Professional Beauty London 2018 - New Features and how you can prepare for the event!

Less than 3 weeks to go until the big event! It’s time for #PBLondon again, we can’t wait and as always, we’ve got a few new features in store for you this Feb! So, what can you expect from us and also how can you ensure that you get the best out of this year’s show.

Professional Beauty London is always the biggest of the PB shows in the UK, with the event being held at the Excel the floor space is so much larger than other venues, meaning that there is a lot more room for increased exhibitors to attend. Saying this, you only have the exact same time at PB London that you would have at any other event, as the show only runs across 2 days like it does at all other locations - so you have to plan accordingly to ensure you get around all the stands that you want to see.

Before I go on to talk about the new features that we have in store, lets just re-cap on a few preparational techniques that you can put in to practice before you arrive in to London.

Download the map. Plan out where all the stands are that you wish to see (plus highlight where your coffee breaks are going to be). We all know that trade shows are long, busy days and so you want to make sure that you keep re-fuelling throughout the day. It’s also a nice little stop gap to run over the information that you have gathered so far up until each point over the course of the day. That way it’s not like information overload at the end of the weekend.

Have a list of relevant questions for each exhibitor. What goals are you hoping to achieve from this years’ show? Sometimes, if you go to a busy stand where there are lots of other visitors, its easy to just pick up leaflets and not really get the actual information that you were requiring. If you’re already prepped with a couple of questions then it will be quick-fire stand stops for you and no time wasted hanging around or getting information that’s not necessarily too relevant to you.

Take a large bag with you! Everyone loves dressing up for the PB London event, and rightly so it’s a fab day out! But, make sure that you’re not teaming your outfit with a little clutch bag, as you’re going to be flooded with information booklets & flyers, you want to make sure that you have something substantial to carry it all in (also to make sure that none of it ends up getting lost!) Tote, bucket and duffel bags please!

Bring a pen and notebook. Sometimes, believe it or not, stands can be limited with pens and especially so when they are busy. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to jot something down and end up forgetting the information at a later date.

Get yourself a few ideas. As much as we mention planning and identifying the stands that you definitely wish to pay a visit, there may also be companies that you didn’t necessarily plan on visiting but catch your eye in some way. It is important to be open minded at a trade show, as there are so many different businesses exhibiting that there may just be a new product opportunity or supplier that could actually help you out! Plus, the majority of companies also have some fantastic exclusive deals running, which again are not to be missed out on if you’re looking for something new.

Now we’ve had a little run through of our main 5 planning points, what can you expect from Salon Tracker?

GDPR. Well, some of you may be aware that the law is changing this Summer regarding data protection. GDPR will replace the current data protection act, in which we have altered the way in which some of our software features work in order to meet the guidelines for the new laws, enforcing on 25th May 2018.

We have ensured that the marketing consent boxes that salon clients can tick in order to be included in mailing letters are now un-ticked by default, meaning the client has to opt in to marketing and wouldn’t be included in a salon mailing list under false-impression.

There is also a lock-down on clients’ data for anyone that has a user level lower than manager, meaning that there is extra authentication for staff members to access clients contact information and addresses. There is an audit report for every time a client’s details are accessed by a staff member without reason, meaning that a salon owner can keep an eye on this and follow it up accordingly, evidently protecting their clients’ data further.

There is also a master delete button to ‘forget’ a client’s details at their request. However legal information such as the signing of disclaimers and patch test/treatment consent can be stored securely external to our software if the salon owner requires this for legal purposes, they however may need to be in touch with a solicitor regarding this matter.

For more information on the latest GDPR regulations visit https://www.eugdpr.org/

Deposits. Other advanced features that we have improved on are how we manage deposits, meaning this can now be setup as a percentage or value based on the price of a treatment rather than having to be a set amount. This is now built in to our permissions section and we will be offering live demos of this at the show.

Staff accessibility. We have also introduced a new drop-down menu on the calendar page for each staff column. Meaning that if a member of staff is off for a day, rather than the calendar 'greying' this column out, you can use our new menu to ‘hide’ that staff members column or to ‘transfer appointments’ to another member of staff if the rota staff member is off sick. This just speeds up the appointment management and the aesthetics of the salon calendar, meaning staff columns that don’t need to be visible on a particular day no longer have to be.

