Salon Tracker’s 5 Mini Tips for a Trade Show:

This September is Salon Tracker’s second time exhibiting at Pro Beauty North, and so after gathering experiences from our previous exhibits, we have put together a little show guide on how we can help you to maximise your time at a trade show to its full potential. Trade shows are a great place for businesses to network and they are also full of opportunities for you, as salon owners, to take advantage of and invest in your business.

Event halls however are usually hectic environments, packed with business owners looking for products to improve their services and increase profitability. And with this busy environment, it is easy to get flustered and lose track of why you visited a trade show in the first place. Having said this, we have created some little pointers below to help you to manage your visit well, so here-goes…


Go With A Plan!

Download the event show guide if this is possible, 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 the companies are located within the exhibition and then spending half of your day looking round busy aisles to spot them! Also, if you can, try and arrange appointments with those particular brands if they are offering appointment scheduling, just to secure your time with them and to avoid delays with queuing!


Prepare Your Questions

Once you have identified the companies that you want to visit, you are then best to look in to some current factors in the salon that have room for improvement. Work out by researching the companies that you are visiting which of them may be able to help you out with these needs and note down some appropriate questions to ask the stand representatives.


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! The Professional Beauty exhibition is full of the salon interested and therefore what not a better opportunity to hand out your own business cards and build a relationship with potential prospects. Trade shows are such a sociable affair that you should be prepared to do a bit of brand-promoting whilst you’re there.


Collect!

Throughout the event you will visit countless numbers of stands, and sometimes you visit many that offer such similar services, you can forget which brand was which. Our advice here would be to take a little note pad and jot down some mini reminders whilst you’re visiting each separate stand. This way, you won’t lose track of companies that you may want to enquire with again and also, you save yourself time having to do extra research once you’re home. Most companies will offer you free giveaways, flyers or information brochures, which are also handy to have and make notes on. You’re best to collect sample brochures from all of the companies that you were extremely interested in, then it helps you to narrow down the products that you may want to follow up after the show. Don’t forget to also make a note of the names and direct lines of any professionals that you had a conversation with, as this way they are much easier to track down after the event!


Plan Yourself Some Time-Out

Trade shows are hard-work! You spend the majority of the day on your feet, gathering information over-load and sometimes you need to remember to just give yourself that 5-10 minutes break here and there to evaluate what you have found out already and to also re-energise. Grab a floor plan when you first arrive at the event and map out the local rest/coffee areas so you can plan your route and stop-offs along the way!


We hope these little tips will help you to enjoy your time at the event, and if this is your first time visiting a trade show, we'll be on stand C42 to answer all of your salon software questions. We'll be offering free demonstrations and salon management advice across the 2 day event so be sure to pop and see us!

Salon Tracker x

What to expect at PB North (New features, releases and exclusive offers)

We are exhibiting at Professional Beauty North again this year. This is our second time at the show and we are very excited to bring our new team members with us (Danny, our new Tech Support Consultant and myself, Lydia, new Marketing and Sales Assistant). This will be my first Trade Show and I’m very excited that I’ve been given the opportunity to attend and meet all of you there. The Salon Tracker team will be available on Sunday and Monday all day for any questions, demonstrations or general inquiries. We are specialists in our field so don’t worry if it all seems new to you. Find us at Stand C42 and have a look at what we do. Come on down to Manchester, there is plenty to see at the show and the city.

What can you expect from Salon Tracker on the day?

Whether you are looking to sign up as a customer with us, are an existing customer or maybe you’re just looking for information, we have plenty of leaflets and brochures for you to take away. There will be members from the sales and support team present to answer all of your questions and give you FREE advice on all of the software packages and features. Live demonstrations will be on-going throughout the day and you will have the chance to purchase anything directly on the day. Don’t forget, you can book a demonstration and a FREE two week trial with us at the show. I would recommend that you definitely look out for our new features and exclusive offers. Our team has been working extremely hard over the past few months to improve the software and come up with new features. Each of these 3 features are a part of our Enterprise software package, in which this can be purchased for less than £25 per week and if you sign up with us from the show, we’ll offer you your first 3 months FREE!). New features include:

Salon-Branded Mobile App

The Mobile App is our newest release and it contains features such as salon-branded customisation, booking ability from your smartphone 24/7 and a marketing tool for those clients who like to check on offers on the go. A personalised app for your salon is the perfect way to stand out from the crowd. Our mobile app is customised to your own needs, you tell us what you need and we make it happen.

