Groomers are artists; wonderful artists. However operating a grooming enterprise takes a lot greater than being simply an artist. As a small, medium or giant enterprise proprietor, how a lot time do you and your workers spend on all the pieces however your craft? How a lot time do you spend reserving, confirming and following up on appointments, taking telephone calls, amassing buyer funds and all the opposite important however not enjoyable administrative duties?
Ask your self this: Should you might spend subsequent to zero time on these duties, would your enterprise be extra worthwhile?
In right this moment’s setting, there are such a lot of instruments that salon homeowners and their groomers can make the most of to work extra effectively…but many don’t. This article will clarify how one can develop your enterprise with 4 easy know-how options to get you out of the day-to-day enterprise monotony, make you extra money and refocus your vitality on the duties you care about.
Are you utilizing an off-the-shelf reserving, shopper administration or bank card system not particular to the grooming {industry}? Or perhaps even pen and paper? If that’s the case, we get it. You might be operating your enterprise the easiest way you understand how.
However take into account this thought: Would you utilize an outdated pair of kitchen scissors to form a topknot? Positive, the kitchen scissors may go; however are they going to provide the similar outcomes that utilizing a pair of freshly sharpened curved shears would provide you with? Positively unlikely!
To be honest and supply a practical analogy, the identical goes for utilizing any form of software program system that isn’t designed particularly for the grooming {industry}. It might work, however not in a approach that can get the job carried out sooner, higher and smarter.
So, when you don’t use kitchen scissors, why would you use a non-specialty software program product? You most likely wouldn’t when you knew the true advantages that industry-specific software program has to supply, identical to you realize the distinction between kitchen scissors and that pair of shears you splurged on at Groom Expo. The fitting industry-specific software program with options like on-line reservations, automated appointment reminders/confirmations and text-to-pay may help you’re employed smarter, not tougher.
1. On-line Reservations. I do know what a few of you might be considering; “Prospects scheduling their very own appointments is one thing I’ve had precise nightmares about, NO THANKS!” However on-line reserving know-how has grown a lot prior to now few years, and with all of the totally different customizations and safeguard choices out there, there isn’t a motive you can’t have the schedule you need with out the effort of doing the scheduling your self.
Arrange your software program to require your approval earlier than an appointment is added to your schedule. This fashion you continue to get the ultimate say, however spend simply 5 minutes a day approving your purchasers’ reserving requests vs spending hours doing all of it manually. Wouldn’t you like to chop down on time spent flipping via the calendar, searching for open appointments when you can be grooming?
Should you might improve your retail/add-on service gross sales by as much as 80%, would that cash assist your enterprise? When a buyer calls in to make an appointment, you most likely don’t have time to clarify all of the totally different further providers and upsells your salon presents; or, in lots of instances, your entrance desk workers could merely not be comfy making an attempt to promote different providers or objects. With on-line reservations, most software program does this for you. Ten-dollar enamel brushing? Twenty-dollar luxurious spa package deal? 5-dollar nail grinding? These numbers add up quick!
Have you learnt what else provides up quick? The quantity of money and time misplaced on no-shows. On-line reservations provide the choice to cost a deposit on the time of reserving, which has been confirmed to drastically cut back the speed of no-shows and preserve your prospects accountable. Most on-line reserving programs additionally include a customer-facing portal, dashing up the brand new buyer consumption course of and permitting current prospects to see their appointment historical past, add vaccination information and extra.
2. Automated textual content messages. Cling up the telephone and say goodbye to reminder calls. By utilizing software program with built-in textual content messaging, you’ll be able to ship out automated appointment reminders with out lifting a finger. Textual content messaging presents extra flexibility than a conventional telephone name as a result of it permits prospects to reply rapidly and in conditions the place they might not have the ability to speak on the telephone. In most software program, prospects can conveniently reply “YES” to computerized reminder texts and their appointment will probably be marked as confirmed in your software program system.
With automated textual content messages and on-line reservations, you’ll be able to simply cut back your administrative work by hours every day. All of us love the comfort of getting these texts from our medical doctors, dentists and hairdressers, so why not supply this similar nice expertise to your purchasers, whereas additionally saving you time?
3. Built-in bank card processing. Built-in bank card processing permits you to preserve observe of your funds and funds in a single place, making it simple to remain organized. By utilizing built-in funds, it can save you a mean of 60 minutes of workers time per day (30 appointments x 2 minutes = 60 minutes SAVED!). Moreover, you’ll have the ability to enhance the shopper expertise, forestall the prospect of guide entry errors and cease losing time evaluating invoices together with your batch studies, making an attempt to trace down that lacking 5 {dollars}.
4. Textual content-to-pay. With text-to-pay, it’s simple to streamline your checkout course of. Not solely will you save workers time, however you’ll get your purchasers out and in of your facility a lot sooner. One of many many advantages of utilizing text-to-pay is that it’s a safe method to ship invoices and obtain funds through textual content message. All transactions are encrypted so you’ll be able to ensure that your prospects’ info is secure and sound. And since it’s so handy, text-to-pay is ideal for busy pet groomers who’re all the time on the go.
Think about having the ability to go into your software program, verify a field that reveals your groom is finished, and a textual content goes out to your shopper letting them know the pet is prepared for pick-up with a hyperlink to pay their bill and the choice so as to add a tip. The shopper can then merely stroll into your facility, seize their pet with zero paperwork or funds to finish, and you may each get again to your days.
Many grooming software program suppliers additionally can help you securely retailer buyer bank card info within the type of encrypted tokens. Protecting buyer fee info not solely quickens the check-out course of, but in addition protects your enterprise by guaranteeing you might be compensated for no-shows and last-minute cancellations (that is particularly useful through the vacation season).
The underside line is that this: All of us need to work exhausting and become profitable, however most of us bought began within the pet care {industry} for the pets, not for the bookkeeping and administrative chores. However with right this moment’s revolutionary software program and know-how, you’ll be able to automate so most of the duties that interrupt your workflow and eat the dear time you can spend doing what you love.
Know-how is consistently bettering, so store round, ask for demos and ensure no matter system you might be utilizing to handle your enterprise is the proper match in your distinctive wants.
Bear in mind, working smarter, not tougher will prevent money and time. Leverage what’s on the market right this moment and get again to doing what you like! ✂️
www.hello-groom.com
Jeff Brodsly
Jeff Brodsly, proprietor/CEO of Kennel Connection and 100GROUP, provides 15 years of expertise listening to purchasers’ ache factors and offering them with know-how options to enhance their companies. After 28 years within the {industry}, Kennel Connection launched Howdy-Groom, web-based software program designed particularly for groomers. The group is stacked with pet care professionals who construct software program based mostly on their hands-on expertise and invaluable suggestions from folks such as you. Howdy-Groom presents best-in-class software program, bank card processing, enterprise insurance coverage, telephone programs, and 2-way-SMS, supported by a devoted customer support group.
