Can anyone advise me on salon software please?

[SARAH-JANERICH]

I'm currently looking into new salon software systems at the moment. Does anyone know of any good ones that are easy to use?
We take a lot of deposits and gift vouchers and need to be able to record these onto our system easily and be able to search for them easily. We need to also be able to see if the appointment was requested with that particular employee and to view the clients history easily.

Many Thanks

 

[StudioTracker]

Hi Sarah, StudioTracker salon software is extremly easy to use and user friendly, the software will allow you to store and track client records and history, sell and track retail products, manage stock control, gift voucher sales, SMS marketing, and the software will produce reports on every aspect of your business allowing you to determine how to make your salon more profitable. StudioTracker is very competitively priced and also offers free support, updates and training. For a free demo and trial call us on 0113 350 8230.

 

[SARAH-JANERICH]

Thanks Jenny.

I will have a look at your website.

 

[salonium]

I'm currently looking into new salon software systems at the moment. Does anyone know of any good ones that are easy to use?
We take a lot of deposits and gift vouchers and need to be able to record these onto our system easily and be able to search for them easily. We need to also be able to see if the appointment was requested with that particular employee and to view the clients history easily.

Many Thanks

Hello Sarah,

please take a look at Salonium - it's really easy to use. Our customers can start working in less than an hour and there is no training required, software is build with extreme simplicity in mind.

In addition to your requirements with web based Salonium you can attract more customers online (online appointment booking is built-in) and help them to show up on time with automatic text reminders. Start using Salonium right away - just signup for a Free 30-day Trial at http://www.salonium.co.uk.

All the best!
Martynas

 

[SusanEvian]

Hello,

I must warn you in the past (look at old threads) there was a few people who just talk about the same software in every post, and say how good this is, but claim to be nothing to do with the companies.

The low post count and same boring thing is obvious.

You will also get the companies reply like above.

Many people do not want a monthly fee, software but long term this is where companies make THEIR money, please remember you are dealing with sales experts, they will use the word....Support.

It would be very nice for some long term, real people to reply with what they like and don't like and what they use, and include some stuff that does not have a monthly fee, and is not beyond the reach of smaller businesses or sole traders.

TTFN Su x

 

[Ruth Mills]

Hello,

I must warn you in the past (look at old threads) there was a few people who just talk about the same software in every post, and say how good this is, but claim to be nothing to do with the companies.

The low post count and same boring thing is obvious.

You will also get the companies reply like above.

Many people do not want a monthly fee, software but long term this is where companies make THEIR money, please remember you are dealing with sales experts, they will use the word....Support.

It would be very nice for some long term, real people to reply with what they like and don't like and what they use, and include some stuff that does not have a monthly fee, and is not beyond the reach of smaller businesses or sole traders.

TTFN Su x

Susan, it is normal for the online salon software providers to charge a monthly fee though, as their business model is based around the concept of "Software as a Service" - they will normally also have ongoing fees that need to be paid, e.g. Data centre costs - in order to be able to continue to provide the service. However the main advantage will be the minimal up front cost required, and the fact that normally the only thing that is needed to use the software is a computer with an internet connection and a web browser.

 

[StudioTracker]

Hi Susan, just to let you know, StudioTracker salon software has no monthly charges and prides itself on being afforbable for smaller salons. The only additional cost after purchasing the software is the yearly licence fee of £99, support, updates, training and data conversions are all free of charge.

 

[crystaltash]

Hi Jenny,
Just wondering, does the Studio Tracker software have online appointment booking available so that clients can book themselves in?

 

[StudioTracker]

Hi Tasha, sorry for the late reply. I am afraid the software doesnt currently have the online booking feature but it is in development and will be released later this year. If you have any more questions please dont hesitate to ask.

Thanks

Jenny.

 

[HairSquared]

We use supersalon, extremely user friendly, 24hour free support, nominal monthly fee, worth every penny imho.....everything you need to know about your buiness in one click. All the way back to day one. Also has an ioffice, that you can access from any computer, anytime. I am not computer saavy in the least and this program is a dream!

 

[salonium]

All is easy with Salonium and the service is online. You schedule the appointments - your customers will get automated reminders, so no excuse to miss the visit :wink2:

We suggest our free 30 day trial to check if it's of any help for you!

