How to manage the festive rush this Christmas

 As the rush of Christmas was all crammed into one month last year after the November Lockdown, this year we have finally got a real run-up to Christmas and the festive season is in full swing!

I would imagine by now that you are already in Christmas mode in the salon, festive decor, xmas songs on repeat and everyone in high spirits but above all this, is your salon schedule fully prepared and being used to it's potential to help you manage this Xmas rush? First things first and that is:

Sort your Schedule

By using Salon Tracker your life is made a whole lot easier because it takes out all the hard manual work and does it for you! If you have Salon Tracker already, make sure you are utilising your online booking link as best possible. I.E having a book now button on your website, having the link in your instagram bio and on facebook and then actually promoting it. Make posts, tell your clients in the Salon and tell them to tell their friends too - it'll work wonders for your calendar! 

Not only can clients book online using their own customer account but your staff can all have their own user log ins for our Siteview app (which can be downloaded from the app store) to view their calendars and also make appointments for existing customers. This means you can view your calendar and organise your time appropriately for the big rush, leaving you less stressed!

Stock up!

There is nothing worse than having demand for stock but not having any stock in. Christmas time is the best time to sell your retail products because everyone is wanting to get their hands on last minute stocking fillers and simply just to treat themselves! 

Using Salon Tracker, you can track and monitor your stock levels of every product so you can see easily what you are running low of and need to reorder so there will be no room for mistakes. 

Keep your staff motivated!

It is important not to lose sight of your hard working employees over this busy period, they are the ones that have kept the Salon going and without them, you'd probably be in a very sticky situation. Simple things such as making sure they have their breaks and are not too over worked, bringing in treats such as sweets and chocolates to keep them going and more importantly, a works Christmas do! After all the hard work and hours your team have put in the thing that will keep them going the most would be looking forward to letting their hair down at a party or event to celebrate.

Build on client relationships

It is important now more than ever to build on your relationships in this period because it is more than likely you will see customers in the Salon you have never seen before and if there is something that is enticing them to coming again they will return which therefore increases your customer retention and overall your long-term sales and profit. The best way to approach this is to create a loyalty scheme such as for every 5 visits made to the Salon you will receive 20% off or a free retail product! 

Furthermore, using Salon Trackers marketing suite you can filter out specific groups of customers such as high spending customers and customers with birthdays coming up and offer them a discount which will make your customers come back into Salon again and build a loyal relationship. 

Time is money

Make your no-show policy clear and well-know. In these busy periods, you cannot afford to let no-shows happen, especially when you have had to turn down customers as you had no appointments left. 

It is estimated that no-shows cause the hairdressing industry 1.2 million pounds every year according to recent research powered by flossie. 

Profit is something you don't want to be missing out on so here's several ways you can try and put a stop to no shows:

• Utilise your SMS marketing reminder and no-show texts on Salon Tracker. You can set your SMS reminders to go either 2 days or 1 day before and can also send a text if your client is a no show. This text can include information of charges they will incur for being a no-show therefore deterring them from doing it again. 
• Make your cancellation and no-show policy well known. Have it printed in the Salon, all over your social media and actually enforce it. If your client is a no-show, request that they pay the money you missed out on.
• Take deposits. Using Salon Tracker you can add deposits onto treatments so that the customer pays a set amount before the booking. If a customer has already paid some of the bill, they are less likely not to show up because they will lose out on money.

We hope that these tips have given you a clearer insight into managing the Salon over the next couple of months and if you would like to trial the software free of charge for 2 weeks, simply enquire here and a member of the team will be in touch!

Salon Tracker x 

It's November, which means one thing...Black Friday!!

 ‘They’re singing Deck the Halls!’ 

It’s nearly that time again! Black Friday is just around the corner, this year falling on Friday 26th November and were also now fully in to the 6 weeks Christmas countdown(woohoo!). Did you know, according to Lockhart Meyer, in 2016 £1.96bn was spent on Black Friday, with 50% of the population being interested in the event. Another interesting fact Meyer mentions is, 70% of these are under 25, with 65% of those being aged 25-34! So, if you have micro-marketing tools (or are a user of our software), make sure you use your marketing suites to target this age range, for sales to be most effective.

