How can online reviews help you?

With more salon choice than ever before, prospective clients are using online reviews as the most informative tool to help them decide which salon to visit. These cannot be underestimated as reviews help people understand the quality of the services offered by the salon, as well as atmosphere, friendliness and cleanliness!

According to a research conducted by Bright Local (2014), 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and only 12% do not read reviews at all. What are the secrets to ensure customers leave your salon happy and willing to leave an outstanding review to reward your hard work?

We spoke with a well-known salon based in Southampton, that has an overall rating of five stars on SalonSpy and a certificate of excellence winner. When assessing their reviews, we notice that customers review either the friendliness of staff and the environment in which they received the treatment first, and only then the actual service and results. Here are a couple of examples:

Building relationships with clients is also a key factor and will most certainly ensure good reviews and a higher return rate.

SALONGENIUS in collaboration with SalonSpy offers all salons the opportunity to send their clients an SMS to encourage them to leave a review after their salon appointment. SalonSpy has recognised the importance of creating an online community to utilise the power of word of mouth to benefit both salon owners and consumers. SalonSpy provides listings for every salon and spa in the UK and offers an interactive platform to post salon reviews and create local rankings. 

For more information, please contact marketing@salongenius.com or call 01202 311826.

How can you improve your salon marketing and visibility? We asked you!

At SALONGENIUS, we always put salon's needs first! Salon owners asked their questions about marketing your salon and here are our answers:

SALON:  How important are Social Media to market your salon?

SALONGENIUS: Social media can be used both to raise awareness of your salon among your target audience and as an excellent customer service channel.

Facebook, for instance, can be used to tag existing and potential customers, encouraging engagement and discussions. In the digital world, sharing has also become easier. If you want to publish important information, news or relevant content to your business, this will be only one click away and accessible to everyone.

Did you know that over 60% of customers go to social media for customer service because this is quicker and easier to use rather than sending emails?  This is a good service you can provide to your actual and potential customers to raise awareness and build solid relationships with them. Why not try it?

SALON: Can influencers and opinion leaders help targeting your salon?

SALONGENIUS: We always suggest influencers should be involved in the salon marketing strategy. If a salon offers free services to bloggers or popular YouTubers at least once a month, this will increase the salon visibility and engagement as influencers will engage a further relevant audience, raising awareness of the salon and its services. Bloggers reviews can also be shared on the salon social media channels to create further engagement.

SALON: Do you think offers and discounts help to promote a salon?

SALONGENIUS: We think that a good loyalty scheme help to increase customer retention. Give your customers a discount after they suggest the salon to a friend or let them collect points for a free service to increase their retention and return rate!

Do you have any further questions? Email us at marketing@salongenius.com. 

Save your time and use SALONGENIUS gauges to forecast your revenues!

How can salons improve their business? Setting KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)  is essential to understanding your salons' performance and show you how to improve it. How can you set your performance indicators, though? What makes your salon stand out and how can you measure it?

According to the Salon Business Secrets website, KPIs are a measure of an aspect of your business, that can positively affect your overall performance, e.g. no shows, return rate, retail percentage etc.

The most important thing in business is to set your goals, usually, you can start with two of them, and once achieved, you can set more.

How can KPIs affect your business and revenues? Often it is very difficult to keep track of your performance against KPIs and see how this (positively) affects your business.

Here is where SALONGENIUS can help your salon! Thanks to our gauges - a simple and easy service that can help you increase your revenues. 


Business performance gauges provide at a glance information and show how your business and staff are performing against the salon KPIs. This includes client return rates, retail percentage, technical percentage and average bill. By using the salons' current live performance data and 'what if' sliders you can forecast your future gains on a 3, 6, or 12-month timeline. 

On top of this, we offer tileGENIUS, a performance index based on your KPIs that will anonymously rank your salon in your group, region, nationally and worldwide against other SALONGENIUS users to give you a clear indication of how you are performing.

tileGENIUS is completely free to download on the Windows App Store.

