Whether you’ve just opened a new salon or you’ve been in business for the past decade, if you are still relying on paper appointment books and old-school technologies you’re well behind the curve.

In today’s blog post we’ll take a look at four ways that investing in a salon management software package can help to alleviate many of the burdens of managing a salon to allow you to focus on growing your business and revenues.

Automate your Appointment Reminders

In a perfect world, every client would show up a few minutes before their scheduled appointment. Of course, this simply isn’t the case. Depending on the type of salon you run and the community that you’re situated in, you may find that anywhere from 20 to 100 percent of your clients require some sort of manual reminder that their salon appointment is approaching. A salon management software package like those offered by Salon Advantage completely removes this burden from your staff by sending automated SMS reminders at whatever frequency you determine is best. Once your client’s phone number is entered into the salon management software, you simply book the client in at their preferred time and they will be reminded automatically.

Faster and More Detailed Reporting

Whether you have three staff or thirty, if you are managing a team of salon employees you’ll need detailed reports that enable you to see deep inside of your business operations. Relying on handwritten paper accounting, time cards, compensation reports, sick day sheets and more can cause you to miss costly errors or omissions. A salon management software package will streamline your reporting and allow you to print reports in as much or as little detail as you need.

Better Stock and Inventory Management

Look around your salon – do you see bottles of stock sitting on shelves collecting dust? According to statistics from IBISWorld, the average UK salon carries anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars of stock on hand, and managing this inventory well means more profits and less waste. As a salon manager you need to know how much of what products you have on hand and how much you’ll need to buy to keep your clients happy. A quality salon management software package will calculate your ideal stock levels based on your recent sales and ensure that you only purchase what you need.

Simplified Marketing Campaigns to Drive New Business

A salon is nothing without clients, and marketing is another area that a good salon management software package can assist. For example, you may find that while you are excellent at generating new business your customer retention or return rate is lower than you’d like. Simply run a client loyalty campaign by SMS to remind your previous customers that you’re still around and offer them a discount coupon to incentivize them to return. Leveraging the power of automated marketing will drastically increase your salon’s foot traffic. There’s little doubt about it – if you’re running a salon in the UK you’ll want to explore improving your salon operations by investing in salon management software. Be sure to check out vendor websites such as http://salonadvantage.net/ for more information about this type of software can benefit your business.