How to Find the Best Salon and Spa Management Software

So, you’ve decided to take that leap and make your dream of owning a salon or spa your reality. Let’s face it, any new business has its challenges, but spas and salons bring a whole new level of complexity to the undertaking. Success is easier if your expectations are realistic.

If you have recently opened your business, you’re probably becoming an expert at juggling various tasks at once. After all of the planning for your new venture—from creating financial projections, to ordering equipment and inventory, to fine-tuning your service menu and hiring the staff—you might have thought that operating the business would be the easy part. However, that’s just setting the stage for the real show, the show that you put on every day when you open your doors.

Incorporating the best salon and spa software in your business plan can help alleviate the stress that is often involved in running a new business. Here are five things to look for when selecting which one is right for you.

1. Customer marketing and acquisition.

Creating effective marketing collateral can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of opening a new business—but it’s also essential for your success. By having spa and salon software that is equipped with marketing and acquisition capabilities, gathering new customers and retaining is as seamless as possible. By offering your customers the convenience of booking online, customers can set up an appointment anytime, anywhere—even after business hours, when the majority of appointments are made. Worried about last-minute cancellations or filling appointment gaps? Mindbody's Marketing Suite helps you stay connected to your client base by syncing with your schedule and automatically sending highly-targeted email and text marketing campaigns to keep your schedule full and your business top-of-mind.

2. Provide a seamless checkout experience.

Simply put, the transaction process at your business, whether it’s for services provided or retail items that you offer, needs to be free of any errors or confusion. By equipping your salon or spa with an integrated payment system, you can safely store customer payment information to make the checkout process easy and quick. You also want to make sure you’re keeping your client’s payment information safe by selecting a system that complies with Level 1 PCI standards to help protect your business from data breach and maintain the trust your clients have in you.

3. Boost revenue and minimise churn.

Once you establish a customer base and have a consistent revenue stream, you can use spa and salon management software to help expand your menu of services and introduce attractive perks at your business. This could include creating special membership features for consistent customers or making a customised business app to help your salon stand out from your competitors and create an unmatched, flawless experience for your customers when they book an appointment at your business or access your service menu. You can even take your retention marketing tools to the next level by sending automated appointment reminders and anniversary/birthday messages.

4. Simple to use.

Your spa and salon management software should be easy to use for both you and your customers, which will help increase client retention. By making transactions simple and convenient for your customers and your staff, you can shift your energy to focusing on other customer needs that will help benefit your business.

5. Features to expand your business.

The best way to grow your business is by using a salon or spa management software system that can grow with your company. Your software should be built in a way that helps your company succeed and helps you open up multiple locations in the future. Make sure your software has API integration to make opening up a second location as simple as possible.