One of the best things about being in the online Salon & Spa software business is that every day is different. Just when I think I've seen and heard it all, one of our subscribers will come up with a feature suggestion or some unique circumstance in their business that gives us great ideas for new features and conveniences that can truly make a difference in the business and daily life of every Salon & Spa professional using our service.
As a former service provider and Salon/Spa owner myself, I am very sensitive to the needs of the hard-working service professionals that are now my clientele. I'm also very sensitive to the fact that most people have no idea about all of the work that goes into being a service provider - both physical and emotional.
So what does all this have to do with why "Specialty Salon & Spa Software" is important? I think my personal experience in the Salon and Spa industry has everything to do with what makes our online software become an invaluable part of daily life for our clients - you know... the kind of technology tools you can't live without - like your cell phone or email. It is a beautiful thing when I hear from our clients that they would "die" without our service.
This "until death do us part" commitment from our clients comes from specialty features we've developed like the ability for owners to hide client contact information from employees but still give them log-in access to review their schedules, or formula and procedural notes that are automatically placed into each day's print view and a million other intuitive things our software does.
Our specialty features and little things add up to a lot of difference making life easier and business more profitable. I refuse to accept that the exact same software features and functions that work for a Yoga, Dance or Photography studio are going to serve beauty professionals well. Our commitment to our subscribers is to be the very best tool for Salon & Spa professionals and doing that doesn't mean creating generic software features that cover many industries.
Everything ONLINE Salon and Spa Management is where we submit updates to VirtualSalons and VirtualSpas subscribers about what we are doing in our online salon and spa software programs. If you are not a VirtualSalons and VirtualSpas client, we believe you will still find our blog topics informative, and of course, we'd be happy to tell you more about our services if you like what you read.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Top 10 Things to look for in Online Salon & Spa Tools
Here's our "Hot" list for what Salon & Spa Professionals should be looking for in Online Salon & Spa Management Tools...Of course, VirtualSalons & VirtualSpas is proud to boast ALL of these features:
- Real-Time Appointment Booking - The appointment goes directly into the online books when the client selects their appointment time. Anything that requires an "approval" or "confirmation" to the client before the appointment is scheduled is simply an email request- not really online booking.
- All auto email should allow you to display your logo, not your online service providers. If the email sent out by your online books does not include your branding, whose business are you building? Certainly not yours!
- Connect an unlimited number of computers without additional fees.
- Make sure you get a totally web-based solution to be completely Mac & PC compatible. Products that have a combination of disk and web components will usually require you to buy and install costly upgrades for the disk-installed features.
- No Per-Transaction Fees. The only type of transaction you should pay a percentage for is credit card processing - not appointment booking or services you provide for your existing clientele. Don't agree to share a percentage of your income with an Online Service Provider!
- No Updates to purchase, No Contracts and No Required Equipment to Buy.
- Self-serve FREE Trial. If a system isn't easy enough for you to get in to demo it online for yourself, is it going to be easy for you to use in your business?
- FREE Set-Up, Training and Support Fees.
- Make sure your online service provider's Privacy Policy protects you and your clients. ALWAYS read the "Terms and Conditions of Use" before signing up for any online service. Many online services are not protecting your client list and may even market your competition to your existing clients. The worst part is... you will be paying them to do it! A reputable online service provider will state very clearly that your client information belongs to YOU (the professional) and that they will never share, rent, or use your client contact information in any way.
- A search feature or ads that promote your competition should not be available for your clients to browse while they are online to book an appointment with you. You want your clients going directly to your online books without seeing any mention of another Salon or Spa professional or "special offers".
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Dangerous New Online Services for Salons & Spas
Keeping with the theme of yesterday's blog, let's look a little closer at additional dangers Salon & Spa professionals need to avoid in Online Services.
Here's our Top 5 Dangers we educate and warn professionals about daily:
1. Client Stealing. YOUR CLIENT contact information should remain your client contact information. Online Service providers should not be promoting their own site, their own reward points or your competitors services to your client list. You will allow them to cannibalize your client list and your business revenue from the inside out if you participate in these online services.
2. Don't get into a coupon battle. While the idea of participating in a Salon or Spa search site can seem like a good idea for your business, be careful not to be devaluing your services or getting into "coupon or discount wars" with other businesses listed on these sites. Know your value and find creative ways to reward and incentivize your existing clients rather than always trying to make a low-cost offer to new clients.
3. Posting service offers on "discount" sites for days and weeks ahead will devalue your services. Our features are moving toward making real-time offers an easy way for Salon and Spa professionals to fill open time in their books. We also have many built in features to help you pre-book clients and build the book without discounting.
4. Don't get sucked into online pay-per-click campaigns where you cannot impose daily cost limits. AND if you are really going to see value from a pay-per-click placement online, you will start to see activity and results (meaning clients in the door) from it fairly immediatley. If you aren't getting calls or clients within a couple of weeks you should be shutting down this expense.