Home-View

This gives you the ability to view salon activity and reports from home on your PC or on the go using a smartphone, tablet or iPad. The feature ensures that business owners stay in control even when it’s out of working hours. 

Online Registration

If a new client makes a booking appointment online or through the app, our software now will synchronise all of the clients’ information into your Salon Tracker calendar instantly. 

Not using Salon Tracker Software yet? No problem, we have some great discounts and offers available for everyone attending the show.

Software & Pricing

Offers on our Software packages include:

3-Months FREE Subscription*

The offer applies to each of our 3 subscription software packages, in which these include;

• Standard Subscription RRP £30 (+VAT) PCM
• Professional Subscription RRP 60 (+VAT) PCM
• Enterprise Subscription RRP 90 (+VAT) PCM                                                                *(3 months FREE is based on minimum software contract signup of 12 months)

Hardware & Pricing

Offers on our Hardware packages include:

20% off all Hardware from Salon Tracker!

We have some great offers on all of our hardware if you purchase from Salon Tracker directly at the show. We are offering a 20% discount on all hardware orders for show visitors until 31st October 2016. The offer is applicable on each of the below products, whether bought in a single or bulk package:*

POS Hardware Bundle £499 (including barcode scanner, cash drawer and receipt Printer) Easy to set up retail POS hardware bundle consisting of a lockable, electronic cash drawer, handheld wired barcode scanner and an eco-friendly thermal receipt printer.

Touchscreen All-in-one PC £899 Having touchscreen capabilities on your monitor enhances its usability and provides a high-tech feel, bring efficiency and style to your computer.

(You can also purchase the POS Hardware Bundle and the Touchscreen All-in-one PC together at a discounted rate).

• Barcode Scanner £149

• Cash Drawer £149

• Receipt Printer £249

• Signature Pad £49

• Fingerprint Reader £149

• Caller ID £49

                                                                                         *All prices excluding VAT

For more information about our software/hardware and how it can help improve your business download our FREE brochure now or simply ask us all your questions at the show http://bit.ly/1LPodhk . Now you know all of our offers and new features we hope to see you at Professional Beauty North in Manchester this year. Trade shows are great places to network with businesses, especially if you’re a salon owner or new to the business. It is a great opportunity to see what’s new in the salon world, explore new products and attend seminars. There is still time to sign up and take advantage of a FREE ticket. If you are interested in attending then follow the link http://bit.ly/2bB97Uo

Our team looks forward to seeing you at the event and helping you improve your Salon business!

Salontracker x

Salon Tracker: How our Salon Software can help to improve your Tanning Business and Client-Safety!

As summer draws to a close, tanning salons see a drastic increase in the amount of clients wanting to rush to the tanning salon to keep their sun-kissed summer look. A great boost for sales, however is your tanning salon as safe as it could be?

I’m not sure if you are aware, but since 2011 it has been legally forbidden in the UK for anyone under the age of 18 to use a sunbed, and consequently, salons that haven’t conformed to this in the past have then found themselves facing a £20,000 fine. Trading standards and local councils regularly do unannounced check-ups on tanning businesses and therefore you don’t want to find yourself being subject to a penalty like that for something minor, that could have been so easily prevented.

Our salon software is designed to safeguard not only salons from tanning with illegality but to also protect clients from the damages caused by sun-bed over-use. Councils advise that salon technicians provide their clients with appropriate information regarding skin tone; for example if a therapist deems a particular client to have a fair skin-type, they are recommended to inform that client of the appropriate length of tanning that they should be undertaking in relation to the nature of their skin.