For more information on the gauges or tileGENIUS call 01202 311826

Which is your colour identity?

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD!

WHICH IS YOUR COLOUR IDENTITY?

Have you ever heard about #Myidentity? If you follow us on social media, you will have already spotted the fantastic hair colours that are associated with this hashtag. If you don’t yet, here you can find what this is all about. 

#Myidentity is a concept that goes far beyond a simple hashtag. #Myidentity is empowerment, an evolution and finding out who you are. The idea is born from celebrity hair stylist Guy Tang; after he discovered his talent as a hair colourist, his work went viral (do you remember the rainbow hair?) and this time he has launched his own hair colour line which has already become the new 2017 spring trend.

The #Myidentity line enables your colourist to create the perfect pastel hair of the season that is perfect for you! From silver, purple shaded hair to an intense red, #Myidentity gives your hair the strong personality that you always wanted to achieve.

Should we then say that we are done with the rose gold trend and blorange hair? Not at all. According to Cosmopolitan, blorange (blonde-orange) is the colour that will dominate your Instagram feed this spring as this is the most used colour by celebrities.

Blorange, rose gold and #myidentity hair seem to have one thing in common – They are all pastel. So, it doesn’t matter if this spring you go purple, rose gold or blorange; as long as you choose a pastel colour you will be on top of 2017 trends and ready for the season! 

Your invitation to the 2017 SALONGENIUS User Groups

SALONGENIUS would like to invite you to our 2017 user groups. It gives you the chance as a valued customer to be the first to find out about what is new with SALONGENIUS and to give your feedback to help us grow and develop the software. These user groups are FREE OF CHARGE.

See below for just a few things we will be covering. 

Version 15

A chance to take an in-depth look at our brand new look version 15 software and get an exclusive insight into how we will be developing the software over the coming years.

appGENIUS

We have been working hard on a brand new personalised salon app to replace our existing one. Be the first SALONGENIUS users to get a sneak peak at what to expect. 

Salonspy

Power your salon reviews with automatic text message marketing and get honest feedback to help grow your salon. Bring in new clients by impressing your existing ones.

We will be holding a total of 5 user groups which will be:

• Bournemouth - Monday 27th March
• Bristol - Monday 27th March
• Manchester - Monday 3rd April
• London - Monday 24th April
• Glasgow - Tuesday 25th April

If you are interested in coming along to one of these user groups or would like more information then please email marketing@salongenius.com or ring 01202 311826

The 2017 SALONGENIUS awards are here!

We are thrilled to announce that the SALONGENIUS Awards are back for 2017.

SALONGENIUS Awards were created to recognise and support the hard work, achievements and initiatives of our customers in the hair and beauty industry. Last year, we were positively impressed by the numerous applications we received and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all salons who participated.

The categories for 2017 will be

• Salon of the year
• Front of house team of the year
• Best salon marketing
• Retail salon of the year
• Manager of the year

The winners will receive £250 for each category except the salon of the year that will receive £500 as a prize. 

The entries for the Awards will be open from 1st March 2017 until 30th June 2017. Winners will be announced in early September at an awards ceremony in an exclusive venue in London. To apply for the Awards you should call 01202 311826 from the 1st March and we will send you an application form in the post. The only requirement to enter the awards is to have SALONGENIUS software.

For any further information, please contact marketing@salongenius.com or call 01202 311826.

Important step forward in 'trailblazer' apprenticeship reforms in England

The government has approved the industry’s plans for assessing hairdressing and barbering apprentices within new employer-developed “trailblazer” apprenticeships, an important milestone in the process of getting the new-style apprenticeships ready for delivery in England.

The Department for Education gave its backing to the assessment plans submitted to ministers and drawn up by a cross-industry trailblazer group of employers, supported by the NHF and sector skills body Habia.

