Running a beauty business is not easy, and if you’re still using manual processes, the journey only gets harder. It’s slow, tedious, messy and error-prone.
Excel sheets might seem practical. However, it’s time-consuming. You will be surprised to know that manual scheduling is killing your business growth. If you still find yourself stuck in heaps of paperwork, it’s time to move on.
To be a successful salon or spa, you need more than just good services or a talented team. What you really need is innovation in customer engagement.
Gone are the days when salon owners would make key decisions based on guesswork. Today, it is all data-backed. In order to thrive, it’s important to study key metrics.
It’s time to ditch manual salon registers and switch to a salon application that is built for beauty businesses. It saves time and money, builds customer trust and does not drain your revenue.
Key Takeaways
- Manual registers are the key cause of revenue loss in salons. The system is error-prone and results in missed entries.
- Salon owners who are still using manual registers feel tied to the physical store. They can’t work from home or run their business on autopilot.
- Paper records or paperwork give a salon owner zero insights into sales, staff performance or the most profitable services.
- Computer software for beauty salons fixes this problem by automating key salon processes thereby freeing up time of a salon owner.
Real-life Salon still using Manual Processes (And How Salon Software Fixed It)
Before we delve deep into the drawbacks of manual salon registers, let’s look at a real-life example of a salon that has been dealing with scheduling problems, billing, inventory and so on.
Salon X
A mid-size salon in a tier-1 city has been suffering from lost revenue due to human error, lack of processes, lack of technology and paper entries.
The salon workflows have been all over the place and they even have no idea about their real salon data.
Problem #1: Manual Registers are Killing Appointment Management
Without bookings, a salon will cease to exist. It’s the most integral part of running a salon.
Salon X has been using manual processes such as phone or register for a long time now. The results are as follows:
- Clients don’t end up showing up for their appointment
- Double bookings/Overlapping of bookings
- Long wait times
- Staff productivity is not being utilised to its full potential
- Customer satisfaction and sales are down
Problem #2: Manual Billing Leads to Revenue Loss
Still using handwritten bills or spreadsheets for invoicing and retail sales? Salon X would use it too and here are some of the problems they faced:
- Billing errors
- Missed payments
- Underutilisation of loyalty points
- Wrong discounts
- Improper use of membership programs
Problem #3: Inefficient Inventory Management due to Manual Stock Tracking
Salons and spas thrive on inventory and their retail product range. A little gap in the stock can have a direct impact on customer experience. A few problems faced by Salon X were:
- Overstocking
- Stockouts
- Expired products on the shelves
- Running out of popular products
- Missed sales
Problem #4 : Zero Business Insights due to Manual Registers and Obsolete Bookkeeping
Salon X followed obsolete bookkeeping methods since they didn’t have good enough business knowledge. They mainly made decisions on guesswork instead of facts, and here’s what they faced:
- They failed to leverage on services that brought in the most money
- They couldn’t capitalise on peak hours
- Failed to monitor the growth trends over the past months
- They had no way to see how productive the staff were
How Software for Beauty Salons Fixed these Problems?
As mentioned, Salon X was suffering from the above problems. They then decided to incorporate computer software for beauty salons to fix the ongoing issues.
Here’s how their business changed for the better:
Salon Scheduling Software Enabled 24/7 Online Booking
Salon software has various salon programs. A salon appointment system is an important part of it. It helps clients book 24/7 thereby enhancing their convenience. Within three months, salon X noticed that their bookings went up to 25%.
The software also smartly predicted the flow of bookings and helped avoid any kind of scheduling problems. This means, there were no longer two bookings at the same time.
Every client had their own slot. Also, no-shows were considerably reduced because the software also sends automated SMS and email reminders.
In case a client can’t make it for the intended slot, they can always change it online at no extra charge.
Automated Reminders Reduced No-shows & Eliminated Cancellations
With manual registers, the calls/emails too have to be manual. Salon computer software helps by sending automated reminders to clients. This considerably reduces no-shows and eliminates last-minute cancellations.
Studies suggest that clients tend to miss an appointment because they forget. However, for a salon, this forgetfulness results in a huge revenue loss. With automated SMS, email or WhatsApp reminders, salon X witnessed a no-show drop of 89%.
A salon owner doesn’t have to do much. The salon software will automatically send nudges to the client at various points of their booking journey.
