No more ‘no shows’...

The cost of no shows to the beauty industry can amount to as much as £12,000 a year for the average salon.

Our research shows that just one client forgetting to turn up for their appointment will cost a salon £30 in lost income as well as impacting on the stylists’ income.

Salon Tracker managing director Lorraine Cave said: “So-called ‘no shows’ are one of the single biggest costs to salon owners and are a huge frustration to the beauty industry and are all too familiar to beauty professionals in all areas.

“Salons are trying to mitigate the loss from no-shows by charging anywhere from half to full fee when a customer chooses not to honour the reserved appointment – but getting the money out of them is very difficult.”

Another key issue for salons suffering from persistent no shows is being able to fill the booking left empty by tardy clients as working schedules are based on the number of employees salons need to serve their customers.

As a result employees who are on-site to work, are paid for their time but don't generate revenue, so the payroll and is out of balance with income.

Mrs Cave said: “It's like calling a restaurant and asking them to have your meal ready a month from now, then not showing up to eat it and pay for it. That’s the reason why Salon Tracker has been set up to alert clients of their bookings via mobile text messaging and email to ensure the salon seats remain full.”

That’s why Salon Tracker can be configured by salon owners to send out reminders to clients 48 hours ahead of their appointment and can help cut no shows by as much as 70 per cent. Moreover, clients who cannot make an appointment can alert the salon giving it ample time to send out a message to other clients offering the vacant spot at a discount. Salon Tracker recommends marketing texts such as: “Due to the cancellation of a treatment today between 2pm and 3pm 20% discount on all treatments, first person to book will receive the discount!”

Salon Tracker user Lynsey Bennett from The Secret Day Spa, Belfast said: “We have found Studio Tracker to be an invaluable part of the day-to-day running of our salon. Our no-shows have decreased by at least 70 per cent and our revenue has increased using the effective marketing features.

“Having moved premises Studio Tracker has been brilliant, we initially did an advertising campaign to let our clients know our new address, however, it wasn’t until we used SMS messaging that we saw a significant increase in client foot fall. In the first week after sending SMS messages at least 60% of those targeted visited our new salon.”

Fully integrated with Facebook and with a dynamic SMS messaging service, Salon Tracker allows users to manage and prioritise appointments, capture customer information and build an interactive database – which can even tell users how clients like their coffee and market special offers to customers direct from the system with mobile text messages.

The system also delivers fast and efficient Point of Sale with simple business sales reports, cash flow and profit and loss accounts management, staff commission and stock management, and remote access from anywhere in the world – even when the salon owner is on holiday.

Salon Tracker is available in three formats – Standard, Professional and Enterprise – and allows users to manage every facet of their beauty business.

Using a PC, tablet or mobile phone users can access their business online 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year to ensure it is run efficiently and profitably.

Another Salon Tracker user, Luke James of Ultra Tan based in Hull, said: "We put a text message together on a Friday morning to people. We had 48 people in that afternoon and evening alone in response. That's a 33 per cent response in less than eight hours. In real terms that was an extra £1,000 sales for a cost of under £20. It's great because the cost is low and it’s easy. We are now experimenting with Salon Tracker with other offers and getting good responses."

Online...all the time!

Do you want to create some time and space… for another beautiful day?

Do you want to ensure you deliver the best service to the customers at your salon and ensure they keep coming back?

Do you need a simple, no-nonsense solution to manage every aspect of your beauty business?

Salon Tracker – the total salon management solution – frees up your time to do what you do best: ensuring your customers have another beautiful day.

Using a PC, tablet or mobile phone you can access your business online 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year to ensure your business is run efficiently, profitably and, more importantly, you are exceeding the expectations of your customers.

Half beautician, half therapist...

Being in a salon you will come across a variety of people every single day, people from all walks of life each with a different story to tell or reasons why they are here in your salon.

That person could be a walk-in customer coming in for a quick eyebrow wax. It might be a huge hair change for 17 year old Jessica inspired to completely change her look before her first girl’s holiday. It might be beaming with excitement Becky, booked in for her wedding makeover. Or it could be a manicure and pedicure with 46-year-old Anne from down the road who just recently lost her partner of 28 years and craves for someone to speak to.

What beauticians offer is not just a treatment, it’s a service.

When Jessica comes in it makes your staff nostalgic and happy to indulge in their own girls holidays and tips where to shop for the hottest bikinis to ensure Jessica leaves giddy about showing her friends her new do and update them on the best things to do in Greece.

When Becky leaves ecstatic, it makes your staff proud of their accomplishments that they have been a part of the biggest day of her life.

When Anne leaves relaxed and content it makes your staff happy to have offered someone the time to open up, share their difficulties and most importantly, feel valued.

The point is, a service not only makes the customer happy, it gives your staff a proud sense of achievement. Your staff are there because they are driven by enthusiasm with love for what they do, they aim for perfection to consistently deliver a happy customer.

So how does this knowledge help your salon?