If you wish to take a look at our software before the show, please head to http://www.salontracker.co.uk/FreeTrial.aspx and leave your details for a member of our team to contact you with a free 2 week run of our software.

To visit us at the show, sign up for your free complimentary ticket with us here https://registration.n200.com/survey/3njgxhgn3h7vy?actioncode=NTWO000545GPV – we are stand W16 and can't wait to meet you!

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Salon Tracker x

How can you stand out this Valentine’s Day

Many want to treat their loved ones on Valentine’s Day to something special. Whilst chocolates and flowers are still a popular choice, more and more people are looking for something special and a little bit different. Therefore, salons and spas can take a significant role in the decision making process if you play your cards right. Valentine’s Day also means that Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and with two gift-heavy holidays, there are plenty of opportunities to boost retail sales as well as appointments. If you are still reluctant whether your business should participate in the hype and need convincing, let me tell you what a commercial opportunity 14th February is. 

“In 2015 The Mirror estimated that people in the UK spent £1.6 Billion on the day of love; and the number is increasing every year. Meaning, there is a huge opportunity for businesses to join the bandwagon and offer something special for your customers.”

To get started, you can position your salon as a Valentine’s Day gift destination that is offering a variety of options, from treatments, workshops and retail items. This will remind people Valentine’s Day is coming soon. 

It’s a great opportunity for you to promote your offers and campaigns. If you are not quite sure where to start or don’t want to push your brand in people’s faces, we’ve come up with some ideas on how you can stand out without being too salesy.


Social Media Competition 

Getting your fellow followers involved in an engaging campaign is always a good idea. Social Media thrives from interacting with customers or those you might still have to convince. Therefore, offering them something that is fun and will benefit them often results in more profits for you, then you only posting sales heavy content.

Ideas such a selfie competitions refer a friend or competitions are great to get started. For example, you can think up a fun contest and entice your followers to give them a chance to participate. As prices, you can then give either treatments or retail gifts away (or both). Customers love getting things for you and therefore you’ll encourage them to come to the salon and potentially become a loyal customer to yours.


Show some love to your salon staff too

Whilst the love for your customers is important, it’s important to show your employees some love! While you’re on it, show how much you appreciate staff members for their contribution. This can be easily arranged and can contain anything from little chocolate kisses to vouchers.

However, you can also take things further and use the month of February for annual awards. Nothing shows your staff members more love than an award for their contribution. Sit down, think about each person’s individual achievement and come up with a fun way to present the awards. Linking this to gifts will motivate your staff throughout the year to give their best and work towards theirs goals.


Do something interactive

Run a workshop! Whether it be make up classes, beauty such as nail art, or something else. Activities people can book together with their friends, relatives or loved ones make a great group activity everyone can enjoy. You can run this throughout the month of February and March to give everyone an opportunity to take advantage. Obviously right after Valentine’s Day there is Mother’s day coming along, which is also a great opportunity to offer these activities.


Highlight potential Valentine’s Day Retail Gifts

Valentine’s Day isn’t always about flowers and jewellery. There are plenty of other options people can purchase that are linked to more thoughtful ideas. You can position what you sell as a potential Valentine’s Day gift. If you run special offers in February, customers won’t be able to resist. The trick is to promote it the right way. Try to cover for many price ranges to highlight the different gifts you’re selling. Another good idea would be to link retail gifts with the other ideas, such as workshops and competitions. Meaning, clients will be eligible for a prize draw for example if they purchase a retail gift during a specific period.



Valentine’s Day or not, it is important to make sure you’re delivering a great experience to your customers. We hope you’ve found these suggestions helpful and you’re well equipped for the day of love. As usual if you need help or have questions regarding this blog post please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.


Salon Tracker x

How to save a penny or two without noticing a difference!

If you’re just starting out, going through a dry patch, or just generally wanting to save money in your salon, then keep reading! Here are just a few ideas that we came up with that you can use to save some money in your salon.