 

Why should you make the most of Black Friday? Starting out in America, the event has grown drastically in the last 10 years, with so many young adults now awaiting the exclusive deals to ensure they get their Christmas purchases made early! I know for most retailers, Black Friday means offering some discount. Having said this, when the rest of the industry and your competitors are likely to be doing the same, this is the one time where discounting your products and services can be beneficial to you! As long as you still leave yourself with a small profit margin, you can still make great sales; as the volume of those over the Black Friday weekend can sometimes amount to the same as fewer sales would at your original RRP price.

 

So, how can you make your discounted products and services stand out above the rest?

 

 

Gift Tables: 

This is a Salon Tracker fave! The way in which your products are displayed can massively increase sales, as the more eye-catching something looks, the more likely the client is to purchase these items. Especially at Christmas, this is a great time to display your gift sets, Winter products and sample products, by adding a Christmassy display in your salon, this can also boost the mood of clients if your salon atmosphere gives off a fun Xmas vibe. We know the old saying, Happy Clients = Happy Shopping! A recent survey by Lockhart Meyer also showed that the beauty stocking fillers were among consumers top 5 most-wanted lists for Black Friday. So, these 2 go hand in hand to ensure you make some successful Black Friday sales this November!

 

SMS

 

As we have mentioned above, you can use your marketing filters to identify best spending customers, or perhaps clients that are due to refresh their services soon, as this is a good way to get customers to come for their colour refresh, or nail infills for example. But not only that, this is also a good time to market to your different age categories. As discussed, a key target audience for the Black Friday event is 16-34 so ensure you utilise your age filters for that. You can then send an SMS campaign, which could include a web-link on the text message to your offers, or also to your online booking page, to get people booking their Christmas appointments with you early!

 

 

Email 

Another great and cost-effective option to communicate with your clients is email. If you are a user of Salon Tracker, we now also have a direct integration with Mailchimp, where you can utilise our micro-marketing filters to create email campaigns to a direct target audience. The great thing about Mailchimp and similar e-shot providers is, they are really simple to use and you can add your own personalised graphics to these. So, if you want to highlight any particular parts of your Black Friday deals, this is a great way to do it, to attract your client’s attention to the deals your salon is offering this year!

 

 

Social Media/Competition

 

Social media is always a great place to get people talking about your salon, and everyone will be jumping on board with the #blackfriday hashtag over the coming weeks. As this is a mass market for your business to advertise to, you want to ensure that you have a presence among the searches over Black Friday weekend. Lots of people will be advertising the same messages however. So, great ways to get your clients talking about you and sharing your posts is to set up something new, such as a competition, or an entry in to a prize draw (if they share their salon Christmas treatments on social media), and so on. Think of some unique ideas that could be interesting to get people mentioning your brand. As all Christmas promotion is good promotion and beneficial to not only your Black Friday sales, but to increasing your brand growth too.

 

VIP Slot 

And for those clients that are regulars with you anyway, why not utilise this time to treat them to an exclusive ‘Black Friday’ gift or offer? Or invite them to a VIP event! Some great ideas are ‘treatment masterclasses’ or ‘taster treatments’ or even a showcase of all of your upcoming Spring products! Clients’ love getting invited to VIP events, as this makes them feel valued and a premium client of yours. Plus, this is also a great way to ensure you have client longevity and retention after Christmas in to the New Year too!

 

 

Then Last but Not Least - Our Offers!

 

And as always, we’re getting involved too!

 

We’ll be bringing our offers to you 1 week early, starting Monday 22^nd November we’ll be offering:

 

30% Off First 3 Months Software
15% Off All Hardware Purchases
15 % Off All SMS Bundles – great for your Xmas Marketing Campaigns!

 

And this will be running until Friday 3^rd December so make sure to get your trial in during this time!

 

To claim your offer, simply head to https://www.salontracker.co.uk/FreeTrial.aspx to enquire for your FREE TRIAL, and if you are on trial before 3rd December, you are still eligible for our offer from your first software payment.

 

All hardware and SMS bundle purchases must be also made before 3rd December to be able to redeem the discount.

So, Happy Black Friday Planning and Software Shopping, it’s Christmassss!

Salon Tracker x

Salon Tracker Support FAQs

Here in the support team, we’re used to helping our customers with any questions or queries they have! So, we thought it would be useful to put together a Support FAQs, to answer all of your burning questions.

Is Salon Tracker Support Free?

Yes! All of our support is included within our monthly subscription packages. Our support team are available Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, just call on 0113 350 8230
and we will be happy to help with any questions or issues.

How do I backup my Salon Tracker data?

If you are on our Enterprise package your Salon Tracker data will automatically backup to your cloud storage.