These recommendations have been introduced since there have been findings that linked the overuse of sunbeds from a young age to skin cancer, where leading beauty events company Professional Beauty found that most skin cancers are caused by “overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or sunbeds.”

Our salon software offers features to help resolve some of the day-to-day issues that may arise for you in your salon.

Salon Tracker prevents the risk of under 18’s visiting your salon as the database prompts for legal identification to be shown before allowing the clients to use the sunbeds. You can then add a secure identification feature to a client’s record card, to prevent individuals from tanning in another’s name. An example of where this may happen is if you have 2 sisters who look extremely similar, and the younger sibling tries to pass the elders ID as their own in order to use the sun-bed. Our secure identification feature locks down customers client cards by saving the clients fingerprint when they register, therefore each time that particular client wishes to use the sun-bed their fingerprint has to match the one saved on their client record card, evidently preventing fraudulent tanning such as the issue mentioned above. Another great benefit of this is that it also forbids clients from ‘sharing’ their minutes with friends and also eliminates the chance of employees treating themselves to ‘freebie’ minutes when a salon owner is absent from the business location.

Our software also limits the usage of the sunbeds over particular time periods, therefore making it impossible for any one client to go on a sunbed more than once in 24 hours. This is another regulation that has been introduced by trading standards and therefore if they ever wanted proof that a single client hasn’t tanned more than once in a day period, our system can generate reports to prove this as it stores data accurately for each time a sunbed was used, and by who.

If you want to know more about our tanning features visit us at www.salontracker.co.uk, where we also offer a FREE demo & trial that is a no-obligation fortnight period for you to try and test our software out for yourself!

Sound good to you? Give us a call on 0113 350 8230 and we’ll be happy to get you booked in for a consultation.

We look forward to hearing from you to help in improving the safety and professionalism of your business.

Salon Tracker x

Salon Tracker Software’s Tips for Improving Sales during the Back-to-School Season!

For those of you that already follow our news page, you may recall that we offered a little advice this time last year about how you can capitalise on the Back-to-School period. If you didn’t quite catch it, we’re going to run over a few of those points again, just to make sure you push those sales in the run up to the kids heading back to class!

Do your Research

We’ve said it before, you always need to be aware of what your competition is offering, to make sure that you are ahead of the game, differentiating yourselves as a business and as a result; bringing something unique to your clients. We’re not saying go undercover in to the salon down the street to spy on their offers, but maybe do some surfing of their website, or ask a couple of people who may be in the business-know, as you also want to make sure that you’re not running the same special discounts as your neighbour-salon!

Promote to the Parents

It is back-to-school, however for the majority of children it’s their fellow Mums and Dads who will be treating them to their new September haircut! Mums are always on the lookout for deals during Back-to-school, as it’s an expensive couple of months; what with the replacing of uniforms, sports kits, stationary etc! So, having said this, the greater a deal you can offer, and with a bit of clever marketing thrown in there, you should have a good chance of attracting a few more sales. However, like we’ve said to you before, be careful not to offer too high of a discount, as you don’t want to be renowned as a ‘go-to-for-cheap deals salon’ as this can jeopardise your brand's value as clients become accustomed to that and are then reluctant to revisit when prices return to their original amount. Offers that would work in this instance would be parent-child combo’s, for example "all under 16’s treatments are half price when a parent has a treatment". Or you could do "10% off with siblings, where parents of 2 or more children can get 20% off of each child’s treatment" ? Have a think of what offers have worked well for you in the salon before and see how you could make those fit the bill this back-to-school season.

Fun Freebies

Not all kids of the younger age are all that excited when their parents announce that they are going to the salon, they would much rather be out playing on the street with their gals & pals! To avoid tantrums, have some little freebie offerings for all kids coming for their back-to-school styling, these can be as simple as sweets, colouring pages or even just books to read whilst they wait!