The move is being hailed as an important step forward in transforming how apprentices are trained and tested within the industry.  The apprenticeship standards for ‘hair professionals’ have already been approved and published on the GOV.UK  website.  Although the ‘beauty professional’ standards have been approved, the beauty assessment plans are waiting for final government sign-off.

Now that the standards and methods of assessment are in place, the focus will switch to preparations for launching, expected to be May 2017.  This will mean that by 2019, when the first cohort completes their training, hairdressing and barbering apprentices will come out into the world of work much more “salon ready”.

The new hairdressing and barbering apprenticeships will include a mandatory qualification.  The final part of that qualification will be an end-point assessment carried out by an independent examiner, appointed by the Awarding Organisations, at the end of the training programme to check the apprentice’s skills and knowledge are up to scratch. 

Alongside reforms to the delivery and assessment of training, the government has also changed how the new apprenticeships will be funded.  A new apprenticeship levy will be introduced in April 2017 which will mean large employers with a pay bill of £3m or more will have to pay 0.5% of their pay bill into a pot to be spent on apprenticeship training.  Although the levy is UK-wide, the devolved nations will have a say in how the levy money can be spent by employers.

Non-levy-paying employers in England will contribute 10% towards the cost of apprenticeship training and assessment.  There is an exemption for employers with fewer than 50 people and who take on 16-18 year olds or those aged 19-24 who have been in care, or who have a local authority care plan.  In these circumstances, the smallest employers will not pay anything towards the cost of apprenticeship training and assessment.  An incentive payment of £1000 will also be available to them and to their training provider to support the additional costs of training these groups.

The government has confirmed that hairdressers and barbers will be located in Funding Band 9 which means that government funding will be capped at £9,000 per apprentice.  Employers will be expected to contribute one tenth of the cost, a sum of £900. 

Hellen Ward, managing director of Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa, who is leading the strategic trailblazer group on hairdressing, said: “This is an important step forward in creating more relevant and practical training and assessment standards, education that works for apprentices, employers and training providers alike.” 

“It is great news, and a vindication of all the hard work by the trailblazer groups to get to this stage. More importantly, it shows we are now making real progress towards the goal of salons being able to take on people who are ‘salon ready’ at the end of their training.”

How can you boost client loyalty and retention?

Providing fantastic customer care, outstanding service and a unique client experience will ensure you keep your clients coming back for more. Loyalty schemes are attractive to clients and allow them to collect points to spend on services later.

There are three main key areas that salon owners need to consider to improve customer loyalty.

Quality of service

Salons should always keep a high level of quality and tailor each service to the client's needs. Each client's need is different; therefore, building a good relationship with them and meeting their expectations will be an essential part of making them loyal to your business.

Offer a loyalty scheme

Recent studies show how crucial it is to have a loyalty scheme. Tesco, in their first year of introducing a loyalty card, increased their turnover by 28% whilst Sainsbury's turnover, who did not have a loyalty card, decreased. A good loyalty scheme mixed with high standards of service will keep your clients coming back for more.

Management system
Having the right management system will help salons to organise their marketing strategy to each client and help them track results. SALONGENIUS helps you to organise your loyalty scheme and gives you the flexibility to offer more points at quieter times or on specific days of the week. Within SALONGENIUS, you can set up both standard and advanced schemes to allow you free reign on your chosen loyalty settings. You allocate the rates both on issue and redemption - keeping you in control. Reports show you the full transaction history and liability.

What do our customers think of the SALONGENIUS loyalty system?

Matthew Baldwin, Director of Harbour Beauty says: “We are a small family run Beauty Salon working within the Christchurch area that within the past two years has moved our diary and appointment system from another well-known brand to SALONGENIUS. Part of the package that SALONGENIUS offers is the Customer Rewards and Loyalty Scheme, which initially, we were a bit sceptical of.  Our Salon used its own rewards system whereby the customer had a small card which we would stamp, and when they reached ten stamps they would receive either a discount or a free treatment. This method, although useable had its faults.