Reduce No Shows

One of the easiest ways to save money in your salon, or rather not miss any opportunities to make money, would be to reduce your no shows! Now, if you have Salon Tracker then I’m sure you know all about our SMS appointment reminders, and are hopefully using them. If you just clicked on this blog because the title interested you, then we suggest putting some sort of strategies in place to reduce your no shows, for example some sort of offer if they book another appointment. You could also take a deposit for bookings, in order to prevent clients booking appoints and not showing up. The last thing you want is 30 minutes or even a couple of hours free time when other clients could’ve booked appoints, so why not try a few different strategies and see if you can reduce those no shows!

Stock

Maybe you’ve been using the same supplier for the last few years, and would feel bad if you changed to another, but if there’s a cheaper option out there then maybe you should. Spend an hour or so doing some research online and see if you can find a cheaper option, it could save you a little bit of money each month! You could also sell off any old stock, that you haven’t used, to your customers, instead of chucking it out or just leaving it to rot in the cupboard. You might not make too much from it but its better than nothing. Finally, don’t buy too much stock! There’s no need to spend extortionate amounts of money on stock that you don’t need or won’t use. So, each month, if you’re not already, keep a record of how much stock you have bought and used, so that you can figure out a suitable value you should order. It might take you a few months to get sort of an average number but hopefully this should get you on the right track, and help prevent unnecessary amounts of stock piling up. You can track your stock count with our professional and enterprise subscriptions, giving you the ability to easily view all of your retail products and the amount you currently hold. 

Utilities

This might not apply to all of you, but if you’re spending say £30 a month on super-fast fibre internet in your salon but barely use it, then you’re wasting your money. Have a look online for the best deals, and downgrade your internet! Saving £10 a month on your internet may not seem like a lot, but if you did this for all of your utilities, like your electricity, telephone, gas, etc. then you could be saving a lot more money each month. Spend a few hours doing some research and see if you can find any better deals than what you have now. You could even get a smart meter and see if there’s ways that you can reduce the amount you are paying for your electricity.

Marketing

Social media is the perfect place for you to advertise and promote your salon to any potential customers, and the fact that it is free is an added bonus. Facebook is no doubt the biggest social media platform for salons, with the ability to create a company page it not only allows you to promote any deals or new services to your customers, but also allows your customers to leave reviews and engage with you and your salon. The more positive reviews and page likes your Facebook page has, the more likely a potential customer will visit your salon and not your competitor down the street! Think of it as sort of an online Yellow Pages book. Gaining Facebook reviews is made simple with our Salon Tracker software as you can send out SMS messages to your customers asking if they will leave you a review on your Facebook straight from the system!

These are just a few ways in which you can save some money in your salon, now it’s all down to you to start your saving! Don’t forget, Salon Tracker has a few features that can help towards saving you some money, so if you want your free demo and 2 week trial of our software, don’t hesitate to call us on 0113 350 8230, enter your details on our website www.salontracker.co.uk or email us on info@salontracker.co.uk.

Salon Tracker x

Do you know the Health & Safety requirements for your salon?

You might not think that being in the salon business is a risky one, but there are numerous rules and requirements that you must follow or your business could suffer. I’m hoping that you already know and follow these health and safety requirements, however I would still suggest that you read through them just to make sure!

Understand your requirements

As you have a ‘duty of care’ to your employees and clients, both you and your employees must be aware of the health and safety requirements in your salon.

Write a health and safety policy for your salon

If you have 5 or more employees then you will need to have written a health and safety policy for your salon. There are plenty of examples and templates online that can help you structure your policy and make sure that is includes all of the necessary information.

Manage the risk in your business

You will need to have completed risk assessments based on the services that you offer in your salon. This can anything from tripping over a wire, to chemicals. Again, you can find specific examples for salon risk assessments online, if you need any further help or direction.

Talk to your employees

You will need to ensure that your employees have a contingency in place for any risks and know how the risks can be minimised. You must also talk to your employees about any training that is required for their job. Finally, you will also need to guarantee that your employees know the health and safety requirements in your salon and the work that they do.

Giving training and information

You will need to provide your employees with any health and safety training that is necessary for the services that you offer in your salon. For example, basic first aid training.

Have access to facilities

In your salon you need to ensure that both your clients and your staff have access to these facilities: toilet and washing facilities, drinking water, somewhere to store clothes and change if your staff wear uniform and somewhere for your staff to rest and eat during their breaks.

