Ever wished you could squeeze more hours into your day?
Do you worry that you’re spending too much time on working in your business, and not enough time working on it?
Believe it or not, sometimes the best approach is to just let go!
That doesn’t mean giving up on the essentials that make your salon a success – but it does mean putting the right systems in place and letting them do the hard work for you. Learning to let go is a bit of an art form, and it can be hard to perfect. That’s why we’ve put together these four quick wins to help you make more time for the things that really matter.
1. Automate the essentials
Why waste hours of your time counting stock, crunching numbers or calling clients to remind them of their visit, when you could be doing all these tedious tasks automatically?
SMS reminders are the ultimate time-saver. They let you know if a client will be coming in for their appointment without you having to lift a finger. You’ll not only save hours of time, you’ll cut back your no-shows as well!
If reporting is your absolute worst nightmare (we hear you!), make sure you’re taking advantage of the built-in reports in your system. Everything from your total revenue to the accuracy of your client data is calculated for you, so you can stay on top of your numbers without the stress.
2. Streamline your front desk
An efficient front desk doesn’t just save you time – it makes the entire salon experience more welcoming and relaxing for your clients.
When a new client arrives for their first visit, you can speed things up by capturing their details on an iPad. This has the added bonus of letting you kiss goodbye to the errors that tend to creep in when you type out client information from a paper form.
Client visit notes are also available at the click of a button, helping streamline the point of sale process and giving you vital information that will help you upsell as you are checking out a client.
3. Support your team
You are only ever as good as the people around you, and if you can build a culture of collaboration your team will be only too happy to work with you and make your business a success.
Being able to mentor your staff and measure their performance is essential. The right software will let you track everything from commission to client retention for each team member, highlighting areas for improvement.
This lets you nurture your team’s strengths so that you can improve business performance as a whole.
4. Manage your time
There’s nothing worse for your cash flow – or your boredom levels – than havingyour stylists standing around with nothing to do because of a mismanaged appointment book.
You can identify gaps in your appointment book using appointment availability icons, which give you a visual representation of how busy particular time slots and employees are.
If you do identify any gaps, targeted marketing and last-minute specials are the perfect way to make sure your appointment book is always full and that business is always booming.
