Tech Support

From scheduling to tracking productivity, salon software makes employee management easy.

When it comes to staff management, salon software is essential for keeping track of employees' hourly rates and contact information, but there are other ways it can be used as well, such as to help determine staffing needs during different times of the day, to set and track performance goals, and to make communication easier.


 

To take the guesswork out of scheduling, ProSolutions Software's Reception Load feature analyzes the appointment book to determine how busy the salon will be at different times of the day. Extended Technologies' SalonBiz can generate a Staff Service Productivity Summary Report for the salon location and each staff member and department, indicating how busy the location is for service appointments, as well as the days and teams that are most productive, so managers can schedule and recruit staff appropriately. Harms Software's Millennium tracks how much business the salon turned away due to inadequate staffing. To help tackle employee tardiness, the software's Proactive Alerts can be programmed to generate a real-time alert when a staff member punches in late.

Setting and tracking goals for such things as how many appointments employees pre-book or how much retail they sell is also easier with salon software. For example, Millennium's Appointment Monitoring Station allows management to view employees' pre-book percentages, real-time sales figures compared to established goals, client-retention rates and units per client sold in retail. For salons with multiple locations, the Enterprise version from Shortcuts Salon & Spa allows owners to run company-wide incentive programs so that different locations can compete against each other. Performance figures can be merged between multiple sites for employees who move between locations, ensuring up-to-date records.

Software can also make communicating with staff more efficient. With ProSolutions' Internal Paging system, instant messages can be sent directly to stylists' cell phones when clients arrive or to share information with them when they're not at the salon. Rather than writing messages on notepads, the Intercom Feature in The Salon/Spa Manager program from Innovative Business Computer Solutions can be used to send and read messages within the salon.

For more information on how salon software can help with staff management, contact these companies. —L.A.

Extended Technologies: 800/632-5527; extendedtechnologies.com

Harms Software: 888/813-2141; harms-software.com

Innovative Business Computer Solutions: 800/682-2998; spasalon.com

ProSolutions Software: 800/710-3879; prosolutionssoftware.com

Shortcuts Salon & Spa Software: 866/678-7324; shortcuts.net