Wishes,
Monika

 

[PANTA1265]

Try unisalons 2012,

Very very good and affordable.

Just google Unisalons.

Cheers
:green:

 

[LauraLush]

Hi,
I have met with and spoken with a lot of software companies - id say at least 9.. And I must say it annoys me when you're spending a lot of money (like thousands!) and the company can't even be bothered to come out and speak to you face to face! Over the computer 'online demos' don't cut it for me I'm afraid when your making such a big investment.
If you have any queries or doubts, just tell them to the sales rep and they should put you at ease. I found some sales reps were too full on, hard sell ad pushy - this put me off straight away.
I have chosen to go with shortcuts - I am impressed with what they offer & you can clearly tell the company is full of people with hair/beauty industry backgrounds. The sales rep, Kate was lovely and went out of her way to come out twice to explain all different options and features to me so I understood clearly. One of my main worries was support and I mean real support.. I feel very happy with shortcuts so far and would highly recommend them. Think I've made the right choice for me and my salon anyway.. Hope that helps. Laura x

 

[jacqueline]

Salon Iris is my favourite.

 

[Kate1982]

Might be a stupid question but gonna ask anyway.
With all these salon software providers that need internet access what happens if the internet is down? can you still access everything you want?
xx

 

[Ruth Mills]

Might be a stupid question but gonna ask anyway.
With all these salon software providers that need internet access what happens if the internet is down? can you still access everything you want?
xx

If the sole means of accessing an online salon software system is via a web browser, and there's no "standalone" application running on your computer with a local copy of all your data, then you would pretty much be out of luck if the Internet is down.

You're also relying on third party servers for storing your appointment details and client data, so would need to make sure that the company providing the service were registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under the Data Protection Act, and had suitable security procedures in place to make sure that only you had access to your client database (e.g. making sure that all access to sensitive information is over a secure connection). If going the "online" route, it would also be wise to go with a company that runs their application on at least two servers on separate sites, in case there was ever an issue with either server or data centre (modern enterprise Web applications can be "clustered" to run on more than one server).

Personally, I think the best of both worlds would be a hybrid of both a standalone system and an online system; the main computer at the salon running a standalone application which maintains a local copy of all appointment details and client details, but constantly synchronises with the online application while the Internet connection is up and running.

Then, if your broadband goes down, you've still got access to your appointment details and client database. But you'd still have all the advantages of an online system too, e.g. being able to securely access the online version of the software from any computer connected to the internet anywhere in the world, and being able to accept online bookings via the web.

 

[PANTA1265]

Well that is correct.
I had similar bad experience with an online system a few years ago.
Since then i am using stand alone based on my PC.
The down side is that my clients cannot book online but to be honest i prefer a telephone contact.
:green:

 

[lady R]

ruth, you are the computer angel, haven't you created something yet?
I know i would trust you!!

 

[Ruth Mills]

ruth, you are the computer angel, haven't you created something yet?
I know i would trust you!!

Alas not yet, there's only one of me, and a lot of my energy and brainpower has been diverted away on rather more mundane stuff like designing websites - and - for the last 6 months or so - doing contract work in an office again because just doing websites wasn't bringing enough money in!

Also, there's no way that I'd sell a mission-critical salon software system until I was 100% happy with the reliability of it - and that's not going to happen until I work out how to run a clustered application across at least 2 servers in different locations. Although (in terms of the clustering side of things), I'm not *so* far off now, having got the latest version of Apache installed, which has a special load balancer module - which is cool as it means it would automatically divert requests to one server if the other server goes down (whereas if both servers are up, it will just load balance between them). Strangely enough, I find all that side of things quite fascinating. Creating a good standalone app sounds like it would be quite a challenge though, as my skillset is predominantly Web application development focused - although I have done a bit of Java Swing GUI development in the past, and SWT looks pretty good too, so it certainly wouldn't be beyond me given enough time and effort...

 

[SophieAAA]

Hi Susan, just to let you know, StudioTracker salon software has no monthly charges and prides itself on being afforbable for smaller salons. The only additional cost after purchasing the software is the yearly licence fee of £99, support, updates, training and data conversions are all free of charge.

Does this mean you never own the software if there is a yearly license fee?