, for instance when you’re having a quiet period, and you just want to send out a little incentive to bring in some customers.

If you would like any more information on our filtered marketing or any of our software features, don’t hesitate to head over to www.salontracker.co.uk or call our office on 0113 350 8230 to book your software demo, our support team is available Monday-Friday from 9am – 5pm.

You can also trial salon tracker free of charge for a 2-week period, and we will also give you 50 free texts so you can test the marketing feature for yourself!

Salon Tracker

Tips for Salon Owners when Hiring Staff

‘Without a goal you can’t score’. - Casey Neistat

Finding and hiring the right staff for your salon can be a tiring challenge that sometimes just can’t be avoided. A shortage of skilled candidates in the industry will make it even harder to find the right person and the last thing you want to do is take on someone, you’re not quite sure about just because you need more staff. Nevertheless, we don’t want you to dismiss new possibilities altogether and with the right tips and tricks you can find the right new people for your business. To make things easier we have compiled a few useful tips from beginning to end, concentrating on what to look out for when hiring.


Know what you want

When advertising for a new position, be clear on what the position is about but also what qualifications you are looking for. If you define what sort of person you are looking for early on, it will make it easier later on to spot key indicators for those requirements on the candidates CV. Once sorted, you can write a job description and advertise them through social media, your website and even a local newspaper.

A CV reveals plenty already

Review candidates carefully, before inviting them for an interview. If you have a trusted colleague or manager that can assist with a second opinion then certainly take advantage of this. You want to look out for any red flags that are already noticeable in someones CV.

First, is the CV looking professional and spell checked? A CV full of spelling mistakes looks unprofessional and comes across as lazy. Do you really want to employ someone who couldn’t even make the effort to double check their work and make it look as nice as possible? As a salon owner, your priority is to make clients feel comfortable and cared for. A badly written CV might point towards a lack of motivation and perfection.

Secondly, look out for any job-hopping or gaps within a candidates CV. Without an explanation, this might point towards them having trouble integrating themselves within a salon culture or lack of motivation to work in general.


Warning signs during the interview

Once you’ve picked a few candidates you’re happy with, you want to invite them for an interview. The interviews go well and you hire new staff. However, a few weeks into the job, and you’re already regretting taking them on. Not only are they always late, but also are rude to your clients and can’t seem to get integrated with the team.

We advise you to carry out phone interviews before inviting them for an actual face-to face. This way, you’re not wasting your time on candidates who don’t really want to be there anyway. During a phone call, you can usually find out all the necessary things.


Interview Body language 

Experts say that it takes just 7 seconds to make that first impression. If a candidate sits unmotivated in front of you, can’t make eye contact and seems nervous around people then you might want to worry about it. In the end a salon is a customer facing business that will interact with people. A person who doesn’t seem confident enough around people will find it hard to work with clients on a daily basis. Moreover, clients themselves want to feel confident about choosing you, and it might reflect badly on your business if you have a nervous staff member with no customer service skills.


Late Comers 

Candidates who arrive late, without a call, text or any explanation should raise your suspicion. Interviews are important and it is unprofessional to arrive late for no reason. It might point to poorly time keeping once they’re employed, which will have a bad impact on your clients.

Unmotivated Behaviour

If they’re keen to work for you, they want to impress you. Therefore, a warning signal will be if a candidate seems to portray a lack of motivation towards the job and your salon. Has the candidate read the job description and know exactly what is asked of him/her? Have they looked up your salon on Facebook and on your website and know what services you offer? If they answer is no then I wouldn’t bother with theses types of people. 

Nor do they have any questions about the job itself, such as training and expectations.

These types of candidates are looking for a job but are not too bothered about the kind of job, as long as their monthly pay check is secure. 

As always, if you have any questions or would like to talk to one of our team members about this post then please feel free to get in contact with us, our number is 0113 350-8230.



Salon Tracker x

Your Sunday Night Regime to ensure you start the Working Week off well!

