How our Salon Software Marketing Suite can help to promote to clients’ this Christmas

After Halloween and through to the start of Advent, you may notice a slight lull in sales and salon appointments, as clients are reluctant to book in too early before the festive period so that their treatment lasts them in time for Christmas day. But then you'll find, come December 1st you’re bursting with custom, having to turn walk-ins away and all of a sudden you are fully-booked when you had plenty of vacant appointments some few weeks earlier.

So if you currently have our salon software, great, this post will help you to maximise how we can help you to boost those sales with our marketing features. If you don’t have our software, listen closely as there may be something in here that you think may help your business, and remember you can always trial Salon Tracker free for a fortnight to try these tips out!

Through a few clever SMS marketing tips on the system, we aim to help you to alter consumer buying habits and ensure that you still, as usual, have a busy December, but also bag yourself a few more appointments in the run up to advent.

As part of our Professional package and above; our users gain access to an intelligent marketing suite, where we have created filters so that you can identify your best spending clients, customers that haven't visited in a while, people that have services due to expire..and so on. We have then created a range of pre-filtered messages that can be used to instantly send out quick SMS marketing messages to those clients, providing an incentive for them to book in at the salon. However, in the lead up to Christmas, you may want to take advantage of our custom campaign feature so that you can create particular marketing messages subject solely to your salon.

Obviously at Christmas everybody is on a bit of a budget, as they have to account for gifts, Xmas partying, work dos, festive food – the works! However, we’ve said before, it’s so easy to put some quick discounts on for over the holiday period, but then as soon as your prices return to their normality, services can seem less desirable all of a sudden. And so this is why we always say be careful with discounting, obviously run a couple of small cash value offers here and there, as a few every now and then doesn’t hurt. But just be careful not to be renowned for this. There are other options that you can give to clients that will still act as a great ‘value-for-money’ loyalty, like giving them a small reward off only selected treatments or allowing them to choose a discounted treatment from your ‘selective list.’

And so, we’ve come up with a few promotional SMS examples just to get you started below;


Hi <<Forename>>

[Want a bit of pampering ready for Christmas Party season? We’re offering <<%>> off <<treatment>> on <<date>> Book now to receive your discount!]

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


Hi <<Forename>>

[You have treatments due to expire! Call <<CompanyTel>> to book in today, and, if you purchase another treatment this month you’ll receive a £5 discount!]

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


Hi <<Forename>>

[Sparkle this Christmas! Book your appointment in November and receive <<%>> off!]

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


Hi <<Forename>>

[Present your great looking hair this Christmas! Book in for any cut or colour during November and receive a Christmas loyalty FREE!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&C’s Apply


Hi <<Forename>>

[Christmas Special! Looking for gift ideas? Buy any 2 retail products and receive a third half price!]

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


Hi <<Forename>>

[Selection Box! As an early Christmas special we’re offering you to choose a FREE complimentary treatment from our selected list with every booking made this November!]

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


Alongside those message examples, you could also promote your company gift vouchers for clients to purchase as Christmas gifts. Increase sales primarily by displaying these at your cash desk as an add on sale for when clients are paying for their servies, but again this can be promoted via SMS using our marketing system.

Salon Tracker has a built in feature that allows the selling and redeeming of gift vouchers as a retail product, and this can be created for any value amount for different vouchers. All you would need is a fancy design for the gift voucher to sell to clients and/or coupons for when clients are redeeming them. You could even come up with a selected Christmas design to use for over the Festive period, making this a 'limited' gift voucher service? 

Those are just a few ideas of how we can help and if you would like more info, or if you're new to us and would like a FREE demo & trial, please don't hesitate to contact our marketing team on 0113 350 8230...we're always happy to help!


Salon Tracker x

Halloween Look Book

Halloween is just around the corner so we have created a Halloween Look Book for you. As most of you probably know, Pinterest is full of inspiring Halloween makeup looks and costume ideas. Here is some inspiration, ranging from the classic, scary look to something a bit more contemporary. If you are looking for costume and makeup ideas Tess Christine is one of our favourite YouTubers, she runs a Halloween series every year, with some pretty epic ideas. Check her out http://bit.ly/2e3nnF4 

We have complied various different looks and ideas and hopefully there is something for everyone.

Salon Tracker x

Salon Tracker’s Tips & Tricks for Halloween Promoting

It seems that over the last few years, times have changed and the good old bin-bag witch’s cape and your mum’s old eye liner pencil for blemishes aren’t quite good enough for your Halloween make-over/ (scare-up)! Nowadays, everyone wants immaculate ghoul-themed manis/pedis, a professional ‘bad hair day’ and still want to have a top-contour underneath their scary facial!

