How to Make an Efficient Booking System for Your Hair Salon Website?

Hair salon appointments can be challenging to organize without an effective salon scheduling website. Fortunately, in the world of cutting-edge technology, appointment booking can be done quickly and hassle-free. That sounds great for sure, but how is it actually done? Let’s take a look. 

For starters, a well-crafted booking system website will help your clients: they’ll be able to book appointments when they want, without even having to visit the salon or wait on the phone. And in today’s fast-paced world, who wants to waste their time if not necessary?

Secondly, the online booking system will give your customers even more freedom: they will be able to schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments effortlessly with an easy-to-use user interface. And that’s not all – there are even more perks to these systems. The clients can be notified via email or SMS if there is any change in the appointment schedule.

In short, this type of software saves time for both parties involved, gives flexibility, and assists customers in staying on top of the schedule. There is more to like about having the option to book online. If you’d like to discover more, we’ve got a guide for you on how to make an efficient booking system for your hair salon website and make your and your clients’ lives easier.

Why Should You Move Your Salon Scheduling Online?

Pen and paper have been working just fine for you, right? Well, the purpose of the salon scheduling website is to help salon owners streamline and digitize booking processes. Your customers can book an appointment when they want to, regardless of your working hours, which can translate into more booked appointments for you and less stress for your clients.

And let’s not forget another important fact: the online salon booking system makes it easy for potential customers to find your salon. It’s hard to disregard the fact that nowadays, many people search for salons “near me” and book appointments online. And businesses who don’t adhere to the old marketing wisdom: go where your customers are, aren’t doing a favour to themselves.

Then there’s the other side of this story: the service providers. How many times have you made a mistake while writing down the appointment details on a particularly long and difficult day? Multitasking can be grinding, we know. If you opt-in for a digital booking system, you will save time and energy by avoiding handling appointments and reports manually.

Only 54% of bookings occur during salon and spa working hours, meaning you could lose up to 46% of bookings if you don’t offer the option to book online.

And the numbers are pretty straightforward, too, and go in favor of digital solutions. According to a survey, only 54% of bookings occur during salon and spa working hours, meaning you could lose up to 46% of bookings if you don’t offer the option to book online. The same survey, conducted by Phorest in 2019, also revealed that 18% of bookings happen before salon opening time, and 28% happen after closing time. 

If you want your business to thrive in this digital era, you must not disregard these numbers.  Use the fact that people expect availability when it’s convenient for them to your favour.

Key Features Your Salon Booking System Should Have

We’ve explained how online salon booking systems can be your ally in growing your business. Now it’s time to cover what valuable features they need to have – for both the customer and the business owner. Let’s begin!

For Your Customers

• Integrated calendar: Your clients will appreciate it if your salon scheduling website features an integrated calendar to book appointments. This way, they can check their reservations connected to your in-house calendar and book their appointments.
• Style library: Adding a style library to your site can give your clients ideas of what they want. This way, the hair salon booking online can add to its business efficiency: it can help customers quickly decide and book the hairstyle of their choice, without having to explain it to you over the phone or in person. Once again, you’ll save your team’s time and effort for where they’re needed more.
• Push notifications: While online booking systems make it easier to book salon appointments, they don’t make it easier to remember them. In today’s hectic world full of distractions, your customers are more than likely to forget about their appointments. That’s where push notifications come into play and make a difference for your business. They are one of the most effective ways to notify your clients that you’re available, remind them when their appointment is, and inform them about new features and updates. Say goodbye to missed appointments and money lost due to forgetfulness!

For You as the Business Owner

• Client management: With a salon scheduling website, you can view, add, and delete clients at the click of a finger. Doing it this way will save you plenty of time and energy.
• Appointment management: One of the most vital features of an online booking system is the function of managing appointments. This feature lets you view, update, and manage past and future appointments.
• Service management: The service management allows you to view, edit, add, and delete data such as bank account details, hairdresser records, and appointments.
• Statistics: Statistics play a pivotal role in the modern beauty industry. This data can help you make better business-related decisions based on facts, numbers, and trends when analyzed efficiently. With statistics, you can understand your customers’ preferences, future demand, and other business factors, such as which service is more prevalent in a certain season.
• Custom reports: You can create, save, and schedule your reports based on a chosen template. Doing this allows you to create and save different reports that will help answer various business-related questions.

Make an Efficient Booking System for Your Hair Salon Website

Now that you know what an online booking system is, why it matters, and its essential features, it’s time to learn how to make an efficient appointment scheduling system for your hair salon website.