We all know the feeling - Monday-morning dread. We’ve all felt it at some point in time, the ‘I need 3 large lattes before I can function’ mode, whether this be when we were at uni, going through exams or starting the busy working week. (And if you haven’t ever felt it, then kudos to ya!)

Anyhow, if you’re feeling slumped first thing on a morning, this sometimes means that your day may not be as productive as it perhaps could be. But, having said that, just a few simple changes to your Sunday night routine, diet and sleep pattern can all have a huge impact on your mentality for the start of the working week. If this sounds like it may benefit you, read on…

If you have a busy weekend, packed with partying, trips out or physical activity, this can have a large strain on your body and so in order to re-energise, you need to ensure that you give your body that little bit of Sunday night TLC that it needs. Equally, if you do absolutely nothing one weekend (I’m talking the couch potato, slouched in front of the television watching endless box-sets and eating junk food kinda vibe) this can also have a negative effect on the start of your working week if you don’t snap out of sleep-mode beforehand. Of course, we all love a party. Equally we also all love a lounging day, however it’s all about everything in moderation and ensuring that we get back in to the motivational frame of mind ready to attack that Monday morning!

So, what are my recommendations? If you’ve had a couple of late nights Friday, Sat and had a pretty busy Sunday, you need to make sure that you relax for at least an hour or 2 on the Sunday night prior to going to sleep. Reason being, if you don’t unwind before going to bed, this can actually interfere with your sleep and be responsible for your restless night.

And by relaxing, this is not sitting on the couch scrolling endlessly through social media, as this can also affect your mind frame! We all know the Sunday afternoon ‘let’s compare ourselves to our Instagram idols’ social media kind of habit. Not only does this take up time where you should be focusing on yourself to uplift from the busy weekend, it can also affect your mind frame as you give yourself a hard time, stressing that ‘your hair’s not as nice as hers, you don’t have a thigh gap - and gosh, you better get squatting.’ This equally has a negative impact on your mind frame as you’re not giving your thoughts a break and then these feelings can again hinder your sleep and affect how you wake up in the morning.

Now you’re probably thinking, don’t sit on Instagram for 2 hours? Well what am I going to do? We all spend SO much time on social media, sometimes it’s actually quite refreshing to put the phone down and instead of focusing on lots of other people (that the majority of the time you don’t actually know in person), instead, use that time to focus on yourself.

Instead of worrying about what you don’t have, how about you make a list of achievements that you have gained over the last few months. From these achievements, work out how you got there and what helped you along the way. I recommend then that you keep these lists and then from this, write down a few things that you hope to achieve, or develop in the near future. Then, once every month or so, get out this little box to, number 1 - remind yourself of all the amazing things that you have done, and number 2 – to also see how far you have come with your development plans.

Next, get out your favourite pampering equipment. I’m talking bath bombs, body lotions, candles, oils – the works! Create a little home-spa and take an hour out to actually just relax and unwind from all the busy-ness, away from your phone and social networks. This will most probably feel like the longest hour of your life, and it will be a good-hour at that!

Next recommendation, READ! How many of you can honestly say that you have read a book, journal, paper magazine (none digital) in the last month? It’s important to occupy your mind with things other than work, how busy your weekend has been and social media comparing etc. By doing this, you instantly divulge in to whatever you’re reading and without realising, this relaxes your mind and gives you a bit of head-space.

A slightly silly one, but, next I recommend tidying. I’m not talking the big spring clean kind of clear out. But just a short, 10-minute flit-round your room, as honestly, waking up in a messy room on a Monday morning is the instant demotivator! Your get-ready space instantly lacks organisation, appearance, space, and trust me – this can contribute to a bad start to the week. Mess = stress, and then that dreaded feeling all day that you have to go home to an untidy room when you get home. Another little tip, surround yourself with things that make you smile and give you an instant mood lift. Flowers, pictures, photos – whatever it is that can just alter your home atmosphere. Oh  and make that bed too when you leave on a Monday morning, another instant gripe when you turn up home to find an un-made crumpled sleeping arrangement!