With our Standard and Professional packages your data is all stored locally to your PC. What we recommend is to have a memory stick or an external hard drive plugged into the PC that can be used to store another backup file. When closing down Salon Tracker there are 2 tick boxes, one to back up to the local PC and one to back up to a removal drive. Make sure both of these are ticked and go green, this means that both backups have been successful.

Can we convert your data from another software?

Yes, we can convert data from most other software companies! For the most part we have done conversions from most other software companies, so it’s just a case of us accessing the data and then converting it over to Salon Tracker on our side. If your data is from software, we haven’t done a conversion from we would just need to take a look at the data initially to determine whether or not we can complete the conversion across to Salon Tracker. For more information see our data conversions blog here: Salon Software News | Feature-of-Month---Salon-Tracker-Data-Conversions (salontracker.co.uk)

Can you use Salon Tracker on a Mac?

Currently Salon Tracker is a Windows based software, so the only way to run Salon Tracker on a Mac is through the use of Parallels or Bootcamp which allow you to access Windows through the Mac.

What versions of Windows can I run Salon Tracker on?

Salon Tracker can currently be used on Windows 10 and soon will be available on Windows 11. (Don’t update to Windows 11 yet as there are a few hardware issues that are yet to be resolved on Windows side).

Should I do my Windows Updates?

Yes! Doing your Windows updates is very important to make sure Salon Tracker is running as effectively as possible. As long as you’re shutting your PC down every day the PC should automatically do the updates, however it’s still good to check in the Updates section within settings to make sure you have done all the updates.

Can I access Salon Tracker without internet?

Yes, Salon Tracker only requires internet once a month to license. We do recommend having internet in the shop so that we can connect to your screen if you require any assistance, but it’s not a necessity.

Where is my data stored?
If you are on our standard or professional package your data is stored locally on your PC. With our enterprise package your data is stored both locally and within the cloud. We don’t store any of your data on our side, so make sure you’re backing up your data externally to your PC so that you don’t lose any data.

What hardware can I integrate Salon Tracker with?

We can integrate with: Cash Drawer, Receipt Printer, Barcode Scanner, Fingerprint Reader, Signature Pad, Tmax, Sigma and Dojo (Payment Sense).

What do I do if my Tmax stops working?

Unplug and re-plug the Tmax cable back into the PC, then restart your Salon Tracker and see if it pulls through your timers. If you’re still having issues with it connecting, restart the Tmax and then restart Salon Tracker again. If it still hasn’t connected call on 0113 350 8230 and we will be able to take a look at it for you.

How do I reconnect my Printer Salon Tracker?

If you unplug your printer and plug it back it, this can often create a copy of the printer on your PC. If you go to the admin section on Salon Tracker then to the hardware tab under the printers section you may see multiple copies of the printer in your drop down. To find out which is the active copy, open ‘Printers & Scanners’ in your settings, you should see ‘idle’ next to the one that’s currently active. Set this as the printer in Salon Tracker and you should now be able to print. If you need any further assistance with this, please call on 0113 350 8230.

What do I do if my cash drawer won’t open?

Most cash drawers are connected to the receipt printer, this allows them to trigger open when you complete a sale. If your cash drawer won’t open, follow the above steps and make sure the correct printer is connected to Salon Tracker.

I hope this has helped to answer any of your support questions! If you do have any further questions that you would like answering feel free to email on info@salontracker.co.uk or call on 0113 350 8230 and we will be happy to help!

Salon Tracker x

Question and Answers - Salon Tracker Software

Does the software do online payments?

Online Payments is a new feature that we are aiming to implement within the next release of Salon Tracker this should be within the beginning of the new year. Right now, the feature is currently in the last stages of development the next step will be the testing in which we are able to improve the feature and erase any and all complications. Salon Trackers aim is to be able to provide your clients with a seamless payment integration so that they are able to purchase your services online or pay a deposit of the service without hesitation at any time.

Do you cater to solo salon businesses?

Currently Salon Tracker doesn’t provide a subscription for solo salon businesses but we are researching this topic so that we can develop a subscription to suit the needs of solo individuals and fill the gap within the market. The Solo Subscription will be released in the new year, if you wish to receive more information about the new subscription and if you are eligible for this subscription don’t hesitate to contact us on 0113 350 8230 or alternatively email us on info@salontracker.co.uk.

How does your online payment system work?

