Daily work in a salon, studio or other service business consists of small tasks: confirming appointments, checking the schedule, answering clients, reviewing sales and looking for the next booking opportunity.
You do not need to change everything at once. Start with the processes that interrupt the team most often or rely on someone remembering what to do. This article offers five ideas you can introduce gradually.
Tip 1: Keep clients close with notifications
Happy regular clients often bring in new people through word of mouth. That makes it important not only to attract attention but also to make the next visit easier.
You provide good service that keeps clients happy, and we provide tools for client retention and better-organized communication. One useful tool in Reservation.Studio Business is sending email and SMS notifications to all or selected clients. Learn more about notifications and reminders.
You have ready-made templates that you can adapt to your needs and your business’s communication style. Pricing depends on the channel you need.
Notifications are useful for:
- Minimizing missed appointments and bookings — important for managing your schedule and resources. You may not realize how much lost opportunity, and therefore lost revenue, comes from clients who do not attend at the agreed time.
- Increasing sales per client — do not hold back. If you do not offer another service or a discount to regular clients who are already happy, you miss valuable opportunities for more revenue.
- Retaining clients who are new to your business — people who have visited once or twice, or who come too rarely. Email and SMS notifications can remind them about another visit without relying on manual communication.
To see how these features connect in one system, book a demo. During the conversation, you can show your actual schedule and how your team works.
Another convenient tool for more bookings is Reservation.Studio’s public profile and client app.
For clients, it is a convenient way to see public information, available times and the option to send a request. You decide what is public and whether your business can be discovered in the app or accessed through a direct link. Learn more about the Marketplace and client apps.
The mobile booking app helps with:
- Increasing sales — when clients can book quickly and easily at any time, they are encouraged not to put it off. This is especially useful when they are busy or neglect their own needs while taking care of others. Give them this convenience and you will notice the positive effect on sales.
- A clearer schedule — when online booking uses the same availability as the team’s daily work, there are fewer overlaps, checks and transfers from chats and spreadsheets.
- Recognition — if you have a physical location and use the Reservation.Studio client app, you will have a sticker on your door. Passers-by will see that they can book through the mobile app. They will probably recognize it, since they can already use it to book all kinds of services, from hairdressing, fitness and dance to car services, which makes it a popular app.
Tip 2: Attract more clients with a focused approach
Many service businesses need practical, day-to-day marketing: a clear offer, an up-to-date website or profile, an easy booking path and follow-up communication. Start with one channel and one goal, such as more bookings for a particular service or bringing back clients who have not visited recently.
When marketing connects to the schedule and client history, it is easier to see whether a campaign leads to actual bookings rather than just likes or general traffic.
We touch on some of these tips in another article: 3 online ways to attract clients to a salon or aesthetic business.
Tip 3: Be part of your clients’ special moments
Few things are nicer than an unexpected birthday greeting or a reminder about an offer you should use.
Reservation.Studio client records can help. They are short, easy-to-complete forms in our software where you can record any information that matters to you about each client, plus an unlimited number of notes.
Do not rely on memory or limit the information you keep. Record the client’s birthday, their most frequent treatments, any specific considerations during service, what they like to drink when visiting your business — water, tea, coffee or alcohol — and any other details. Poor salespeople underestimate this information; good ones know their clients well. That information is invaluable.
All of this makes sense when client data is organized and accessible to the people who use it. Learn more about client records and visit history.
You can then send each client a birthday message and add an individual discount!
Tip 4: Introduce straightforward business reporting this week
The best way to improve business results is to introduce weekly and monthly reporting. Track schedule occupancy, how often clients visit, revenue per client, commissions, discounts and more. But how do you find the time when everyone is busy?
Reports in Reservation.Studio Business show workload, bookings, sales and other important figures for a selected period.
In the Reports menu, once you have signed in, you always have a wide range of report types available. With a few clicks to choose the report and period, the system displays a summary of the information you need, such as income over a given period.
Reports help you see which services are in demand, which channels bring clients and where improvements are needed. Learn more about reports and analytics.
When you track the team’s workload, consumables used and sales, you can make changes based on actual data rather than instinct alone.
If you have questions about this or another feature, contact us online and we will help straight away.
Tip 5: Be social
Social networks let you stay close to your clients and show your services, team and available appointments. Instagram is one channel where you can publish content with a clear next step instead of relying only on likes and followers.
For more about using Instagram and Facebook, see our article: 3 online ways to attract clients to a salon or aesthetic business.
Spend more time browsing social media during lunch, in the evening and on weekends, but with a purpose: look for new clients. Follow them and share each other’s successes. The demanding work of day-to-day management can be digitized. It is time to do that with Reservation.Studio Business and our experienced team of software and marketing specialists.
We are here for your questions and advice.