Style-Spotting

On the flip side to our point above, some kids are little trend-setters and love to be in the know of teen celebrity-goss. This is something however that as a salon business you could capitalise on here in order to help improve sales; in which a good idea could be to make a photographic flip book of all the current teen-celeb hairstyles/nail trends to provide your clients with for a bit of style inspo. Do a bit of research in to the latest celebrity role models for teens, as it’s these people in the media that tend to massively influence the younger style crazes. Therefore then if it ends up that you’re going to be doing at least 15 Kendall Jenner-style haircuts this season, at least you’re already prepared!


We hope these little tips help you to increase your Back-to-School sales this September and also provide a bit of fun during the planning process!

PS…if you also want a bit of info as to how our salon software could help you with your marketing campaigns and the management of your salon offers, don’t be afraid to get in touch on 0113 350 8230.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Salon Tracker x

Bank Holiday Marketing Ideas for Salons

Bank Holidays – we all love them. A nice, long weekend to relax, catch up with family and friends or explore what’s going on in town. As a business or salon owner this may be a busier time of the year. Therefore, this might be a crucial time to carry out exclusive offers and campaigns to boost your business and grow your clientele. Creating discounts for the Bank Holiday Weekend is easy, the question is how you ensure that your customers get the message and take advantage of it. 

Here are five marketing tips for the Bank Holiday Weekend that will help to optimise bookings throughout August and September. 


Discounts and Incentives

Focus on loyalty this upcoming Bank Holiday Weekend with fresh new discounts and offers. Create a special promotion for your VIP customers, run a ‘Refer-a-Friend’ incentive or simply offer x amount off your products and services.

Offering your products and services for a discounted rate will motivate loyal customers to return sooner rather than later. The better the deal the more likely your customers will book or purchase from you. Here are some ideas what offers you can include. Obviously, you know what works best in your salon and there are plenty of other ideas you can play with:

· X % off cut and finish for you and your friend (Refer-a-friend campaign)

· Free pedicure when booking a deluxe beauty treatment

· 20% off your next booking if you book before September

· 2 for 1 on selected retail products

· Free minutes (Tanning)


Social Media

This won’t cost you anything but can be a very effective marketing tool. Post events and updates on your Salon’s Facebook and Twitter or upload a picture with deals on it to Instagram; as most of us you probably own a smartphone or have a computer with internet access at home or in your salon. Posting on social media is an easy way to keep your customers engaged and spread the word about any weekend incentives quick and easy.

If your salon takes online bookings you can directly link to your salon’s website and therefore create more traffic to your business. You can even have ‘Online Only’ exclusives for those who book through your website. Make sure you link images and the URL to your website on your social media outlet. Customer always respond better to visuals rather than plain text.

Another way is to encourage online reviews through Facebook. Word-of-mouth is still one of the most effective ways to attract new customers. Use your own #hashtag to spread your social marketing message and show potential customers what others think of your salon and services.


Reconnect with Customers

Have you ever ran a Return Campaign? Yes, No, a long time ago?

Maybe August is the time to have a look at your customer database and get in touch with anyone you haven’t heard from in a while. Customer attention is key and should be priority of every salon.

Basically, the idea is to use this Bank Holiday weekend to motivate any customer who has previously booked with you in the past, but not in a while to rebook. This will encourage customers by offering an incentive to return to your salon. Your aim with the incentive is not just to get them back in that one time, but to turn them into a regular customer again. Run a campaign to get any customer who hasn’t made a booking in a while back to your salon. Offer a special Bank Holiday discount such as book one treatment and the next one will be half price, or 20% off all products and services. Again, this can be similar to your Bank Holiday discounts. There are plenty of ways to get the message out there. You might want to use Email or SMS Marketing as you should already have their details or you can simply advertise in-store or on your website.


SMS and Email Marketing

SMS and Email Marketing can be a useful tool to improve client retention. It can also be used to send exclusive offers to your VIP customers and keep them informed about any bookings. Why not try it this Bank Holiday Weekend.
Do you use intelligent marketing? Our SMS service is so simple to set up and a very easy way to engage with customers. Our Salon Tracker Software can help with both your Email as well as SMS Marketing. It’s an easy way to spread the word about offers and incentives without the lengthy process of planning numerous marketing campaigns.