Plan for first aid, accidents and ill health

If you have employees then you will need the following: a first aid kit, an ‘appointed person’ who will take the lead if an ambulance is called and to check the first aid box and your employees will also need information on first aid.

Display the health and safety law poster

If you have any employees then it is vital that you must display the law poster in your salon, this can be found on the internet via the government website.

Get insurance for your business

If you have employees then this is compulsory, you will need to ensure that you have employer’s liability and public liability for your salon. This will protect you against the cost of compensation if a client or employee was to get an injury or ill due to your business.

To those of you that knew all of these health and safety requirements, great! And to any of you that have just learnt something, we’re glad we could help! There’s loads more information about the health and safety requirements online, and there are even tool kits which supply you with everything you need!

Salon Tracker x

Utilising Facebook within your Salon Business

Facebook was founded in February 2004, so almost 14 years ago. From my personal experience, I remember starting to use the platform properly around 2008-2009, as at the time that Facebook launched, there were other competitive social media sites that were still extremely popular, like Myspace and Bebo to name a few. However, for today’s younger generation, they probably won’t even remember a time without it, and as the social world carries on advancing, Facebook is one of the essential social networks that every business needs to have an up-to-date profile on. Simply because, it could be almost detrimental to your company if not. Facebook is the new google. It is one of the first ports of call when people are checking companies out now, and especially in the salon industry. If your business is no where to be seen, it’s almost as if you’re not legitimate or don’t have that online presence for people to be able to identify your current reputation with the public.


But it’s not even just about reputation, Facebook has so many useful tools that can help to enhance your business and also, make it more profitable. And that’s what I wanted to discuss with you today.

Some of you may be aware that we offer 3 different software packages, in which our Enterprise package offers all of our online features. Within those online features, we have specific Facebook tools that we have created to make booking salon appointments simpler, and more convenient for your clients. However also, this reduces the amount of salon calls and messages that you receive day-to-day, as clients can go online and make appointments for themselves. Here’s a bit more info below:

Facebook Appointment Booking

Our salon software has the brilliant feature of ‘instant online booking’, this meaning that our online booking service doesn’t require therapist approval before a booking is confirmed. Instead, the software is clever enough to read the calendar for any appointment gaps, and then advertise these online to your clients. Another great tool, clients will also have their own unique login for your online booking, meaning you will instantly know which client has booked the appointment, and that client also receives a more personable service. So, how do we input this on to your Facebook page you may ask? We create an online booking widget, basically adding a ‘online booking’ tab to your company page which then directly links to your salon’s online booking portal (in which we create all of this for you too, so if it sounds complicated don’t worry).

Your software will then identify when this booking has been made on Facebook by simply showing the logo in the top right corner of the appointment box – a great feature as this way you can keep an eye on how the online booking tool is working for you.

So not only does this improve your company’s services on your Facebook page, it also helps with your booking management as the client can take control of making their booking, and you just carry out the service after the booking is made. Simple.

Facebook Review Requests

Next tool, review requests. One of the biggest reasons why people check out a company on Facebook before making a decision whether to use its services is the feature of ‘real reviews’. Not testimonials on your website that you may have hand-selected carefully – Facebook reviews are pure reviews, typed by the customers themselves and there is no approval stage. So, whatever they have to say about your business is public on your company profile for everyone to read. Which we know, this can be a bit daunting initially as you are not in control of what your clients are going to say. But this is a good thing, and even if you do on the off-chance get that little bit of negative feedback, this gives you chance to act upon this review and improve it. Sometimes, negative reviews actually add to the authenticity of a brand. If all reviews were continuously 5 * perfection, this would be great but, where does that leave your room for improvement and where do you go next? We all know that in the real world, you can be the best of the best, but somewhere, somebody else wants more or will find something else that would be worth improving. But this is worth improving to them personally, obviously everyone is different and this is where Facebook reviews are really key, as it offers your brand the chance to receive genuine feedback, as diverse as people opinions may be. And so, we have built in a tool that allows you to request a Facebook review via text to your customers, to gain that feedback and improve your online credibility.

