salon
spa
natural solutionsTop Users for Online Bookings
23 Oct 09
Salon software giant 'Shortcuts' has just confirmed mien users as the largest group of online appointment makers worldwide. It's staggering that we really are the most in the world! We did get a head-start as a shortcut's "beta site" (our guests are probably the longest users as well). Possibly short lived as more salons adopt this technology and although convenient the online facility crystallizes why the phone remains the most important tool for salon services.
At this stage of technological advances we don't think the internet can defeat the phone. For starters it's great to talk about recommendations, style requests and most importantly ‘people' over the phone. If you're new to mien we'll want to match you with the most appropriate therapist, specialist colour technician or hair cutter. We'll want to recommend the right massage style too. A lot of the time this comes down to ‘feel' and intuition - human not computer traits. Obviously the internet means you can book online which is great for after hours or peak phone times or if you simply know what you want. Anyway we'll still be here by the phone too...
Bear in mind 2 things with online bookings. Firstly focus on the 'date' you've booked online. Please check it. I'm saying this because some guests have arrived a week before their booking (even when the date is listed in an email). We think it's because when you search for a Saturday timeslot the software will give you the first available Saturday. The software searches up to 90 days ahead and some stylists/ therapists can have full column for up to 2 months ahead. Anyway my advice is to check which dates your being offered. The other thing is that you now can update your own salon client card (or profile). Actually the very first time you make an online booking you create a new profile. If you've been coming to us for a while we'll have to manually merge this with your existing guest profile. Merging is important to maintain your points balance. We also record personalized colour recipes, massage/ injury details plus facial prescriptions. It's good to have all those bits connected to the right profile!