In this guide, we explore the role of salon software and its key features, plus how to choose the best one for your business’ needs.
The right salon software should save time, reduce admin, and fit the way your salon already works. Good software makes bookings, payments, scheduling, and client communication easier without creating more complexity for your team. Ease of use, useful features, and reliable support are usually more important than having the longest feature list.
Making a final choice about the software you use in your salon can mean the difference between growth and standing still. When your salon software works well with your team, you can deliver incredible results for your customers. But if they struggle to make the most of it, or if there are key features missing, you might find that your salon software does more harm than good.
So, how do you choose the right salon software for your business? In this guide, we’re exploring the role of salon software in the modern salon and how you can ensure you make the right choice to help your business flourish.
Salon software can mean many different things for different salons. In some cases, salon software is merely used to book appointments. In this case, it’s simply a digital version of an old-fashioned appointment book. In other cases, salon software is the central brain that controls everything from stock levels to marketing activity.
The type of salon software you choose will depend on a number of factors:
As you can see, there is a lot to consider before making a final decision. If you’re not sure what features you should be looking for, continue to the next section. If you already have a pretty good idea of what you want from your salon software, you can skip to the selection process.
If you’re new to the world of salon software, you might not be aware of the features available to you. A comprehensive software package could be a big step up from your current booking system, so you should educate yourself on the features available before you make a final decision. These are just some of the features you can expect from a quality salon software package. These are all included with the Salon Iris package.
If you’re not sure how to choose salon software for your business, try these steps to help you to land on a decision with ease.
The first step in choosing salon software is to think about your current setup. Are you using basic appointment booking with no added features? Or would you be switching from another salon software package because you’re unhappy with the service?
Think about what works about your current setup and what is missing. Being practical about what you could achieve if your salon software was just a little more effective can make a huge difference to the final decision.
Remember that everyone on your team will need to be comfortable with the final decision. It makes sense to get their feedback early on so you can involve them in the decision-making process.
You might find that some members of the team struggle to use the software and they would like a more intuitive setup. In this case, you need to determine if the software is the problem or if a lack of training is to blame.
You could also brainstorm together what is currently working and what is missing. It could be that your team isn’t aware of the potential options available by upgrading the software package, so now would be a good time to introduce the available options so they can do independent research.
One of the biggest ways that your salon software will make an impact on your business is through the booking process. If your customers find the booking process annoying, you might find that you are losing customers.
Look through customer feedback to see if there are any comments about the booking process. Do they say that it’s easy or do they have complaints? You could also ask customers what they thought of the booking process when they arrive at the salon, as it will still be fresh in their minds.
By now you should have a clearer idea of what you need from your salon software. Work together with your team to make a list of needs and wants. Keep this process open for a few weeks so the team can really think about what would make their lives easier.
Needs are the core functionality that you cannot do without. This could include things like a seamless booking process and appointment reminders.
Wants are extra features that would be beneficial, but only if your budget allows. You might find that your final selection only includes a few of your wants, but you can keep these in mind for the future as you might be able to upgrade your package.
At a Glance
By this stage, you should have an idea of which salon software packages make the cut. The decision is likely now going to be down to usability, budget and features. At this stage, you can ask your team to start looking at each package and share their thoughts on which one will work best.
It’s no use having lots of features if your team isn’t aware of them or isn’t comfortable using them. This is one reason that it’s helpful to get everyone involved, and to then provide ongoing training so that everyone can make the most of the package.
Once you have narrowed it down to a single package, you can then set up a trial or request a demo. This will enable you to try out the features before you make a commitment to a single software package.
Changing your software package can be a stressful process, and you want to make sure you only have to do it once. This is why a trial is essential to ensure you’re happy with the features and how they work before you make a commitment.
When you’re ready to take the plunge, be prepared for some road bumps along the way. Before making the switch and moving over any customer data, make a physical backup of future appointments so you don’t lose this information in the switch.
You can also inform patients of the new booking process in an email. Encourage them to check that their information is up to date and that future appointments are still visible. If there are any issues in the change over, you can quickly put them right without upsetting any customers by double booking appointments.
Your staff need to feel confident using the new software, and they need to be able to show confidence in front of customers. Plan a few training sessions a few weeks apart so you can introduce everyone to the basics and then let them get to grips with the new processes in their own time.
After a few weeks, you can arrange a more advanced skills workshop and introduce more of the features available. Regularly review how your staff feel about the software to ensure everyone is maximising the functions available. There is nothing more frustrating as a business owner than paying for features that your team doesn’t feel confident using.
Salon Iris includes training documentation and support, so members of your team can reach out to us directly if they are struggling with any part of the process.
After 3-6 months of using the software, take time to reflect on how it has changed your business. You can use the sales reports feature to see if this has had a positive impact on your business by making it easier for customers to access appointments.
Some of the ways that you might notice a positive change in your business could include:
Once you’ve had a chance to reflect, you can determine if your choice of salon software simply isn’t working for you, or if your team is failing to make the most of the tools. If the latter is your problem, you can look for the pain points that are preventing your staff from making the most of the tools available to them.
If things are going well, you can look for ways you can further improve processes. Perhaps there are more steps you could automate to help maximise your customer list and how you market to them.
Choosing your salon software is not a step that should be rushed. It can be tempting to go full speed ahead once you’ve got the idea that you want to update how you manage your salon, but this is one step that rewards patience and consideration.
Changing salon software is a stressful process, with the ongoing fear that your business will be interrupted in some way, or that you might lose vital customer information. This is why it is vital to make the right choice for your business so you only have to make the change once.
Involve everyone in your business in the decision making process so that you can be confident the change will be a positive one. Everyone needs to be on board with the new system or you might find that your team doesn’t maximise the new features available to them.
Ready to make the switch with confidence? Arrange a free demo of Salon Iris to see how our powerful, user-friendly software can transform your salon operations—without the stress.