Alternatively, if you have had a complete chiller of a TV/films weekend, then before all of the above, I would recommend fresh-air. Fresh air is the ultimate healer and clean-space for thinking and clearing the mind. Plus, as we said if you’ve spent all day cooped up at home, this can interfere with your productivity as without realising, you enter a bit of an accidental lazy-mode and can lack motivation. A short walk to break up a lazy weekend is the perfect way to snap out of the lounging, and then this also gives you a reason to be worthy of a chill! Even if you’ve had a ridiculously busy weekend, a 5 minute stroll is always good for anybody, as even small exercise releases endorphin's to improve the mind-frame!

Now, this one is dependent on personal preference, but a 30-min exercise is excellent to strengthen the body and also to relieve the mind of any built-up stress from the previous week. Whether your exercise regime is a little session in the gym, a jog around the park, a swim at the baths, or it may be that you are in to a particular sport or you follow exercise videos? Whichever this may be, the national recommendation is to exercise at least 3 days per week for 30 minutes, just to ensure that your body remains active and to improve general health.

Diet. The dreaded word. But no, we’re not talking the Atkins, 5:2, and Paleo kind of FAD’s. We’re talking overall nutrition. We all know, the weekend is our bad-influence to eat carbs-overload, lots of sugar and often a few cocktails or 2. During this time, your body is neglected and deprived of many vitamins and minerals that are important to your daily function. It’s therefore important to make sure you replace these lost vits by eating healthy snacks and a super-food meal for dinner.

Your bedtime. And we literally mean the time. Often on a weekend you may find yourself going to bed after hours and running on 6 hours sleep. Great, it’s wonderful to be busy and to hit the party/social scene with friends, family and relatives. The old saying, work-hard, play-hard, is true. However, you do need to make sure that you re-boot and get enough sleep in order to make it through the week to the next weekend. When talking to people I've heard that the average sleep each human should have is 8-8 ½ hours per night. So, depending on when your Monday morning wake-up call is, make sure that you have lights out before 11, and we’d say try and make this 10 if you can. Just to make sure you get that much-needed rest that you require.

So, let’s recap…

Your new Sunday afternoon/night regime in short:

- Put down the mobile phone/tablet for at least an hour and stop comparing yourself to media ideals!

- Have lots of Healthy snacks and nutrient-rich foods

- Make a list of current achievements and plans for your development for the future     (review every few weeks!)

- Go for a little 5 minute stroll or 30 mins exercise (dependent on your kind of weekend)

- Create a mini home-spa

- Tidy and surround yourself with positive things

- Pamper yourself – (nails, hair/face mask, body butters, and candles)

- Chill & Read (Something other than social media)

- Lights out before 11pm

Really hope you’ve enjoyed this read, and be sure to let us know if you’ve tried any of our tips and if they work to help you feel extra-energised!


Salon Tracker x

Promote your Salon to Locals using the Web

One thing all salons need is exposure. Today we’ll be giving you some handy tips and tricks when it comes to exposing your company in your local area. For salons, no matter if it’s hair beauty or tanning, it is a given that most of your customers will be from the local area. However, relying on your loyal customers will hardly bring any growth to the business and many businesses are using various marketing strategies to encourage potential customers to book. If you want to get noticed by more people, whether you are a multi chain company or want to be the big deal within your community, the web can help you in many ways. Promoting your salon’s products and services online, through platforms such as Facebook and even mobile is quickly becoming the way to go.

But what exactly is digital marketing? Well, in short it is endorsement of your company, meaning it’s services, through online media channels such a Social Media, Search Engines or even email. Digital marketing can help in many ways to make it easier for clients to find you. You don’t have to be a marketing wiz to get started and many things can be done in just a few clicks. However, bear in mind that there is no quick formula for instant success. Attracting more customers from your community is a process that needs planning and testing and therefore takes time. Over the period, you have to keep up with it and monitor to see your progress. Make sure you also figure out what doesn’t work, so you don’t waste time and resources.