Salon Tracker is a software management system that not only allows you to store client history, it tells you details about your clients even down to how they like their coffee or tea. A huge aspect of sales is the ability to create a loyal customer. When your customer is confident their beautician knows exactly what they want, whether that be a little gossip or the exact colours in their hair they like, Salon Tracker offers the ability to provide them with this. It creates a foundation to build a relationship to ensure you are ‘Creating the time and place for another beautiful day’.

So to all you salon owners, beauty therapists, nail technicians, hairdressers and anyone in the industry… this is to let you know we appreciate your time and recognise your hard work.

Salon Tracker x

This relationship advice will save your business and your love life!

From “Is he right for you?” to “how to make her want you”… it seems that every day there is new research revealed about relationships and how to make them work.

Some might question how you can expect a stranger to know what makes an individual tick, but we convey here how flirting, dating and relationship advice is all relevant to your business. Of course you should be caring for your clients. But to what extent?

1) A stranger crosses you in the street and unbeknown to any of you, you could, potentially share a connection. Due to the amount of people walking down that street, if there is no initial attraction or magnetic engagement then it’s safe to say, you will probably never know. The same goes for business; due to the amount of competition an individual might see in your area of the exact same forte, if they are not enticed by any engagement or attraction then it’s safe to say, you will probably never know their custom. 

2) If you are dating somebody, you might sometimes feel as though they are not as attentive, caring or even as spontaneous as you would like. So human nature, rightly suggests, they lose your commitment to someone who you share compatibility with, and who can provide the love you desire. With your business, you might assume that because you are constantly busy, your customers are satisfied with your service and the hours you put in. Unbeknown to you that customer may believe the service is not attentive or understanding to her needs or even just, convenient to her hours. So human nature, rightly suggests, you lose their commitment and the sale, all to a competitor who can provide what that customer desires.

Similar to a relationship, you will always lose out to a competitor if you are not recognising your weaknesses and strengths and most importantly, acting upon them.

Relationships and businesses all have the same approach. A customer seeks a large part from a technician or hairdresser of what she looks for in a potential partner, which is communication and trust. Trusting someone with your hair, as all women know, is a big deal so when you find someone who delivers what you want, similarly to a relationship, you don’t want to let them go.

Our top 3 tips to saving your business OR your relationship:

1) Flirt with your clients- Give them reasons to understand why you are the best!

2)  Don’t get complacent- The same service is available elsewhere, so give them reason to stay.
3) Consistency- Energy and effort should be in full force every time they visit you!

Be ahead of the game and your competitors by enticing your customers. Our advanced marketing suite can help you win you new customers, grow your business and improve your profits! Call 0113 350 8230 for more information and get your FREE demo and trial today.

HOW TO: be a successful salon entrepreneur

The way you walk, speak, dress, and hold yourself are all relevant to how people on the outside see you. “We can't help it. We're predominantly visual creatures. The visual area at the back of our brains comprises 30 percent of our cortex.” Which means most people have decided what they think of you before you even have chance to open your mouth to speak. Lickerman (2012) goes on to state how our judgement of something has a large effect on how we react towards it. We are more “influenced by our own biases than we are by actual evidence. When we have a powerfully positive or negative emotional reaction to someone upon first meeting them—often due to their overall presentation—it powerfully affects our reaction to the "content" we find inside, meaning their personality and character.”

This is an extremely important factor to filter in to business. Your salon is a place of profession and business so the names and prices on the treatment list, the way you answer the phone, the way you dress, and the way the entire salon is run are all factors you are judged on before you may get chance to engage with a customer.

Anyone can be an entrepreneur but the very essence of a successful entrepreneur is how they choose to build their company, or how and where they choose to market it. A successful businessman knows that communication is a buzz marketing word, especially when it comes to service in the salon. They know exactly how they want their stylists to be perceived, and they are aware of exactly, how their clients will be leaving. The point is, successful business people have a plan, they can deal with any obstacles before they can touch the business, and they have an inside vision for COMMUNICATION, both verbal and non-verbal.

So what is communication? Talking, listening, writing? There is much more to communication than you would believe and one thing in particular is often neglected in training sessions which is body language. Actions speak louder than words in successful salons. When we communicate with clients (and other members of the team in front of clients) we use a combination of words, tone of voice and body language and as you might have guessed the 3 elements are not of equal importance.

Research reveals that words (the literal meaning) account for 7% of the overall message, tone of voice accounts for 38% of the overall message and body language accounts for 55% of the overall message. Salons are a difficult place of work because the aim is to feel trustworthy, comfortable and content in your surroundings. However, an extremely important thing to remember is it is still a business, these are your clients, and they are paying money for your service.

How to give positive body vibes?

- Eye contact- this shows interest and respect for whom you are conversing with.

- Be friendly- raise your tone of voice slightly to highlight enthusiasm and positivity.

- Angle yourself towards your potential client to portray a welcoming posture.

- Hold your head up- Try not to slouch as this can give off bad impressions.

- Be genuine. Smile and be yourself, don’t be false as this is equally as off putting.

- Now you have finished reading this go and see how your team are measuring up.

Salon Tracker helps save you time so you can focus on customer service, engagement and loyalty.

Call now for your FREE demo and trial on 0113 350 8230!