Online payments hasn’t yet been released however when it is released in the new version of salon tracker it will further reduce your no-show bookings. The online payments will take place through an application known as stripe where the client can use their card, apple pay or google pay to complete the transaction, the money will then go straight into the bank account of your choice. Once the transaction has been completed the customer will receive an email invoice confirming the completion of the transaction. You are able to access online payments dashboard and reports through stripe to monitor your takings through the online payments system. If you are interested in our online payments feature and would like to know more information regarding pricing please contact us.

What is your charge for set up and support of the software?

Set up and support of the software is FREE of charge as well as training, these can take place Monday to Friday 9:00am till 5:00pm.

What makes you different from the other software companies?

Salon Tracker Software has a variety of different simplistic and easy to use features that differentiate us from our competitors. The clock in system allows you to track when staff members start and finish their shift within the salon you can monitor this within the software under the management section which you can make available to only you and manager members of staff with our permissions feature. The software also enables you to change the increments on the booking calendar to suit your salon and the services you carry out this ranges from 5 minutes to 60 minutes. Client record cards enables you to store client data such as their personal details, booking history and purchase history. For our multi-site clients, we have the HQ feature in which you are able to view and monitor each of your salon’s activity from one location. The online booking feature has become the most popular feature throughout the past couple of months, this feature is ONLY available on our Enterprise subscription. The feature allows your clients to book appointments for your salon anywhere, anytime and anyplace, the bookings made online will sync with the booking system within the salon.

What resources do I require to be able to have the software in my salon?

To have the software you require a computer or laptop with the following specification:

• ·         Screen Resolution 1280x800 (Minimum) 1920x1080 (Recommended)
• ·         Intel I-3 Processor/AMD A4 (or equivalent)
• ·         8GB Memory
• ·         500GB to 1TB SSD Storage
• ·         Windows 10 or above

How flexible is Salon Tracker Software?

Salon Tracker allows you and your staff members flexibility as you are able to offer clients split appointments, display staff schedule to clients as well as showing your opening and closing hours. Clients are offered flexibility through the online booking system as they are able to choose from a variety of different time slots as well as them being able to cancel and reschedule their appointments at any time.

If you would like any further information or your question hasn't been answered in this blog don't hesitate to contact us on 0113 350 8230 or alternatively email us on info@salontracker.co.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Salon Tracker Team. X

Who can Salon Tracker Integrate with?

Though our booking system had many different features, there are some things that you may need to help your salon run smoothly that we don’t offer. This is why we have partnered with some different companies and integrated their services into our system so you can run your salon in the simplest way possible.

Dojo

When it comes to card payments, Salon Tracker can directly integrate with Dojo Payment Terminals. How this works is once your card terminal is connected to your Salon Tracker by a member of our team, when you select the card payment option on the system this will send the correct amount directly through to your card terminal. This integration reduces the risk of error when typing in the payment amount and also means that there will be no discrepancies between your Salon Tracker reports and your end of day reports from your PDQ machine. If you would like to get this integrated just let us know and we can pass over your details to our account manager at Dojo Payment Sense!

TMAX/Sigma Sunbed Timers

One of our most popular features with our tanning salon customers is the integration with TMAX and Sigma timer managers. On our professional package and above we offer tanning salons the ability to connect the timer manager. This works by plugging your timer manager into the PC using a USB to serial cable and means that you can send tanning minutes through to the sunbed from your PC. This reduces work load and also makes it easier to track how many minutes each bed has done for when you need to retube your beds! This feature also lets you set bespoke, dress down and cool down times for your beds.

Mailchimp

For all your marketing needs, you can integrate your Salon Tracker Professional and Enterprise accounts to mailchimp.  In Salon Trackers bespoke marketing suite, you can filter out different customer groups which you would like to market to, for example your best spending customers or customers who haven’t visited in a while. You can then input this information into Mailchimp and send out a marketing campaign to these customers for free! If you would like any training on how to do this at all please just let us know!

Geo-Code

One small, but very useful feature, that has been implemented into Salon Tracker is the Geo- Code. This feature allows you to put in your customers post code and automatically find their address. All you need to do this is an active google account and we’ll link your account up to your salon tracker.

Social Media

Whilst Salon Tracker doesn’t directly integrate with your salon’s social media accounts, there is ways around this for things such as your online booking site and also reviews. You can add your link to your social media pages, such as Instagram or Facebook so your customer can easily find your online booking site. Also, within Salon Tracker you can send your customers an SMS message asking them to leave you a review on social media or google.