Built-in POS to Fix Billing Issues
Billing by hand can lead to a huge revenue loss. That is because a last amount of human error is involved. It can even lead to discrepancies in payments.
Thankfully, salon management software comes with a built-in POS that helps eliminate these errors for good. It enables faster checkout for clients and the invoice reaches them directly on their smartphones.
It adequately calculates prices, taxes, GST, packages, memberships, loyalty points and discounts so there are no mistakes. This reduces any kind of errors too.
Accurate billing is the first step to growing your beauty business. It also helps churn out detailed analytics and reports.
Real-time Inventory Tracking
The problem with salon X was that they were still manually counting inventory. Their team was spending hours checking which products on the shelf were expired and which were still good to use.
Instead, they could have used the time focusing on strategy, sales or enhancing client experience.
All-in-one software the future of the beauty business. Separate tools don’t work anymore. If you’re still using separate software for inventory, scheduling and reporting, you’re probably complicating your business more instead of simplifying it.
Software for beauty salons comes with an inventory management tool. During every service, the stylist/technician only uses a certain percentage of the product. All they have to do is enter the use percentage and the software automatically deducts it from the main product.
The software also provides real-time alerts when the stock is low. This prevents shortages especially when a client has walked in and eliminates any kind of embarrassing situation.
Inventory software also tells you which products have expired and which are near to expiry.
Centralised Client Profiles
A major issue salon X faced is that they failed to store customer data properly. Scribbling on paper and sticky notes is something of the past.
Whether you own a single standalone salon or a multichain salon, storing client information and history properly is a must.
Salon CRM has built-in client profiles where all the information regarding a client, and their past purchases and visit history can be stored. It also stores their colour formulas and preferences.
This surely ensures personalised service and better client retention. Salon owners can also improve their marketing efforts using this data. In this day and age, every client loves receiving personalised communication.
By using a client’s favourites in your communication, you can target them better. Send them offers and promotions that will appeal to them.
Detailed Analytics & Reporting
The last thing that salon software fixed for salon X was analytics and reporting. Until they invested in software, most of their reporting was solely based on guesswork.
With software, they could instantly churn out accurate reports on revenue and expenses, inventory, staff, productivity, appointments, invoices, and so on.
When you’re running a beauty business, analytics and reporting is crucial. It gives you a deep-dive into how your business is doing. It helps you devise a growth strategy and tells you the areas which have scope for improvement.
The Key Drawbacks of Manual Salon Registers
Now that we’re aware of how manual salon registers killed the business growth for salon X, let’s look at the key drawbacks. If you’re still downloading data, sorting out Excel sheets, and fixing formulas, it’s time to let go of these painful processes. Here’s why:
Error-Prone
Manual processes lead to mistakes. In the beauty business, the cost of double-booking or unrecorded information can cost you a lot.
No-shows also result in lost revenue. To eliminate all of these, it’s best to use salon software and ditch manual registers.
Poor Productivity
If your salon staff is still copying and pasting content, you will probably be left behind. Imagine the amount of time wasted if your employees are doing the same thing 20-25 times a day.
It’s no surprise that manual processes reduce your overall productivity. Instead of making your employees spend time on repetitive tasks, they can focus on enhancing their skills.
With software, even the smallest task is automated. This gives the salon owner and the staff more time to innovate and reach new heights.
Unsatisfactory Client Experience
Clients today don’t prefer associating themselves with salons that don’t offer a top-notch experience.
Thus, as a salon owner, it’s important for you to rethink your strategy especially when it comes to technology.
Salon software sets a standard for the salon industry. Generic services become something of the past as every detail can be personalised.
You can also run loyalty programs and referral programs to enhance the average client experience.
Lack of Real-time Data
Manual reports are static. By the time you start preparing them, the numbers may even become outdated.
With a salon application, this is not the case. Everything is recorded in real-time which gives you live insights. This helps you tweak your next move instantly.
With real-time data, you can scale your beauty business effortlessly.
The Solution: Salon360App, Salon Software in India
As a salon or spa owner, if you’re planning to completely eliminate manual processes, you need to switch to automation.
The best kind of automation to simplify daily tasks and processes is Salon360App. It’s incredibly advanced and takes care of basic, repetitive tasks that cost you time and money.
If manual salon registers are killing your business growth, salon software is here to fix it.
Don’t take our word for it. See for yourself with a free demo.