With arts and crafts out of the window, this is an absolute winner however for salons and retailers! Everyone wants the most on-trend Halloween outfit with the senior make-up artist to complete their look, so what a great opportunity to put a few Halloween offers on and bag yourself some easy sales!

Want a few ideas of what you can be doing in the salon, here’s a look at what we’ve thought-up below…

In-House Promotions;

Obviously we always advise that you shouldn’t offer discounts and value-off promotions all the time, as you don’t want clients to become accustomed to cheaper services around every annual event! However, with Halloween, you’ve got to think about the market and the age-range in which this event appeals to, I think your big one here being college and university students! There are always Halloween bar crawls and parties going on around that time, especially if you are based not too far away from the campuses or college/unis themselves, therefore some ideas are:

-Increase the student discount slightly for Halloween services

-Offer a discounted re-booking for their next treatment, so buy one get the next slightly cheaper

-Visit the wholesalers for Halloween retail products that you could sell and put mini offers on

-Offer a small value off or discount for a limited period on certain Halloween treatments

These are just simple and easy things that you can be doing, as especially with the appeal of Halloween to the younger market, they all tend to have a lower disposable income and will therefore appreciate the little discounts here & there.

Atmosphere & Décor;

A big key to improving buying habits is the ambiance within the salon, and this doesn’t have to be anything extravagant nor extortionate.  Little Halloween trinkets to give out as freebies with services, some trick or treat buckets filled with sweets and some Halloween-themed bunting will do just fine! You just want to let clients know that you are part-taking in the festival fun and so a great way to do that is through decoration, evidently also providing good fun for your salon team in the process!

Social Media (Posting/Promoting & Competitions)

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reach your clients nowadays is through your social media networks! They can see your posts whilst on the move, on the commute home from work, during the before-bed Facebook scroll, basically whenever and wherever! So some key promo ideas could be;

- A Facebook competition; offer a value prize to spend at the salon for the best Halloween costume

-Halloween selfies; get clients to take selfies of their treatment, then upload and hashtag your salon

-Shout about your latest Halloween offers on Facebook & Twitter to promote social-sharing

A great benefit of these types of post is that you might also increase your client database, as the more people that share news about your salon, the better the chance of new potential clients also picking these up on their newsfeeds!

SMS

Another instant way to reach clients when they’re out and about is by text-message. Short-simple marketing messages about your salon offers, Halloween-themed retail products or competition alerts are all ideas that you could push through SMS just as easily as social media. I suppose the plus side to SMS is that your clients actually have to be on their social network to notice the posts at that time, whereas with a text they’ll get notified of a new SMS straight away.

Other-Fun

Further little fun things that you can do is perhaps a Halloween-themed uniform day, with Halloween being on a Monday this year this may boost morale and energy within the team for a great start to a new week. Also, come up with a playlist of Halloween themed songs, Thriller and Ghost-busters are always usually a couple of renowned ones! Then finally, have a couple of fun little tricks up your sleeve for if you have a few kids coming to the salon with their parents and they need occupying for half an hour. You can usually get some good little toy Halloween-tricks at places like pound land or B & M bargains, so they don’t have to be overly expensive either and then you’re keeping in with the Halloween spirit all the same.

Hope these tips have given you a couple of ideas and that you have lots of fun getting the salon prepped for Halloween, and if you do want any further tips please feel free to give us a call at the office on 0113 350 8230.

Happy Halloween!

Salon Tracker x

Why are Salon Reviews important and Tips to get them

It is no secret that online reviews have increased significantly over the past few years and can play an important factor for your business. But how important are they really? 

Nowadays, it is one of the most common things when looking for a new salon to check them out online first. It gives you, as a potential new client a better idea of the business and if it is the right fit for you. Therefore, hearing from previous experiences and what others think of the salon, is crucial for people these days, before making a decision. There are many review platforms out there: Facebook offers a review section for Pages, Yelp is overall popular for local businesses, but if you are looking for salon-specific review sites, SalonSpy in the UK is the way to go. But, remember if you do, it’s important to keep them up to date, make sure you have correct opening hours, contact details and pricing on there, to avoid disappointment, especially if you are using SalonSpy.

From a 1-star traumatic experience to 5-star raving customers, you will probably encounter both of them. Though customer reviews range in thoroughness and comprehensibility, they do hold a powerful effect on the behaviour of your audience and performance of your salon. Having an online culture, people being constantly online, it is no surprise that the number of online consumers who read and trust online reviews is increasing (Forbes, 2015). It is therefore important to keep an overall positive profile online, in order to grow and maintain your business.

