The Salon Secret for Making Money While You Sleep
With the extreme fluctuation of trends, methods and products infiltrating the beauty industry, being a salon professional requires constant personal evolution to keep up.
So it's no surprise that an industry like this found a way to make money while everyone is sleeping. Allowing customers to book appointments online via your website or social media and offering online gift card sales creates 24/7 revenue generation.
If you don't offer online booking, it may be because of a common misconception about the lack of control you will have over your book. How will every single client know their exact service needs? What if they book a primetime spot and don't show?
Inspire Software has all the tools to make your business’s online booking successful because we designed the software with experts to combat these common concerns.
Here are some frequently mentioned fears about online booking and how we have created a solution within our software to address them:
Fear: First time clients don’t know what they need and they often no-show.
Answer: Not a problem. A simple checkbox in Inspire Software will prevent newcomers from being able to book an appointment online. If the software already has their email address, then booking is allowed.
Also, you can implement online booking deposits that charge immediately. If they no-show, you can choose to leave that deposit on the client card or mark it used as your cancellation policy.
Fear: Won’t they complicate my Saturday? Sure, Tuesday bookings are fine, but I need that control.
Answer: Inspire Software allows businesses to set a specific online available hours for each stylist.
If a stylist only accepts online bookings Tuesday to Thursday, that can be arranged; or if they are a new stylist and will take what they can get, they can open the books 100 percent.
Fear: My client won’t know if they get balayage or highlights, it's too risky.
Answer: There are two solutions to this:
1. When a client logs into online booking, they can go to "My Appointments" and see past appointments the salon has booked. They can click "Book Again" and the software will select those same appointments. If they alternate a base break, they will see that pattern as well.
2. Inspire Software allows you to select which services can be booked online and which workers offer them. That way, if a senior stylist doesn’t allow color booked online but a new stylist does, it's not a problem!
Fear: No-shows.
Answer: To protect your business from no-shows of online bookings you could either require a deposit to book an appointment or you can limit online booking to existing clients.
Traditionally, if someone already visits your business, they are less likely to no-show, or at least not any more so than when they call to book or prebook.
Fear: I don’t want to show up to someone waiting in my lobby I wasn’t aware of, or have someone book and show up within five minutes.
Answer: Revenue is always welcome, we all know that, but you still need to be able to plan your day as a business as well as an individual. Inspire Software offers the ability to set how soon an appointment can be booked hours or days in advance.
Additionally, individual workers can set those online available hours to not include the first hour of the day.
Fear: I don’t want color being booked online.
Answer: Sure, we get it! It's a lot of time in your day to not be booked properly. It's important to consider that your online booking could still offer simple, no-fuss booked services such as haircuts, blowouts, eyebrow waxing, manicures, massages, facials, etc.
Fear: We only have two wax pots and two pedicure chairs — what if those are already booked?
Answer: Inspire Software offers resources that can be setup in the software that only allow appointments to be booked if the resources are available, such as a wax pot or pedicure chair.
With Inspire Software you’re provided the tools to customize when customers can book appointments, what appointments can be booked online, who they can book with and whether or not they are already familiar with your booking processes.
Creating an online booking strategy that fits your business's needs will wipe away any previous fears you may have had, especially once you watch the money roll in while you sleep!
Shannon Wojtkowski began her salon career almost 20 years ago by sweeping hair at 14 years old. She worked her way up the salon ladder by working the front desk, assisting and eventually behind her own chair. Shannon spent many years living a double life, attending cosmetology school while also working at a salon nights and weekends and maintaining a full-time career in project management in the marketing and technology field. She’s the trifecta of awesome, combining her knowledge of salon life, marketing and technology.