Let’s get started:

Nowadays people look for services from their home or on the go, rather than to go to town and look what shops have on offer. Therefore, there is a huge market opportunity you can take advantage of and target the people that are actively looking for something in the neighbourhood.

The best way to attract clients in the beginning would be to tailor your website for local search. These days people are used to using their phones when out and about to get information quickly. That’s why it’s so important to create a local online presence for your salon.

Someone who is looking for something in a specific location is usually ready to purchase. There is not much convincing you need to do as they’ve made up their mind. They just need directing in the right direction. So make sure you’ll be there go to salon. Here are a few more tips you can do:

Firstly, make sure your location details are on your website and Facebook page. This will make it easier for people to find you on their phones or computers.

Next, your telephone number, email and working hours should always be portraying the correct information. Therefore, update them as soon as they change.

You can even include an interactive map when people are looking on their phones.

Use online directories that such as Yelp for more exposure and the opportunity for clients to review your services. Google My Business is great because it’s FREE and you can manage your online presence including Search and Maps. This will help customers find you and also gather information about your business.

Social media nowadays is the most common form of advertisement with thousands of businesses using it as their sole method. Outlets such as Facebook, give you the opportunity to advertise to specific target groups for example those who live near you and have expressed interest in services you offer. Promoting your business on Facebook is a paid service. However, it can help to target specific groups of people. As most salons do have a Facebook page, this is more common to the more traditional website it also opens the opportunity to reach people in just a few steps.


Local advertising and search can help you stand out to potential customer, whether they live in the area or passing through. It will help improve the chances that a person chooses you over your competition. This topic can be quite technical and all the marketing terminology can seem confusing, but there are lots of articles and tutorials online. If you are really looking to improve your online presence but don’t know how, there are plenty of marketing agencies that are specialised in this area.



We have found a few useful links if you want to read more about the topic.

• Forum of Private Business. How to promote your business locally

• Free Logo Service Business Blog Local Marketing: 6 Ways to promote your business

• https://www.facebook.com/business/help/863193973749601 Facebook Business 

Salon Tracker x

Our Tips For The Back-to-School Season!

Although it may seem like the summer holidays have only just started, school is right around the corner again. For many parents, the summer time can often be seen as a time to try get the best possible deals on new uniforms, stationary and all the other countless school essentials. However, for you as salon owners this time can be used wisely to attract sales and to promote your business. Here are a few straightforward tips that you can use to ensure that the ‘Back-to-School’ period is a successful one.

Promote to Parents and Students

Everyone wants to make a good impression of their first day back, meaning that many parents will be wanting to treat their child/children to a ‘Back-to-School’ haircut. This gives you a great opportunity to attract new customers or to persuade past customers to use your salon again. Promoting offers and deals during this period is always a good way to receive more sales. For instance, you may want to give out a discount to parents that have more than one child having a haircut, but you need to make sure that the discount isn’t too drastic. So, don’t be offering anything along the lines of ‘One haircut, another free for siblings’, as this could damage your salon’s image in the future as people will be expecting constant big discounts. Once students reach sixth form and university they are eligible for student discount, so one way to attract the older generation of students would be by giving a student discount during this period. For example, you might want to offer 10% or 15% off any treatments or retail products, this will definitely attract those university students who are looking for the best deal with their low student finance.

Freebies

Not all children are jumping with joy when their parents announce that they are going to the hairdressers for their annual back to school haircut. So, a good way around the tantrums would be to provide freebies, such as sweets or toys, which you can give out either before whilst waiting or once they have had their haircut.

Competitor Research

Many children and teenagers will want their haircut and style to follow the latest trends, therefore it is important that you complete research prior to this busy period, as this will give you a head start and a better insight into these latest trends. You should also look at other salons, especially in your local area, as this will allow you get a sneak-peek at what other owners are doing. This will not only give you inspiration, but it will also mean that you will be able to think of ways in which you can be different and unique to beat off competitors.

