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If you own a salon, there is no question that you and your receptionist spend a lot (unnecessary) time on the phone.
Between scheduling appointments, calling clients to remind them of their upcoming appointment and so on and so forth, a significant portion of your day is spent on needlessly on the phone.
It’s a time-consuming task that offers little reward.
For salons, there’s a much better way.
What if all that time receptionists spent on the phone could be entirely automated?
Think about all the time receptionists and other staff could spend on providing a better customer experience by getting to know customers on a more personal level or by providing personalized services?
Think about the time they’d have to deliver a premium salon experience by providing refreshments and other such luxuries. Or by having the time to sell various salon products to your customers?
At the end of the day, your receptionists are the face of your salon. They are capable of accomplishing a lot more for your business than merely spending hours on the phone every day – especially when the technology is available to drastically cut this time down by more than half.
That’s not even mentioning the fact that your paper-based appointment book is costing you thousands.
So, what’s the technology that can reduce time spent on the phone by as much as 90 percent?
The answer is an online salon appointment scheduler.
How A Salon Appointment Scheduler Can Cut Phone Time By 90%
1. It Takes Your Appointment Book Online
Online salon software takes your appointment book online. That means that clients can book services online at a time that’s convenient for them. Since this software can take bookings 24/7, that means that your business is effectively running 24/7.
Studies are showing that as many as 90% of customers want the ability to book online. By offering these self-service options, you become a premium customer service provider by extension.
Think of it this way: offering online booking is the equivalent of putting your business on Hotels.com or Expedia.
But it also means that because clients are now booking online, receptionists are spending less time on the phone. In fact, Yocale has found that scheduling software can reduce the amount of time receptionists spend on the phone by as much as 80 to 90 percent.
Don’t want to offer online bookings? No problem. The best scheduling software on the market is flexible, giving salons like yours the ability to take appointment requests instead.
Are certain stylists only bookable on certain days of the week? Perhaps you only offer certain treatments a couple of times a week. Whatever your scheduling needs are, the point is that an online salon appointment scheduler can accommodate you.
Read More: 5 Best Salon Software: Simplifying Choices with Summarized Reviews
2. It Automates Upcoming Appointment Reminders
Receptionists also spend a lot of time calling clients about their upcoming appointments. Every salon knows that clients need the extra reminder, otherwise, they are likely to be a no-show.
Indeed, no-shows are a major problem for appointment-based businesses and that is especially true for salons. Many appointment-based businesses face at least one or two no-shows a week. And those no-shows are costing salons.
Not only do salons lose out on that hour or more of potential revenue, but it has a domino effect later on. At some point, receptionists will spend even more time on the phone trying to arrange another appointment for a later date – again, this is just more unnecessary time spent on the phone.
All of this is to say that an online salon appointment scheduler can completely automate this process through email and SMS messages, completely eliminating the task from your receptionist’s to-do list altogether.
Research has shown that email reminders can reduce no-shows by as much as 36 percent. Yocale has found even more favourable results, with reminders reducing no-shows by as much as 80 percent.
That’s a major win for your salon.
3. No More Double Bookings
Scheduling conflicts and double bookings are all too common when appointments are made the old-fashioned way, that is, with pen and paper. Inevitably, humans are going to make mistakes. It’s natural.
But, those mistakes are still costing your business time and money, not to mention more time spent on the phone trying to correct those mistakes.
An online salon software won’t double book you, cost you money and waste more of your staff’s time.
Yet another win for your salon.
The Bottom Line
An online salon appointment scheduler can cut up to 80 percent of the time your receptionist spends on the phone.
Less time on the phone means that your receptionists – the face of your salon – can spend more time providing a better customer experience for your clients or selling products.
But, remember: online salon software does a lot more than this From no-gap scheduling to automating rebooking reminders, scheduling software saves you time and money. And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Here’s why you need to retire your paper-based appointment book immediately.
Yocale is the top scheduling software on the market today. We also offer a free suite of online scheduling, business management and marketing tools. The best part? It’s easy and it’s free. For more information, click here.