5. Shopping Carts can get you into trouble. Although the idea of true e-commerce and selling online can be appealing, many Professional Product lines have strict rules about NOT selling online or you will be in conflict with the manufacturer's distribution policies. If you choose to ignore these rules, you may lose the opportunity to represent the product line.
Here's our Top 5 Dangers we educate and warn professionals about daily:
1. Client Stealing. YOUR CLIENT contact information should remain your client contact information. Online Service providers should not be promoting their own site, their own reward points or your competitors services to your client list. You will allow them to cannibalize your client list and your business revenue from the inside out if you participate in these online services.
2. Don't get into a coupon battle. While the idea of participating in a Salon or Spa search site can seem like a good idea for your business, be careful not to be devaluing your services or getting into "coupon or discount wars" with other businesses listed on these sites. Know your value and find creative ways to reward and incentivize your existing clients rather than always trying to make a low-cost offer to new clients.
3. Posting service offers on "discount" sites for days and weeks ahead will devalue your services. Our features are moving toward making real-time offers an easy way for Salon and Spa professionals to fill open time in their books. We also have many built in features to help you pre-book clients and build the book without discounting.
4. Don't get sucked into online pay-per-click campaigns where you cannot impose daily cost limits. AND if you are really going to see value from a pay-per-click placement online, you will start to see activity and results (meaning clients in the door) from it fairly immediatley. If you aren't getting calls or clients within a couple of weeks you should be shutting down this expense.
5. Shopping Carts can get you into trouble. Although the idea of true e-commerce and selling online can be appealing, many Professional Product lines have strict rules about NOT selling online or you will be in conflict with the manufacturer's distribution policies. If you choose to ignore these rules, you may lose the opportunity to represent the product line.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Is your Online Appointment Service stealing your clients?
Yes, I said STEALING YOUR CLIENTS!
Salon and Spa appointment booking is rapidly moving online for individual booth renters, single location and multi-location Salon and Spa businesses. Since my business is an Online Appointment Booking and Emarketing tool for Salons and Spas, I am all for this; but not all services are created equally and licensed professionals must BEWARE.
Online Services vary not only in features and functions, but also in Terms & Conditions of Use. Maybe you've heard of these "Terms"- it is the page on most websites that nobody reads and quickly clicks to "Accept". If you sign up for online services that will share ownership of your client list, you may be personally destroying your own business.
Online appointment booking services can be VERY valuable to build your business, but NOT when the online service you select will legally consider YOUR clients THEIR clients.
This dangerous new trend in "Terms of Service" that we are seeing in some our competitors is a new breed of online tools that is promising licensed professionals free search listings and new client promotions in addition to online appointment booking services.
VirtualSalons & VirtualSpas does NOT have a Salon/Spa Search available to consumers on purpose. If every time your clients go online to book an appointment they see all of your LOCAL competition's service menus and current promotions, there will be a percentage of your clients who will choose to schedule services with another Salon/Spa professional even though they originally logged on to schedule an appointment with you!
Every business wants and needs new clients, but you should not be gambling the loyalty of all of your existing clients in pursuit of new clients or online appointment booking tools.
If the online service you integrate into your business legally considers YOUR clients THEIR clients, MAKE NO MISTAKE, they will be marketing competing products and services to your clients and this will undermine your business success.
Bottom Line: No matter what cool features it looks like an online system has to help you find new clients, be sure you KNOW WHO OWNS THE CLIENT CONTACT INFORMATION and KNOW if your clients will have the potential to be contacted by your online service provider.
Salon and Spa appointment booking is rapidly moving online for individual booth renters, single location and multi-location Salon and Spa businesses. Since my business is an Online Appointment Booking and Emarketing tool for Salons and Spas, I am all for this; but not all services are created equally and licensed professionals must BEWARE.
Online Services vary not only in features and functions, but also in Terms & Conditions of Use. Maybe you've heard of these "Terms"- it is the page on most websites that nobody reads and quickly clicks to "Accept". If you sign up for online services that will share ownership of your client list, you may be personally destroying your own business.
Online appointment booking services can be VERY valuable to build your business, but NOT when the online service you select will legally consider YOUR clients THEIR clients.
This dangerous new trend in "Terms of Service" that we are seeing in some our competitors is a new breed of online tools that is promising licensed professionals free search listings and new client promotions in addition to online appointment booking services.
VirtualSalons & VirtualSpas does NOT have a Salon/Spa Search available to consumers on purpose. If every time your clients go online to book an appointment they see all of your LOCAL competition's service menus and current promotions, there will be a percentage of your clients who will choose to schedule services with another Salon/Spa professional even though they originally logged on to schedule an appointment with you!
Every business wants and needs new clients, but you should not be gambling the loyalty of all of your existing clients in pursuit of new clients or online appointment booking tools.
If the online service you integrate into your business legally considers YOUR clients THEIR clients, MAKE NO MISTAKE, they will be marketing competing products and services to your clients and this will undermine your business success.
Bottom Line: No matter what cool features it looks like an online system has to help you find new clients, be sure you KNOW WHO OWNS THE CLIENT CONTACT INFORMATION and KNOW if your clients will have the potential to be contacted by your online service provider.
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