 

If you would like any help on setting any of these integrations up or if you would like any more information on any of these please don’t hesitate to get in contact with a member of our team on 0113 350 8230 or email info@salontracker.co.uk

Remember if you visited us at Professional Beauty London this year to give us a call and get booked in for your free demo and two-week trial so you can claim your show offer!

Salon Tracker x

Feature of Month - Salon Tracker Data Conversions

Although we might not like to admit it, there are other software companies out there. Here at Salon Tracker were happy to convert your data free of charge from any other software company.

We understand that the process of switching software providers can be stressful and sometimes over complicated, you’ve probably got months or years’ worth of customers information on your current system and the last thing you want to is re-enter all your clients into a new system. That’s where we come in.

Our data conversions typically allow us to bring across:

•  Customer names
•  Customer notes
•  Products
•  Customer services (Such as existing minutes)

There are 3 simple steps involved in us converting your data:

Step 1

First, we need a copy of your data. Sometimes this involves us connecting to your PC and taking the data ourselves, other times the data can be encrypted or stored within a location we don’t have access to. If this is the case you would need to speak to your current provider and ask them to get the data for us, hopefully they’ll be nice enough to let you have it!

Step 2

We will test the data on our end to make sure we can definitely convert the data, if this is the case we will go ahead with the full conversion. Once we have completed the conversion, we will test import it into Salon Tracker and compare it to the existing data to ensure that it has copied over correctly. This step will often take up to 3 days, it just depends on the scale and size of your database.

Step 3

Finally, we will import the data onto your new Salon Tracker system and then check it through with you again to make sure its all correct! It works best if we can do the conversions at the start of the week and import before the end of the week to ensure that you have a couple of working days to use and test the data.

If you are interested in moving over to our software from your current provider, we offer the data conversion free of charge and you will also get 30% off the first 3 months of your subscription for moving over to us! Feel free to call on 0113 350 8230 to discuss your data conversion and see all the benefits of introducing Salon Tracker software into your salon!

Salon Tracker x

Autumn Marketing

 

This Autumn is completely different to last years in that we are not in lockdown and everything is open. So, now is the perfect opportunity to take full advantage of Autumnal offers and really push the boat out with marketing.

Decorations and Outfits

One of the simplest ways to get into the Autumnal spirit is to decorate the salon. Whether you prefer the traditional Autumn vibe with pumpkins and warm tones, or if you want to go more towards a Halloween theme and accessorise with Ghosts and Bats, refreshing your décor is something that will surely put a smile on your customers’ faces. Window displays are a particularly good way of advertising as not only do they appeal to your currents customers but they can also draw in the attention of people passing by and this may entice them to come in and try out your salon. Also, your employees could try dressing up in Halloween costumes, as well as potentially doing some unique hairstyles and nails too showcase some new designs and creativity.

Social Media

Another way to make the most of Autumn is to use social media as a free way of advertising. Not only can you reach your current customers but you are able to promote yourself and reach new customers. You could try to promote exclusive Autumn offers or run giveaways which not only rewards your loyal customers but can also help you in reaching new clients through sharing your page. Staying active on social media is really important, especially interacting with your customers. Instagram allows you to post a range of interactive stories such as voting polls and Q&As so you can get feedback from your customers to see what they’re wanting from you. Using these means you can tailor any marketing more specifically to what your customers actually want.

Retail Products

If your salon sells retail products such as sachets of cream or nail polishes, why not offer a promotion on certain ones such as any Autumn themed colours. This may allow you to get rid of any overstock and appeal to customers who do not typically buy products and want to try something new. Showcasing these products on yourself or on social media is a good way of showing the products in action and the potential they have.

SMS Marketing

Now we’ve been out of lockdown for six months, it is a good time to treat your most loyal returning customers with special offers. Our software has a built-in marketing suite which gives you the opportunity to easily use SMS and email marketing. You can choose client groups or make your own in order to send out your message to the group of people it was intended to. For example:

Hi << Customer Forename>>

Thank you for your support over the last 6 months! 10% off your new Autumn look!

<<Company Name>><<Company Contact Details>>

If you're looking for something to help manage your Salon this Autumn, enquire at https://www.salontracker.co.uk/FreeTrial.aspx for your free two-week trial!

If you already have the software and would just like any more Autumn marketing tips, please feel free to give us a call on 0113 350 8230 and we'll be happy to help!

Make the most of the end of this year!

Salon Tracker x