 

Bright Local carried out a local consumer review survey and found out that 92% of consumers now read online reviews, and 40% out of those form an opinion on the 1-2 reviews they read. A further 68% say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. (Source: http://bit.ly/29hKyhf)

As you can see from the statistics, online reviews are highly important in today’s culture.
Therefore, you need to invest time to protect and manage your online brand. Meaning, when you get a review you need to engage with your reviewers. If you skip on the reviews, or simply are not getting any you might be missing out on a great marketing opportunity. So why do we think online reviews are important? Simple, because word of mouth, if it’s online or in person, is still one of the best ways of advertising. It is honest, reliable and simple. We have compiled a few tips on how you can tackle online reviews.

Understand your client and encourage reviews

This is a good way to find out what clients think and it gives you an opportunity to improve and respond to your clients. However, convincing your clients to write you a review, isn’t always easy. Keep in mind that when you are reaching out that these are your paying customers and they are opinionated with either positive or negative feelings about your business. Listen to the feedback from your clients. Think about what they say might be true. There is always room for improvement, and if you adapt changes due to what clients say they feel like you listen to them and take their opinions serious, they feel valued as your clients.


Provide the best possible customer service 

If you provide first class service, people won’t have any reason for critique. Happy customers are more likely to agree on leaving you a good review, raving about your services. If you ask loyal clients, they’ll probably be happy to do so. After all, there is a reason they are loyal to your salon and services.


Dealing with negative reviews 

However, no matter how hard you are trying to achieve excellence, sometimes you just have one of those days where everything goes wrong and you are facing a negative response. You will always face the odd client who is dissatisfied with the service. But what is the best way to deal with negative reviews? Don’t try to hide your negative reviews. Respond to them as soon as you see them, which shows others you are listening and acting in a professional and civilised manner. It won’t get any better if you wait too long, or simply ignore the negative response. Take on any advice for improvements from the review, no matter how harsh it might be. A blend of good and bad reviews shows that you aren’t trying to hide anything.


Think about rewards

This doesn’t mean that you offer incentives in order to get reviews. It smacks of bribery if you do so. This will be more for someone that has left you a review, just as a little thank you. It might be someone has left a ‘positive-over-the-moon’ review, you might want to offer them a discount when they're booking their next appointment. It makes clients feel appreciated and simultaneously they might return to the salon sooner rather than later. Ask those clients as well if you can use it for promotional purposes. It might go well in salon testimonials or on your social media accounts and just creates a little extra advertising for your salon.



Make sure all of your Staff is on board

Consider addressing the topic of reviews in regular staff meeting. Make sure, everyone is on the same boat and understands the importance of that matter. Make sure everyone understands the ways of encouraging customers to leave a review but not to bribe them for them. However, you can run staff incentives and gifts for your employees, encouraging them to get client reviews.
Salon Tracker Software offers a SMS and Email feature, where the salon can send out an automatic text after a client’s appointment, asking them for a review with a direct link to your preferred review platform. You can enable the system to send this out to every single client or the ones you prefer.



Overall, studies have proven that people do read online reviews and it has major influence on their decision making. This is especially important for the Hair and Beauty industry since reviews are often personal and reflect the business accurately. Many people these days trust online opinions before booking an appointment at a new salon. The more reviews you have and the more honest they are, the more products you are going to sell. Just make sure the negative ones don’t overwhelm the positive ones. Therefore, it is important to take online reviews serious and to keep your salon profile up to date. Not only are they important to a vast variety of people, they’re also responsible for your business growth.

Salon Tracker x

How Salon Tracker Ensures that You are Tanning Clients Safely and Maximising Salon Security

As we head in to autumn, clients are looking to pro-long their summer glow for as long as they can in to the festive period. However, for all tanning clients, and especially those that tan frequently, there are some extremely important factors that tanning salons must take in to account to number 1, ensure that the clients in mention are safe and, no 2, to maintain business security in the process. 

But you can’t do this on your own. So having said that, the first thing that we would recommend is that you have an expert team to help aid in running your salon. You will want each employee to have had adequate training, be aware of the tanning regulations, and be comfortable in advising clients with tanning advice relevant to skin tone.

Since 2010, trading standards have really clamped down on sunbed laws by introducing the Sunbeds (regulation) act. This act states that, by law, no-one under 18 years of age can use a tanning bed, and any one person cannot tan more than once in the space of 24 hours. It was after the rise in melanoma from skin cancer rose quite significantly in young adults that trading standards then decided to act to increase awareness of the disease, and to also improve the safety of the general public.

