With evolving customer demands and the need to work smarter (not harder!), business software has become a must for today’s salons and spas. The days of paper appointment books are long gone, and the industry now uses digital tools to manage appointments, sales, marketing, reporting, and more.  

However, not all software is created equal. Equally as important, not all businesses use the right software for their needs.  

The wrong fit and a lack of features can lead to confusion, errors, and worse: a frustrated salon or spa team forced to spend time on cumbersome technology rather than providing exceptional service to clients.

To see how your team is likely faring, here are some of the more common pitfalls of today’s software options. Feel free to use it as a checklist against your own software – does yours live up to expectations?  

1) The software is too basic

Salons and spas are complex by nature. Each business has its own mix of clients, services, rooms, and equipment. One seemingly simple haircut booking might not look the same at two different businesses. Without options for customization, staff are forced to apply workarounds to their software just to ensure accurate scheduling and invoicing.  

Consider this: Does your brand have access to customization options? Can your booking software handle a range of service combinations and situations? Here are a few options that will keep your appointment book optimized and accurate – and your staff happy:

• Customizable appointment times for staff, services, and individual clients.
• All types of bookings – individuals, groups, services, and add-ons – available both online and in-store.
• The ability to combine services and add-ons, or book two parallel services in one slot. For complete accuracy, the appointment time should reflect when two combined, complementary services require less time than when each is performed separately – like a mani and a pedi.

2) Support isn’t available when you need it

Here’s a frequently forgotten aspect of software use: The people behind it. When your business runs into a snag on a busy day, will your team lose minutes – or hours – to get back up and running? Quick, dependable, knowledgeable support is key to keeping your business running smoothly.

Consider this: Larger, established software companies often have larger teams, with greater availability and more support options. As an example, here are three ways Zenoti supports 25,000+ beauty and wellness businesses:

• 24/7 customer support, 365 days a year, with offices worldwide to ensure assistance is always available when needed.
• A comprehensive training and support platform to help each team member become familiar and skilled with our software.
• Experienced salon and spa industry consultants with one goal: Help salons, spas, and medical spas make the most of their software. Our customer success team helps businesses establish realistic goals, create plans to reach them, and ensure maximum business and revenue growth.
  

3) Security and stability concerns

As with any technology, salon and spa software can run into technical issues. It can disrupt daily operations – like your team’s ability to manage bookings and take payments – and cause staff and client frustration. A big problem – maybe one of the most dangerous – is using software that isn’t safe and secure. That puts your clients’ data (and your business reputation) at risk, as personal details are frequently targeted by hackers.

Consider this: Make sure you understand your software’s security credentials. Is the system built on robust technologies? Does it comply with applicable regulations such as HIPAA? What is the system’s uptime (the percentage of time it runs without outages.)?  

Here’s how third-party security assessor Upguard rates popular software systems for the beauty and wellness industry:

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4) The software system lacks integrations

Many salons and spas use a combination of software tools: point-of-sale systems, marketing platforms, inventory management. When these systems don’t communicate – when they don’t “integrate,” it often leads to errors and time-consuming workarounds. For example, if you want to initiate a segmented marketing campaign, your staff might have to import and export client data from (and to) different programs. If your team simply wants to re-order retail products, they may input inventory data manually into an ordering platform.

Consider this: Some salons and spas don’t fully utilize the tools available in their business software because they’re used to a certain system or process. Always see what your software has to offer. Helpful features include:

• APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), which enable different systems to communicate with each other.  
• Ready-made integrations with popular third-party tools (for payroll or accounting, for instance) or suppliers.
• Fully integrated features in the software platform. For example, Zenoti software combines appointments, sales, marketing, reporting, inventory, employee management and much more – it’s the industry’s most complete platform. No switching between systems required.  

Conclusion

Using the wrong salon and spa software can result in confusion, errors, and time-consuming manual work. Your staff spends hours using the software every day – and are likely to feel that pain more acutely than anyone else.

What’s your first step in gauging your software pains? Ask the most frequent users on your team for some feedback. Make a wish list of features they’d love to see or use – are they available within your current platform, or perhaps another?

Review source G2 lists Zenoti as the industry leader in spa and salon software. Get all the details.

To see Zenoti in action, contact our team.