If you want to find out more information how our software can help with your marketing why not sign up for a demo and FREE Trial here http://bit.ly/RGeGVd


In-salon Marketing Ideas

This year, why not get ahead of the game early and display all your offers and discounts in store. You can even go as far as to advertise any offers or longer opening hours through your answering machine. It’s free and if customers enquire after hours they’ll be directly confronted with any changes. Visual advertisement is still one of the best ways to spread the message. Get some boards and frames to display any offers and incentives in there and place them near the reception area. You can also get posters for your salon window. Anything that is easy to read, with the word SALE or FREE on it will get people’s attention. After all who doesn’t like free things?

As a salon owner you are often competing against various other salons out there. Meaning you need to be on top of your customers and keep them engaged for better business.
Having a management software for your salon will help you keep track of bookings. It is a great tool to help with marketing and to stay on top of your salon – from anywhere in the world.

Why not get in touch at http://ow.ly/4a9G3025ShJ for more information and your free software demonstration? We look forward to hearing from you and providing a helping hand with your salon management!



Salon Tracker x

How to Improve Business Security with our Salon Software

Security is a very important factor to any sized salon business, however sometimes the precision of security can become slack due to busy periods, or just a lack of tools in which to help keep security tight.

Our salon software has specialist features built in, to keep not only the salon secure, but also the clients details as well, which also means that no one other than the client themselves can activate their client card. A great feature for salons that have sunbeds and also treatments that require a patch test beforehand, as our secure features eliminate the chance of anyone using another clients' details in their name illegally.


So what features do we offer to keep the salon secure?


Signature Pad

Our signature pad, available as a feature on our Professional software package, allows clients to sign for disclaimers and patch tests electronically as we implement a salons' terms and conditions in to PDF format on the Salon Tracker system. A client then signs for these and the signature is stored on the same PDF file and that is attached to their client card. Should the salon owner ever need reference of the signed disclaimer they can then access this instantly at the click of a button. There is a tick box on the client card to signify to salon owners which clients have signed the disclaimer and which haven’t, which means then that the system will disable certain clients from booking treatments that require ID/patch tests before hand if they haven't signed the terms and conditions. This is especially beneficial for owners of tanning salons due the regulations set by trading standards of clients having to be over 18 before they can tan.


Fingerprint Reader

Another feature available on our Professional Software package and above is the Fingerprint reader, in which this is designed to improve client data security and also to eliminate malicious behaviours. Clients are prompted to place their finger on the reader upon registration and then their bio-metric data is stored within the database securely, meaning then only themselves can activate their own client card on arrival in to the salon. This is something that is especially beneficial to tanning salons, as the risk of clients tanning fraudulently underage with Fake Identification cards, or pretending to be another client is eliminated, as a fingerprint is unique to any one person and the system requires a data match before a client can use a sunbed. Staff shifts can also be tracked using the fingerprint reader, which is great for salon owners when for example they are on a day-off or vacation, as the staff-rota reports can be accessed via Site view on a smart phone or tablet, meaning salon owners can keep a track of this at all times when absent from the salon location.


Password Protected Security Levels

As a salon owner, you don’t want staff to be able to access all areas of the software system, as it contains financial information, the ability to be able to alter pricing and also staff commissions. With Salon Tracker we have created different user levels, all in which are password protected so that members of staff are assigned a user level and then they have their own personal login. User levels mean that salon information is secure to salon owners and only their chosen employees, for example a manager, have access to areas that contain financial information. Individual logins protect staff from other employees using their software account fraudulently, as all staff movements on the system are tracked under their personal login and this can be accessed via digital reports from the system, meaning malicious behaviours can be spotted instantly.

If you feel like the above could benefit you but you want a little bit more info, why not give us a call today and speak to one of our experienced team members, we’re all really happy to have quick chat and help in improving your salon business.