Therefore, we approached SALONGENIUS and asked for the Salon Loyalty Scheme to be implemented within our system, which was very straightforward. Firstly, we designed our own loyalty card, made of plastic, which was long lasting, and we felt confident customers would love. If you are not too creative, then SALONGENIUS can help you with this. 

After ordering the cards, SALONGENIUS record them in your system. The cards themselves are given out initially to the customers when they first come into the Salon, providing they want to go onto the Loyalty scheme. The best feature is that from the moment the customer forgets, or loses the card, the system automatically records the customer's visit and adds those points that they would have accrued to their loyalty scheme.

The system is automatic; therefore, it requires no input from the staff member and is very simple to use. Also, another good thing about the Loyalty scheme is that you can change it from your computer at any time. Everything is tailored to what you want and at what time. Also, you can tailor how much each point is then worth. The best part is that this can be changed daily, so if your Salon is not performing so well on certain days or treatments, you can offer more points on those specific days or treatments to tempt customers to try them. It really is in your hands.

Overall, an excellent system, highly recommended!”

Do you want help on setting up a loyalty scheme?

If you have any questions or need any help with setting up a loyalty scheme in your salon, please give our support team a ring on 01202 311829. You can also order your loyalty cards through as and we will even design the card for you. If you require any more information on this service please call our sales team on 01202 311826.

Introducing SALONGENIUS Brand Ambassador - Ken Main

Ken Main, Commercial Director of award winning Ellen Conlin Hair and Beauty has a new venture of head training, a new consultancy company specifically for making running a salon business easier and simpler.

Head Training covers every aspect of the salon business from brand marketing, website creation, social media and coaching and training you and your staff, giving you the necessary tools and knowledge to get your business thriving.

Glasgow based Ellen Conlin Hair and Beauty have been successfully using the SALONGENIUS salon management system for over 10 years. They really utilise the system to their benefit and we are very lucky to have such a great working relationship with Ken, Ellen and their staff.

SALONGENIUS are proud to announce Ken Main as our Brand Ambassador working alongside Head Training. Ken will be spreading the SALONGENIUS love with his customers and we are looking forward to strengthening our business relationship with Ken and his staff.

If you feel your business could do with a bit of TLC and coaching why not book a FREE 15-minute consultation with a qualified, experienced coach and they can assist you with any issue and let know what they can do for you and your business?

Call 07733106067 to arrange your free telephone consultation
or go to http://www.headtraining.co.uk

Valentines Day Marketing that will warm your heart.

For Valentine's in the salon, there are so many different ways of attracting customers, upping your retail sales and pampering your clients ready for a hot date. Here are a few ways you can utilise your SALONGENIUS system over the Valentine's period:

Valentine voucher Codes

Using your SALONGENIUS software for email marketing or texting you can send voucher codes to your highest spending and most valuable clients as Valentine's Day gifts.Your clients will be surprised. delighted and touched by the gesture. If you decide to use discounts, then just make sure they only apply on quieter days in your salon.

Fill last-minute appointments

Empty gaps and cancellations cost you profit. Identify these gaps on your software, then remind clients you still have a few appointments left with marketing texts or emails offering last-minute Valentine makeovers. You can, of course, post these appointments on your social media and don't forget we collaborate with gappt to create demand for your last-minute space!

Valentine gift ideas

Remember to promote your gift vouchers "the perfect gift for someone special" on Valentine's Day or if you have any retail left from the Christmas period, perhaps repackage as a Valentine gift. Don't forget to remind your clients in your monthly e-newsletter, by SMS, salon website, in the salon and across your social media.

Leave a hint

Print a small reminder and distribute to clients who can then carefully place them somewhere for their significant other to find! It can list a couple of gift ideas and your business's contact information too. Another idea is email clients to forward on, or post on your social media networks and ask followers to "share" or "tag" their special person.