I can remember carrying around a day planner to keep up with my appointments, and spending what seemed to be hours on the cell phone talking to clients while trying to read my scribbled up day planner.
I was in Ica Peru recently and wanted to know what my secretary had me scheduled for when I arrived back in the office in a few days. I just logged into ClientMagic online appointments and printed out my schedule. Next I blocked out some time to catch up before she booked someone in the spot.
I also checked to make sure the appointments were confirmed by the automatic dialer and marked so that there will be no wasted time.
Many of the appointments had been made by my clients and were tied to automated billing also, for the reason chosen by my clients. What a huge time saver..
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Are You Backing Up Your Data? How to Make it Simple!
We all know we "should" back up our data to protect our valuable information, but we are so busy, or we rely on someone else in our organization to do it. Our computers run reliably for years, so we become complacent and trust the computer or the process we think we have in place.
And then, disaster strikes! Your computer crashes, or your computer is stolen, or staff changes, or there is a fire/flood, or your hard drive fails. Hard drives have moving parts; they fail! My momma used to say, "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda!" meaning that I needed rethink a situation and manage it another way.
Think about it this way: how bad would it be to lose a day's, week's, or month's business information? What if you lost your client list completely? Okay! Enough said! What is the best way to preserve our precious business data?
We recommend a flash drive that plugs into a USB Port. I saw a deal at a big box store yesterday that was $31.00 for TWO 2GB drives! The size you choose depends on the data you have to back up. If you have only your business data, a small drive is plenty. If you have lots of pictures and music, you should see how much space you need now and double it! It is still relatively inexpensive. Get two drives. Alternate them. Keep one or both off-site in a safe place.
One mistake businesses often make is to backup, but the backup goes to the "C" Drive which normally is the hard drive on your computer! You need to be sure to back up to the "F" or "E" or the proper letter which is your Flash Drive. Once the drive letter is set, the backup will normally go to the proper drive.
Next, quickly check the drive "To Be Sure" that you have a backup file for the current date. You do that by clicking on the drive letter and taking a look to check the date and relative file size! How often you check is up to you. A daily habit is good to cultivate, but if you check once a week, the worst that could happen is that you lose a week’s worth of information. It is your choice!
Be sure to find the help you need to GET THAT BACKUP! Your software company can help you, or a computer tech, or even a savvy friend.
Next Article: Automated Online Backups!
And then, disaster strikes! Your computer crashes, or your computer is stolen, or staff changes, or there is a fire/flood, or your hard drive fails. Hard drives have moving parts; they fail! My momma used to say, "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda!" meaning that I needed rethink a situation and manage it another way.
Think about it this way: how bad would it be to lose a day's, week's, or month's business information? What if you lost your client list completely? Okay! Enough said! What is the best way to preserve our precious business data?
We recommend a flash drive that plugs into a USB Port. I saw a deal at a big box store yesterday that was $31.00 for TWO 2GB drives! The size you choose depends on the data you have to back up. If you have only your business data, a small drive is plenty. If you have lots of pictures and music, you should see how much space you need now and double it! It is still relatively inexpensive. Get two drives. Alternate them. Keep one or both off-site in a safe place.
One mistake businesses often make is to backup, but the backup goes to the "C" Drive which normally is the hard drive on your computer! You need to be sure to back up to the "F" or "E" or the proper letter which is your Flash Drive. Once the drive letter is set, the backup will normally go to the proper drive.
Next, quickly check the drive "To Be Sure" that you have a backup file for the current date. You do that by clicking on the drive letter and taking a look to check the date and relative file size! How often you check is up to you. A daily habit is good to cultivate, but if you check once a week, the worst that could happen is that you lose a week’s worth of information. It is your choice!
Be sure to find the help you need to GET THAT BACKUP! Your software company can help you, or a computer tech, or even a savvy friend.
Next Article: Automated Online Backups!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Should Each Stylist Handle Their Own Transactions?
Here's the simple math from the point of view of the shop owner, AND from the point of view of a stylist in a booth rental:
Shop Owner:
Picking up where we left off last week, if you spend only 7 minutes per client doing the paperwork (this is conservative), and you have 5 stylists, the time adds up fast! The truism, "Time is Money" is really important here!
Your stylists will make more money providing services, instead of handling reception duties! If a stylist/service provider would make $1000. /month more without paperwork chores, and you multiply that by 5 stylists, you are losing out on approximately $5, ooo. /month in services.
Consider hiring a receptionist/front desk person to handle the paperwork. Normally, the salary is modest, and she can perform other duties as well! If you pay $2000-$3000 including benefits and taxes for your receptionist, you will have a profit of $2,000-$3,000 a month. If you offer booth rental, you can ask each renter to contribute to the receptionist with the same reasoning!
Booth Rental:
A Salon that offers Front Desk services will save you precious time to offer your talents. If you multiply the number of clients you see by the day/week/month by the modest figure of 7 minutes, you can computer the dollars lost in your particular situation. Then you can decide if the extra cost is worth it to you!