SMS Marketing Directing to Facebook

Obviously if you have a company Facebook profile, you require a good following in order for this platform to take effect. And so, we have a custom SMS marketing tool allowing you to create campaigns to promote offers, new product lines and any other material that you wish. This including, being able to send an SMS message with links to any specific website, so for instance your Facebook page URL or company web page. Therefore, a great idea to get your following off to a good start could be to create a salon competition. Give people a reason to go and follow your Facebook page. You could create a text highlighting the competition, and for your clients to enter they simply have to ‘like your Facebook page’ and comment their name on ‘said Facebook post’? Our marketing team in-house are also more than happy to book a little training session with you, to create these marketing messages and help to come up with some competition ideas with you.

Facebook really is a platform that is essential to the success of all current businesses. As we mentioned, if your competition is on there but you are not, you could be missing out on lots of sales opportunities. But not only that, it’s such a great tool for marketing to your clients and as we have discussed the potential integrations that we can offer, this could really help to make your salon life easier.

As always, we would love to give you a demo of these features, and you can then trial our software free for a fortnight. We also throw in 50 free SMS messages for you, so you can trial a bit of marketing too! So why not use those to trial the Facebook competition idea? Communicate with your clients!

For your free trial, simply call a member of our lovely sales team on 0113 350 8230 or leave your details at http://bit.ly/RGeGVd.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Salon Tracker x

Your go-to guide on how to establish your new Salon in the best way

We know that opening a new Salon can be challenging at the best of times, in fact so challenging that it is a proven fact that roughly 1 in 3 small business fail within the first 2 years of opening. Which is exactly why we have come up with our very own Salon Bible for all you newbies out there. Something you can rely on to guide you through to an exciting, successful Salon!

First of all, you need to make sure that your salon looks the best it can be; inside and out!

This doesn’t necessarily mean splashing the cash on luxurious interior décor but instead, especially in the beginning; focus on the cleanliness and marketing of your new salon. A mistake new salon owners often make is spending their needed cash on overly-priced luxurious furniture which can be bought later on when the salon is well established and booming with revenue. As for the outside, make sure it's always clean of litter and make use of free marketing by advertising what you offer on posters in the window. Top tip - Make offers and lots of them in the early days of your Salon opening. This will entice clients in and encourage re-booking to keep the revenue flowing! In the beginning; limit your budget and spend it wisely. Have a look at the cash you have available to spend on establishing the salon and set a reasonable limit for each important factor. Remember, you need to spend a large amount of the budget on the marketing of your new salon because if your possible clientele aren't aware that you even exist, how will you generate a sufficient revenue? And speaking of marketing, make sure you prepare in advance for the opening of your Salon and begin to promote it at least 3 weeks prior to opening.

A marketing plan is fundamental to a successful salon.

Essentially, a marketing plan for the year would be ideal. However, if you’re running out of time, create a marketing plan for quarterly periods. For example, Jan-March and April-June etc. Make time behind the scenes to really work on these marketing plans and ensure there are no gaps. Once you’ve completed your marketing plan you will feel much better and prepared walking into your salon on the official opening day. You can find tips and tricks on how to create the perfect marketing plan here - http://ow.ly/m4AW30hFhhF.

Work on it, not just in it.

Leadership is the very foundation to heading for a successful salon. You need to lead the way and guide the salon through the good times and the bad times. A common error in Salon Start ups is thinking you constantly need to be in the salon and do the most work inside of it. Wrong! Yes, being in the Salon and being familiar with the clients is important as it helps with customer retention but what goes on behind the scenes is what keeps your Salon running! What I’ve found and what the majority will agree with me on is the fact that I tend to find a Salon with active social media pages presenting good content will always be more trustworthy than a Salon that doesn’t. “Good content” includes a variety of posts, blogs, tips, competitions, offer advertisement along with well-advertised opening times, updated price lists, and services that the Salon has to offer. Additionally, reviews play a big part of your social media compilation. They give potential clients an insight into the quality of service you give and places a level of trust into the business - meaning the more good reviews you get, the more clients you will get! Our system provides a feature allowing you to link your Facebook review page directly to our marketing section, entitling you to send automated text messages with a friendly reminder to review your Salon 2 days or so after their appointment.