In mentioning this, it is therefore very important for tanning salons to do everything in their power to follow these guidelines, as the rules are strict and it has been known that councils do random unannounced checks upon salons to ensure these laws are being enforced. Salons have been subject to fines as large as £20,000 for not abiding by these regulations and therefore you don’t want to be a salon that is struck with the same penalty.

So how can Salon Tracker help? Especially when you have such a big team, it can be hard to manage all staff, ensure that they have sufficient training, whilst making sure that you are abiding by the law in the process. It becomes ever more difficult if you are the owner of a multi-site business, where you are trying to split your time across your different locations. Here at Salon Tracker, our ultimate aim is to offer a helping hand in your business management process, provide you with advice on how to ensure client safety and security is at the forefront of your business, whilst you are constantly growing profits.

Whether you are a single, or multi-site business you will all have lots of paper work, including client record cards and tanning disclaimers. One of the first minor changes we can make is to reduce your paperwork drastically, down to none at all if you wish! All client details, including terms & conditions and information on skin type are stored digitally, in which disclaimers can be signed for electronically with our e-signature pad, saving you the time and hassle of searching through large paper files. Now, if you’re multi-site, the great thing about this is that all information stored digitally can be accessed at any of your locations, meaning that clients don’t have to re-register and also, you can see if they have tanned at another of your sites that day to ensure that they are keeping within the ‘once in 24 hours’ regulation. Another benefit is that all salon locations can be accessed from a main headquarters, or from home, so that salon owners can keep track of client tanning activity even when absent from the salon itself.

Security! This is a big-one in the tanning industry, as you’ll come across lots of individuals trying it on with fraudulent ID’s, or in worse case scenarios, employees discounting your services for friends & family members. Salon Tracker can put a stop to both of those things as we have introduced several security features that implement strict client-safety measures, to ensure that all areas of your business are protected.

Clients can now register a fingerprint, using our electronic reader, to be saved on their client card against their details. As a fingerprint is unique to any one person, this then secures their client details so only themselves can access their record card to book on to a sunbed, meaning that no-one else can access their data to use a sunbed fraudulently.

Further security measures include a password protected admin system, which means that all staff members have to have a password to login to their Salon Tracker account, so salon owners can identify all transactions and business activity undertaken by each employee. In conjunction with this, all staff have a protected security level at the salon owners discretion, meaning that each level will have certain features that a particular staff member can have access to, or not. So, the discount feature for example you may only want a manager or senior employee to be able to operate, to clamp down on the malicious discounting behaviours that we mentioned above.

Other benefits of our system include T-Max timer integration, in which all sunbed minutes are tracked accurately and in real-time. However, if you don’t have a timer management system and are using tokens instead- fear not, as this is equally as simple for us to track, as all minutes have to be accounted for under a particular client card, meaning no freebie minutes! All minutes purchased and used within a day can be accessed on our reports system, logging each booking and transaction that each staff member has carried out in a day. No hidden mistakes, no ‘mysterious or missing’ minutes!

We’d love to help you out with your tanning salon management, and if you are keen from what you have read but want to try it out for yourself first, well, you can! We offer a FREE 2 week trial of Salon Tracker, at no-obligation, for you to see for yourself just how simply the software can make day-to-day business running much more efficient and easy-going for you. To enquire for your free trial, just follow this link http://www.salontracker.co.uk/FreeTrial.aspx.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Salon Tracker x

How Salon Software could help you this Autumn & Christmas

Now with Professional Beauty North past us it’s almost that time of the year. The days are getting shorter, the leaves turn colourful again and then there’s Christmas. It feels like summer has just ended and now you’re proably thinking 'you're mentioning Christmas – already'?! But for many salons this is one of the busiest times and there are so many opportunities leading up to Christmas; Halloween, Bonfire Night, Black Friday and the Festive Period itself.

As winter is approaching, most salons see an increase in the amount of clients wanting to book appointments before the New Year. A lot of salons get their best deals and incentives out of their sleeves around this time. This could either be an ‘Unlimited Tanning Month’ motivating those who want to keep their summer glow, or 2-4-1 on selected Hair and Beauty services…, the options are endless. No matter what it is, our Salon Software can help you stay on top of your appointments and assist with growing your business. Let me tell you about our new features that make it easy to manage your business, wherever you are. Salon Tracker is designed to make life easier for you at the salon as well as help you to run your business smoothly. If you’re thinking of investing in software, here are ways our system can help in retaining and acquiring clients. Our Software offers features to help resolve some of the day-to-day issues that arise for you at the salon. Here we're exploring the different ways that we offer, with features such as online booking, marketing and staff-rota-systems:


Mobile App & Online Booking

Our Salon Branded Mobile App makes booking for clients easier, as they’re now able to book 24/7. This is a fantastic way for your clients to contact you at their own convenience, wherever they are. Clients will be provided with their own exclusive login, which allows them to be able to book and update their services at any time. Any appointments made will synchronise straight to your Salon Tracker Calendar. The app also allows you to advertise last-minute salon slots and deals, filling any unwanted calendar gaps and increasing business sales.