A busy salon or spa, with friendly receptionists providing positive customer service improves your clients’ experience, true, but even more this idea makes dollars and sense!
Shop Owner:
Picking up where we left off last week, if you spend only 7 minutes per client doing the paperwork (this is conservative), and you have 5 stylists, the time adds up fast! The truism, "Time is Money" is really important here!
Your stylists will make more money providing services, instead of handling reception duties! If a stylist/service provider would make $1000. /month more without paperwork chores, and you multiply that by 5 stylists, you are losing out on approximately $5, ooo. /month in services.
Consider hiring a receptionist/front desk person to handle the paperwork. Normally, the salary is modest, and she can perform other duties as well! If you pay $2000-$3000 including benefits and taxes for your receptionist, you will have a profit of $2,000-$3,000 a month. If you offer booth rental, you can ask each renter to contribute to the receptionist with the same reasoning!
Booth Rental:
A Salon that offers Front Desk services will save you precious time to offer your talents. If you multiply the number of clients you see by the day/week/month by the modest figure of 7 minutes, you can computer the dollars lost in your particular situation. Then you can decide if the extra cost is worth it to you!
A busy salon or spa, with friendly receptionists providing positive customer service improves your clients’ experience, true, but even more this idea makes dollars and sense!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Computerization with Salon Software
Makes You Money!
If you are still using a paper book instead of salon software, you lose precious time with paperwork all day long. Time is money, lots of money. Here are the numbers!
Here is an example of how much time you lose: Your client calls for an appointment and you make the appointment in your book. When your client arrives, you spend time pulling their card to see previous notes and formulations and discussing what they need today. After performing the service, you compute the bill, adding services, products, taxes and tips. And don't forget updating that card and re-filing it!
Total time spent processing your client's paperwork is estimated as approximately 7 minutes per client and that does not include calls to change appointments! When you multiply 7 minutes times the number of clients per day, say 8, you lose 56 minutes per day per stylist! If you or your stylist normally makes $50.00/hour, you lost approximately $45. per stylist per day. That means you are losing approximately $1000/month/stylist! Computerization pays for itself AND continues to make you money!
You are paying for salon software every day whether you have a computer or not! Multiply $1000/month times the number of stylists you have in your salon!
Next article: Is a Front Desk Staffer Cost Effective or Should Each Stylist Make Their Own Appointments?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Gift Cards Increase Spa and Salon
Holiday Business!
Next time you are in the grocery store, take a look around the checkout counter. You will see displays of gift cards. Recently we visited a Rite-Aid pharmacy in our area to obtain a gift card for a sick friend who lived out of town. They not only had gift cards available, but phone cards and even credit cards. Why do retail store take up valuable display space for these cards? Profit!
1. 20% of gift card value is never redeemed. *
2. 80% of those that use gift cards purchase services and merchandise for more than the value of the gift card.
3. Gift cards are a fool proof way to insure that the recipient spends the gift on what you wanted not on something soon forgotten.
In an average salon of 5 providers, working with 10 clients per day, you can easily sells 25 gift cards or more per week when properly merchandised and you have an incentive program for your employees to promote gift cards. That is about 1,200 cards per year. With an average card value is $20 or more, you make $24,000 per year in gift card sales. If 20% are never redeemed, that is $4,800 additional revenue.
Merchandizing gift cards in your shop:
Counter top and wall signs proclaiming the availability of "Gift Cards, the Perfect Holiday gift" suggest to clients a easy way to show you care. The small signs can also be displayed at each station for the silent salesman effect. Some of our clients have their front windows painted "Gift Cards available here", others have banners. Clients soon love them too. Gift cards can also insure that children spend the value on the card receiving intended services, and gift cards are rechargeable too !
1. 20% of gift card value is never redeemed. *
2. 80% of those that use gift cards purchase services and merchandise for more than the value of the gift card.
3. Gift cards are a fool proof way to insure that the recipient spends the gift on what you wanted not on something soon forgotten.
In an average salon of 5 providers, working with 10 clients per day, you can easily sells 25 gift cards or more per week when properly merchandised and you have an incentive program for your employees to promote gift cards. That is about 1,200 cards per year. With an average card value is $20 or more, you make $24,000 per year in gift card sales. If 20% are never redeemed, that is $4,800 additional revenue.
Merchandizing gift cards in your shop:
Counter top and wall signs proclaiming the availability of "Gift Cards, the Perfect Holiday gift" suggest to clients a easy way to show you care. The small signs can also be displayed at each station for the silent salesman effect. Some of our clients have their front windows painted "Gift Cards available here", others have banners. Clients soon love them too. Gift cards can also insure that children spend the value on the card receiving intended services, and gift cards are rechargeable too !
* Not all states and local governments allow you to keep all of your gift card un-redeemed values. Check with your accountant or state for the exact regulations.
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