Add Correct Details

Add correct details to your salon scheduling website for salons and check everything twice to ensure your clients get accurate information. For example, ensure your opening hours, contact details, styling options, and prices are clearly and correctly displayed for your clients. Also, your staff working hours should be added to avoid any confusion.

Set Up SMS and Email Appointment Reminders

Since people can be forgetful creatures, sending SMS or email reminders for their appointments is always a good idea. Keep them friendly and make sure they include all the relevant details about the appointment, such as the date and time, the name of the stylist, and the type of treatment. Also, it won’t hurt to add information about your appointment cancellation policy.

Who Can Change the Booking? Decide Whether Your Staff or Your Customers Will Be in Control of This Feature

Consider how much control you will give to your clients regarding changing and canceling appointments. Whether you want your customers to be able to log on to your salon scheduling website and change their bookings or your employees to control this function, make sure it’s clear to both your customers and staff.

Decide on the Appointment Confirmation Method: Phone Call, SMS, or Email

Once a customer has booked an appointment on your salon scheduling website, you should call them or send them an SMS or an email to confirm the booking details. This will provide an extra safety net in case of a glitch in the system where a booking doesn’t register on your end. When the client doesn’t receive a confirmation text, call, or email, they will know something has gone wrong.

Test Your Online Booking System Before You Make It Public

Testing your online booking system before officially launching it is vital because you don’t know yet what can go wrong or what you need to fix before you have tested it. Before making the system public, let your employees make several pretend bookings. This will show you how the system feels for your clients, what works well, and what needs to be optimized.

In addition, the test will give both you and your employees critical practice in working with your new booking system. And don’t worry if any issues arise during this period because it’s much better to catch them now than experience them later with real clients.

Transfer Appointments to Your New Booking System

Import all of the future appointments you already have in your old booking system into your new online salon booking system, and make sure to add all the relevant customer details.

Market Your System for Salon Booking Online

Get your customers to use the new booking system by adding a link to it on your homepage. You can add multiple links to your price list – besides each service; you can add a link to book an appointment online.

It’s a good idea to use Facebook, Instagram, email, and other marketing means to encourage clients to schedule hair appointments. For example, you can include a link to your social media pages with a call to action (CTA), such as “book hair appointment online now.”

Instagram is a great platform to give examples of what a hairdresser at your salon can do to build trust with your customers and encourage them to book an appointment. However, if you combine more means of digital marketing, which is preferable, make sure they are integrated to avoid any mixed messages and confusion.

Activate Facebook & Instagram “Book Now” Buttons

If you use Facebook and Instagram to interact with your clients, it’s an excellent idea to activate your “Book Now” button and allow them to book an appointment with you easily.

The following steps explain how to activate your “Book Now” button on Facebook:

• Log in to your Facebook account and go to your business’ page
• Click the “create action button”
• ​​Select the “Book Now” option
• Choose “Appointments on Facebook”
• Click “Next”
• You can set up your availability
• Then, you can customize the appointments options
• Click on “Next”
• Then, you can add your services

With the “Book Now” button, you can track who clicked on your booking button.

Creating an Instagram “Book Now” button is even less complicated. All you need to do is:

• Open your Instagram business profile
• Tap “Edit Profile”
• Select “Contact Options”
• Select the action button: Book (you should see your scheduling tool. If not, make sure you’ve completed the steps described above)
• Tap “Done”

Encourage Your Clients to Use the New Booking System

When customers come to your salon or call for a hair appointment, your receptionist or other employees should tell them about your new and better online booking system. For example, your employees can use a dedicated tablet to demonstrate the salon scheduling software and how to use it.

Note that your clients may be reluctant to change their ways of booking all of a sudden if they have been booking appointments over the phone or in person for years. In this case, you can encourage them to use your new booking system by running a competition during the first month of launching.

Use your new system to offer a special salon treatment or a gift card to a randomly chosen client. This is an excellent way to incentivize them to use it, and they will get accustomed to the new system.

The Bottom Line: Do You Really Need an Online Booking System?

After reading this article, you will understand that having an online booking system is vital. Everyone is online nowadays, and businesses that want to stay on top of things need to go where their clients are, and in this case, provide a streamlined booking method. This way, you will also get more appointments.

That said, online booking is the most efficient option for small and large businesses as it can increase your booking without you having to constantly answer phone calls or meet in person. An online salon booking system will save you time, energy, and money, so why not take advantage of it?