The online booking feature has become more and more popular with our clients over the last few months. Salon Tracker makes sure to install the feature on your Salon’s website, as well as Facebook page. Same as with the app, any client who registers and books an appointment with you online will automatically appear within your calendar and database. The great thing is that the system knows what appointments are taken and which ones are available and therefore it won’t double book for the same time slot.


Site-View

This function allows you to overlook your salon activity when at home or on the go. If you have a busy salon and are in and out, you can easily keep track of bookings and reports. Site View works for those business owners that are constantly on the go. It allows you to access your current business activity from your Smartphone, iPad/tablet or PC. You simply need to login to your admin account to see what is happening with your staff and with your takings. 


Marketing

Now is the time to really focus on your marketing campaigns. If it’s through posters in your shop window or through your website, people respond to a good offer. SMS and Email Marketing is always a quick and easy but useful way to improve client retention. It can also be used to send exclusive offers to your VIP customers and to keep them informed about any bookings with our SMS booking reminders. Our SMS and Email service is so simple to set up and a very easy way to engage with customers.


Fingerprint Staff Rota

When your Salon is busy and you as a salon owner have a lot going on, it sometimes can be hard to observe every client that comes through the door, not to mention your staff. To ensure that your salon runs smoothly and your staff are acting professional, especially during the festive season, we have released the smart staff rota. This now lets you take control and ensure your staff arrive and leave on time. We have integrated a function on our software that links to a fingerprint reader. Our ‘Staff Rota’ feature is an easy way to track clock-in and clock-out times. Once it is linked up to a fingerprint reader, staff members simply place their finger on the reader before they start their shifts, and then again when they finish. The feature will accurately track the duration of staff shifts without them being able to edit or manipulate the rota.


Stay in control of your business, and most importantly, your clients. Using Salon Tracker has reportedly created a seamless client journey. Want to explore how our product can help develop your business and improve your client relationships? Give us a ring to discuss your options on +44 (0) 113 350 8230 where you can also book in for a software demonstration. All of our demonstrations are done through remote assistance; we connect to your computer, show you the features and you decide if it suits you. Remember, you can always trial our software for 2-weeks FREE, no obligation.

To receive your trial click the link http://www.salontracker.co.uk/FreeTrial.aspx 


Salon Tracker x

Professional Beauty North Round Up!

Thank you everyone who visited our stand at Professional Beauty North in Manchester. We are extremely happy with the outcome of the show and it’s been great meeting so many of you. This has been the first trade show I’ve ever attended, so for me it’s been great to see what it is all about. This year’s show has been the second time we exhibited at PB North and every year it's getting better and better. We had a very busy two days, meeting existing clients of ours as well as plenty of potential ones. We are certainly busy at the office getting through all of the enquiries now. If you have missed our exclusive show offers and unique features, here’s a quick summary. All of our show offers are valid until 31st October 2016!

Offers

3 Months Free on all Subscription Software Licenses

We offer 3 subscription services:

Standard Subscription is £30 + VAT per month
Professional Subscription is £60 + VAT per month
Enterprise Subscription is £90 + VAT per month


20% off all Hardware Purchases

Including our All-in-One PC and POS Hardware Bundle

This year we have released a few new features that make our software even better. Did you know?


We integrate with T-Max? 

Seamless timer integration for tanning salons, so there are no miscellaneous minutes, as everything is tracked accurately and assigned to a digital client card.

Offer a 24/7 booking service that syncs straight with your calendar? 

Our Mobile App makes booking on the go available to clients 24/7. All clients have their own personal login to be able to book and update their services at the tap of a button.

You can oversee all your Salons from one location? 

Our HQ function is especially beneficial to those of you who have multi-sites, as you can link your client data, treatment lists and manage stock from a main headquarters.

Clients can register online or through an iPad? 

With our online registration feature, clients can register for the salon online or through an iPad displayed at the front of your shop, minimising reception queues!

Want to see how our product can help develop your business and improve your client relationships? Give us a ring to discuss your options or if you want to book in for a software demonstration. All of our demonstrations are done through remote assistance; we connect to your computer, show you the features and you decide if it suits you. Remember you can always trial our software for 2-weeks FREE, no obligation.

To receive your trial click the link http://www.salontracker.co.uk/FreeTrial.aspx

Salon Tracker x