Twitter tips you need to succeed your business!

 Constantly checking on your follower count? Can’t tweet right for tweeting wrong? Twitter only allows 140 characters and in that you are expected to engage, excite and intrigue your followers without obviously selling….

#WHATTTTTTTT??????

Don’t panic! Here we have a few simple tips that big brands use to increase your follower count, customer interest and marketing strategy success. Read on for the twitter road to success…

1.     Find the perfect balance between controversial and professional. Take the brand ‘Charmin’ (@charmin) for example, toilet roll with 33.6k followers. Why? Because they have a great (and humorous) marketing strategy. Charmin are the perfect example of a company who know what goals they want to achieve from Twitter. Toilet roll will inevitably sell, so their aim is to build brand awareness and what better way to poo that than with toilet humour? ;)

2.    Be an easy follow. All reputable companies have one thing in common, they know how to work their customers. Take Innocent drinks as another example (@innocentdrinks). They are a successful Twitter brand because although a lot of their tweets are surrounding fruit, innocent and their brand, they also tend to get involved in other subjects which makes them an ‘easy’ follow. Many people would follow Innocent even if they disliked the products because they don’t push for sales. They inject human-like personality into a news feed through entertaining interaction making them a winner brand in the Twitter-sphere.

3.   Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is Facebook. Twitter is not based on becoming friends like Facebook is, it focuses more on the content popularity aspect (brutal we know). So if you aren't speaking about things that people want to here, then you simply won’t make the cut. Don’t worry though, this isn't real life Mean Girls, it’s just about knowing your audience and knowing what they want to here. Look at what they do that works, what are your peers tweeting about? Is it relevant, funny or informative? Why not try a beauty tip of the day or fun fact of the morning that might help your followers with their skin, make-up, fitness or tanning regime. Network with local businesses, retweet their offers, respond and interact with your followers whenever you can but remember that content is key.

4.  Be consistent. Your tweets should be on a consistent basis rather than a one off overhaul of too many tweets at once- that will annoy your followers. Keep it simple and basic and tweet once or twice a day.

5.   Don’t overdo who you are! We get that you are a salon in Manchester, we knew that when we followed you. We thought you had more about you and we enjoyed your variety. But just recently you've changed…your constant tweeting is a bit desperate. We need to break up. It’s not you it’s me I swear. Ahem.

6.   Don’t put your business to private. This doesn't really need explanation, people follow businesses if they like the look of what they see. If they aren't provided with a little taster when stumbling upon your page, they 9 times out of 10 won’t follow.

7.   You rarely get a second chance at a first impression. Bare this in mind when you post tweets, images and information on your Twitter. Think about presentation, spelling and general professionalism. Don’t belittle your brand and this could be detrimental to your custom.

Does this all sound quite daunting? Never fear. On the bright side, you have society on your side. The salon, spa, health and fitness industry is one of the largest around, many thanks to all the celebrities who share their wonderfully miraculous beauty secrets, almost everyone wants little tips and tricks to being the best they can be. For this reason, Twitter is a great networking space to find inspiration, build contacts, and portray what you have to offer. 

Check us out on Twitter @salontrackerapp

HOW TO: convert a walk in customer to a LOYAL client!

A question at the forefront of salon owner’s minds is ‘how do you add value to ensure a loyal client?’ 

There are numerous marketing strategies that businesses can adopt. Our previous blog ‘top 5 tips on using social media’, is a brilliant read for those seeking to grow their salon awareness. However, what if you have done that and now you want to target clients directly and gain customer loyalty? 

 With the abilities of the technical market, SMS and email marketing are the closest you will get to customers unless you want to chase them down the street waving your treatment list in their face (an advised no no). 

A main aspect of running a business is running the hype of your business. If you cannot shout about your offers and promotions then how can you expect others to? 

Besides the techniques such as refer a friend schemes and new customer loyalty vouchers, here are a few friendly pointers to remember when consolidating your message with clients… 
• Personalise messages- it helps you engage the customer rather than sell to them. Entering a customer’s name into an email is more likely to increase click through rates and loyalty. Get this information by capturing as much client data as possible with your software service. Salon tracker provides and advanced marketing suite so that you can tailor your messages creating campaigns to ensure your business has growth in profit. 

• Be consistent- Emails should go out to customers about once a month with a call to action for more information. Of course not everyone takes advantage of the offer but some clients might be waiting for your ‘Promotion of the month!’ Customer loyalty is created by heightened familiarity. 

• Use client purchase history- Marketing products to a client’s purchase history is a brilliant way of utilizing information as you know at some point or another they have expressed interest in this product. Research has shown that emails are more likely to be read if they are of relevance to the reader, so make content informative through a friendly tone. 

 • Aesthetics- Well-chosen imagery, logos and colour enormously enhances a messages impact by distinguishing your company from competitors and making it pleasing on the eye. 

 • Keep it short. People receive a vast amount of emails or texts each day and usually have no time to read over long messages, it is important to get to the point, they will appreciate it. 

 • Undertaking a loyalty scheme- providing new customers with discount vouchers encourage customers to return frequently to get that ‘tenth tan FREE!’