Now that you have all of your ideas together, you need to create a plan on how you will target students and parents. The best, and cheapest, way to promote your salon and latest offers would be through social media, it’s a great platform for you to engage with new and previous customers and persuade them to come to your salon. Although it will cost you to use this method, another great way to contact your customers would be by sending text messages, as this will allow you to directly contact specific customers, which is perfect for the Back-to-School season. Our Salon Tracker Software allows you to directly send text messages to clients, with the marketing feature, from this we have been able to see a great reaction when used correctly. A more traditional method of promoting your salon would be by using email, although it is free, email isn’t as successful as the previous two. However, it is still a good method that you can use to target specific customers that will be intrigued by these deals.

We hope that you found these ideas helpful, and that you will be able to use them to benefit your salon. If you have any questions or want any more information on how our Salon Tracker software could help with your salon management and to maximise sales, then don’t hesitate to contact us on 0113 350 8230.

Salon Tracker

Feature of the Month – Unlimited Tanning Courses and Happy Hour Deals

August is here, which means it’s time for another feature of the month post. As most tanning businesses are booming over the summer months we thought it would be worth diving into special tanning options on our system that might come as a surprise to you, as our technical and advanced features are often forgotten. However, what most people don’t know is how much easier they can make salon management. Especially for our Tanning Salon owners! We thought about ideas and what we could do that we haven't already done. We talked about tanning features before, such as security and tanning rules. But we realised that we have never really talked about how you can actually manage your minutes and courses and especially any special offers through the system. Therefore, this month we wanted to dive into the option of controlling your Unlimited courses and Happy Hour sessions directly from the system. 

Our customers often ask us how they can sell and set up unlimited monthly courses. As a product it is not uncommon to the tanning world. However, did you know that Happy Hour promotions are also getting more and more popular, as owners can decide to run a promotion during a specific time of the day?

These tools are great for any tanning salon who wants to stay super organised with offers, but without having to constantly keep an eye on it. The system does it all for you! It is designed for when customers purchase either one of options and start using the minutes, the system will take it automatically into consideration to take the promotion off after your desired time. All you do is set an expiry period and that's it. Meaning if you offer an unlimited tanning month you set an expiry period on the system to 1 month and don’t have to worry about turning it off for every customer at different times. Same applies to the Happy Hour promotion just in a slightly different way. Below we have listed the difference between Unlimited and Happy Hour and how both options work on the system. 

Unlimited 

Unlimited courses is a weekly, monthly or annual offer that is added to a customer's client card, which enables them to use as many minutes during that time as they please. When salon’s offer this particular product then customers can purchase it whenever they want. Once they start using the minutes they system will automatically recognise the action and will turn the unlimited minutes off at the end of the period. There is no need to keep an eye on customer’s courses and to turn them off manually whenever they finish. If you do however need to check their status or want to double check something then the information is always available in the customer purchase history. 

Happy Hour 

Unlike unlimited courses, Happy Hour promotions are only available during a specific time of the day. Therefore, the customer does not have constant access to cheaper minutes whenever they come in. The idea behind Happy Hour minutes is for salons to utilize quieter periods and make the most of them. Therefore, Happy Hour offers are a marketing strategy to bring more customers through the door during specific times of the day. It is up to the salon for how many hours they want to run a Happy Hour deal during the day and on what days it will be available. Happy Hour deals are only available as a walk-in service, meaning the minutes will be purchased then and there and also used up during the visit. 

Salon Tracker is a tanning salon management solution that caters for all needs of tanning business owners. Its features are unique to Salon Tracker and include options such as safety implementation and sunbed timer integration. The system tracks and manages all minutes by documenting all information, meaning the owner can manually access all shop activity on a daily level.

If you would like to speak to us about the system and receive more information on how you can manage your Tanning salon better with Salon Tracker then please get in touch. If you would like help setting up your Unlimited courses and Happy Hour deals then we are more than happy to assist with that. Our support team is available Monday-Friday from 9 am - 5 pm for any questions and enquiries.

Salon Tracker x