We understand that all this may be a lot to take in, but once you’re on the right track and your business is booming… all the effort you’ve put in to ensure your Salon is successful will seem minuscule!

Perhaps booking onto a management course will help you get a better understanding of what it takes to be a successful business owner or a cheaper method of doing this would be to shadow a salon owner for a day, take notes and ask if you could occupy your time with some of the owner’s main responsibilities of running the salon and ask for some feedback afterwards. Lastly, speak to lots of new and old entrepreneurs and ask them for tips and advice, what they would have done differently and what they did successfully. Following all this you should be good to go and well on your way to establishing your Salon in the very best way possible!

Good luck!

Salon Tracker x 

How to create the right New Year's Resolutions

The New Year is all about resolutions and setting goals for the year ahead. While most people start with the obvious ones (eat healthy, exercise more, save money), by the time January comes to an end many realise that other priorities have crept up on them. This results in resolutions are discarded and put in the back of their minds. Setting goals and a strategy for your salon business is essential for growth and motivation. It is important to visualise your goals and decide what direction you really want to go. However, this can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. Trying to achieve too much at once can backfire and therefore it is important to identify what you are hoping to achieve throughout the year. Setting resolutions for your business is a great idea, but it's all about the right resolutions so that you won't fall into the trap of trying to achieve things that are sheer impossible.


An action plan is therefore a terrific idea to start with. Here you can note down your hopes and plan over the next months. You should look at previous years and identify what went well and what didn’t. This will lay out your foundation and to identify improvements. 
Did you struggle to attract a young clientele, for example? Maybe a social media campaign will do the trick. Or maybe you struggled with no shows, resulting in revenue loss and therefore you want to look into Salon Software and appointment reminders. Creating an action plan helps to identify any of these areas. Why not sit down with your managers or the whole team to get everyone involved and to show them that you value their opinion and contribution. A successful salon is more than just marketing. Good customer service and ambiance can equally be important and therefore remember this when creating an action plan.
To help you even further we have compiled a few things that can help you in the right directions with your New Year’s resolutions:


Know your goals for the year and prioritise accordingly

Make sure everyone is on board; therefore, January is a good time for an annual or quarterly meeting with everyone.

Here you can discuss the upcoming year and identify what went well the last few months but also any problems and come up with solutions.  
Often, hearing from staff and managers can be a good way to look at situations differently and maybe even address issues you weren’t aware off before. Getting everyone involved gives staff members the opportunity to speak from their own experiences. This does not have to be boring, why not get some drinks and snacks for everyone and make it a social but productive event. If you want to combine it with an annual awards ceremony then do so. Activities like that are always fun and motivate staff members to achieve goals throughout the year.


How can you be different from the others?

Have you ever identified your unique selling point? Why should customers choose you over others? Defining what makes you different and how you can show that to customers in order to attract them can be crucial for your performance. To determine this will make you stand out towards your competition. In order to achieve this you need to understand your ideal clientele. Find out what they’re after to adapt ways to please them.

Really can’t think of anything?

Is there anything you can learn instead or invest in? Maybe a new machine or treatment no one else is offering in the area. However, do your research to find out if an investment will be profitable. You don’t want to spend money just to find out that there is no demand for it. If you want to start on a smaller scale then simply create offers that are too hard to ignore or focus on excellent customer service with a little extra. Often small changes will work wonders already.


Testing

As mentioned above, we were talking about an investment that makes you stand out. If you want to try out something new do it when it’s quiet. January is a good time for that. You can see what is working and what isn’t. Drop what is not working and move on. Why waste valuable time on something that isn’t profitable for your salon?


Managing more efficiently

Anything from finances to marketing can be managed. That’s why many salons are investing in salon software at the beginning of the year. Not only does it save you time on day-to-day salon management it also helps keep track of spending’s and takings. Having an electronic booking diary is great for putting all your appointments in one place without losing track of them. If you are looking for special features such as online booking or an app for your customers to use, then why not make it a priority to look into the investment.
Move away for paper clutter and go digital!

With that said, we hope some of the tips come in handy and it gives you some ideas for the New Year. As always if you have any questions let us know via phone, email or Social Media.


Salon Tracker x