As you know, it takes a lot more than having talented stylists or estheticians on staff to run a successful salon. Your amazing staff is the heart of your business, but, long-term success hinges primarily on the customer experience. And, let’s face it: you’ve got to love the hard work of running a salon, too—or you’ll also want to get out of there as fast as you can.
One way to keep from getting bogged down by the business of doing business—and protect your passion for the services you offer—is to implement a point of sale system that simplifies your day-to-day work. To have the most impact, however, the salon booking and POS software features you use need to be more than just utilitarian. They need to be intuitive, even elegant. Remember, you won’t be the only one using them.
So, to ensure you, your employees, and your clients have the best POS system experience, let’s take a look at which features deserve the most attention.
Salon Booking and POS Software Features that (Should) Grab Your Attention
Of the many benefits of point of sale software, the streamlined look of the hardware itself is a favorite of most salons. The slim touchscreen platform, payment device, and printer fit a variety of salon aesthetics while serving as the heart of operations. Gone are the days of unsightly registers and clunky file cabinets which, alone, is a thing of beauty—and worth the small investment.
Some POS vendors will guide you towards the right point of sale equipment for your salon, too—particularly those who view their customers as members of their own team. They may suggest salon booking and other POS software features to utilize as well. We certainly do for our own customers, and here are the options we recommend:
1. Online Appointment Booking
When clients have the option to book salon appointments online, you’re less likely to miss an opportunity to get them on the schedule. You’ll find that a lot of clients even prefer making their own appointments because they can do it when it’s easiest for them, like early in the morning when your salon is typically closed. And, this benefits you and your staff because everyone’s calendar gets updated in real-time. Managing walk-ins even becomes easier because you can hide times from view on the online calendar.
2. Full-Service Staff Management
There is more to managing staff than scheduling employees to work—though that is critically important, especially when demand for a service or staff member is high. And, modern POS systems do provide more than simple scheduling programs for salons. Trainings and product or service updates can be accessed easily from one place. Personal information, like home address and tax status, can be managed by you or an employee at any time (and from a remote device). Even time spent with clients, tips received, and customer feedback can be audited.
3. Dynamic Customer Management
For clients to feel happy with their salon service, they also need to feel recognized, valued, and engaged. And, there are several ways you can manage their total experience with POS software that helps with more than remembering customer names. For example, you can:
- Add and adjust their preferences for hair color, skin products, and service times. A sophisticated system will let you upload photos of favorite past hairstyles, brow designs, or nail colors, too.
- Create personalized customer loyalty programs based on how often a client comes to your salon and the services and products they use.
- Automate email and text reminders for upcoming appointments—provided the client gives the OK for this service. You can also include a link back to your online booking system should there be any changes they want to make.
- Send targeted marketing emails with promotions that are relevant to the reader, such as Mother’s or Father’s Day specials aimed at clients who are parents.
- Offer gift cards for purchase and as gifts for your clients when there is a birthday or special event—like the anniversary of opening your hair salon.
4. Comprehensive Inventory Management
When you use point of sale software with inventory control, managing your product line becomes one of the easiest things you do. You can track shipments from suppliers and print barcodes for your products. You can also perform stock takes that are accurate, and the results are generated quickly. A comprehensive system will notify you when anything from hair coloring to bottled water needs to be reordered, too. Some systems can even order items for restocking automatically.
5. Accurate Analytics and Reporting
Analyzing a salon’s performance and generating in-depth reports or summaries used to be a time-consuming task. With POS software operating as the heart of your business, however, these functions are available at the touch of your hand. Analyzing the best and worst days, times, employees, and products is easy because all transactional data is stored in the cloud. A good system will let you filter and download the data into reports that are simple to read and share, too.
Show Off Your Salon’s Best Side With the Help of an Elegant POS System
At minimum, you should expect to have access to each of the options above when you partner with a reputable point of sale vendor. But, it’s not too much to ask that the whole of your experience be elegant as well. The hardware, salon booking POS software features, and customer service should be exceptional. Together, these traits will make your day-to-day at work a little easier so you can maintain a focus on putting your salon’s best side—and talented staff—forward.
At talech, we strive to help salon merchants feel like they’re members of a close-knit team. That’s because, in our book, they are. When you partner with us to bring elegance to your salon’s business operations, you will be as well. To see more attention-grabbing features that can help your business succeed, sign up for a free demo today!