Alternatively, if you want to test this out before you make any decisions, you can trial our software free of charge for a fortnight, to get a little insight in to how it would work for your salon before you buy!

To enquire for your free trial just fill out your details here http://bit.ly/RGeGVd


Hope to hear from you soon!


Salon Tracker x

We're exhibiting at PBNorth! Here's everything you need to know about Salon Tracker Software before the event...

For those of you that have been following our news page for some time now, you’ll be aware that we exclusively exhibited at Manchester’s Pro Beauty North last September, followed by our first ever London show in Feb earlier this year. After having lots of fun at what were two really successful events for us, we have decided that we want to go and do it all again this year at PB North 16!

First off, why do we think it’s important to attend a trade show?

It doesn’t matter what the size of your business, whether you’re a start-up just figuring out what’s what, or you’re a multi-site owner of 15 salons, trade shows are a fantastic place to see new products, network with people and attend seminars to discuss business marketing and growth opportunities. Not only that, it’s a great day out! A good team-morale boosting session if several of you go, and the other bonus is that you get to see the city of Manchester in your spare time too, excellent for if you are thinking of attending both days as there is plenty to see and do around the city!

So, what can you expect from Salon Tracker this year?

Over the past few months, after carrying out some consumer research into the features that salon owners are particularly desiring nowadays, we have been working on a software update that includes several new features in which we will be showcasing in September this year. Also, we have a few new team members to introduce that will be accompanying us on stand this year; Lydia, our new Marketing and Sales Assistant and Danny, our latest tech support consultant, so pop and say hi if you get the chance!

OK, let’s take a look at those new features;

Each of these 3 features are a part of our Enterprise software package, in which this can be purchased for less than £25 per week and if you sign up with us from the show, we’ll offer you your first 3 months FREE!

Salon-branded Mobile App

After the increase in smart technology and mobile browsing, many businesses now have to ensure that their websites are optimised for mobile, to ensure that their online presence is maximised to its full potential. However, we wanted to make this process even easier, especially as not every salon business has a working website, therefore we have introduced the salon-branded mobile web app. Benefits of this feature include clients being able to book appointments 24/7, as the app is accessible to be used when on the move, in any location. Last minute slots can be advertised, which is great for keeping business profits on the up, as calendar gaps are filled as a result. Clients will each have their own personal login, great in terms of providing the client with a personable experience and also they can easily view & update upcoming appointments without having to ring the salon line for assistance! The fact that it is salon-branded improves a salons’ profile greatly as a new trendy app really contributes to the accessibility and desirability of a brand.

Home-View

One of the main gripes that we came across from salon owners whilst conducting our research is the need to be able to see salon activity from home on their days off, or over a weekend. Especially if they are the owner of multi-site businesses, as it can become very difficult to split your time across each of the individual salons. Therefore we have introduced the home-view feature that provides salon owners with the ability to be able to view salon activity and reports from the comfort of their own home. Great for giving salon owners transparency in to their business whilst they are absent from the location and also it ensures that they are still in control of the business out of working hours.

Online Registration

When we first introduced our original online booking system, clients had to be already registered with that particular salon to be able to book a treatment online. However, as technology advances and with other online booking systems offering salon bookings without a registration, we decided it was time to come up with a digital solution. Our online registration form can be accessed using any tablet, iPad or smart phone, in which the feature will synchronise all of the clients’ details in to the Salon Tracker calendar on the PC instantly. Equally this feature could be extremely useful for clients who have lengthy waiting lists within the salon, as they could have this registration page setup on iPads within the shop, to cut down on the administrative process as new clients could be signing themselves up whilst they wait.

So if you haven’t already committed to the show yet, why not think about heading down and having a chat to us? We’ll be offering free advice and giving demos on stand to show you how we can help to improve your salon management, plus there will be exclusive offers to all show visitors on sign up!

To register for your FREE ticket go to http://ow.ly/mVrk302GK3Q , we will be exhibiting at stand C42 across the 2 day event and look forward to seeing you there!

Salon Tracker x