Tanning Salon Management Software: How to choose the perfect one?
Suppose you are looking to change your current tan salon management software and need a more streamlined approach, not using software, opening a new tanning salon. In that case, there is a lot to consider when selecting the right software solution for your business. The tanning industry is going through many significant changes, moving away from just traditional tanning services.
The proper tanning salon management software can increase revenue and member retention, creating a central hub for customers, billing and lead management, and overall taking your salon business to the next level. This article will discuss what exactly tanning salon software and the six essential features to look out for when choosing the best tan salon management system for you.
What is Tanning Salon Software?
At its core, tanning salon software allows you to configure and track payments, manage memberships, upgrades, and leads, manage check-ins bookings and schedules, gather data, and offer key data insights. Using software can become a robust set of tools that can save time, increase customer engagement and boost the business overall. If you are a tanning salon owner, then utilizing software to help save time and streamline operations can improve your business.
A Software Solution
Most recently, tanning salons have been popping up all over the United States, with the tanning industry worth an estimated 3.8 billion in 2021 and expected to grow up to 10% this year alone. This makes it more crucial than ever for tan salon owners to utilize management software for retaining members, attract more customers, and create the best service and overall experience.
Tan software solutions are designed for tanning and spa businesses that offer memberships or packages for services to keep track of their tanning clients, schedules, employees, payments, and reporting. As a salon business owner, you can often find yourself doing every job duty, from marketing and accounting to management and front desk; management software helps to condense everything you need into one system.
Tanning software is a solution to help streamline your business, but before selecting software that fits your business, take a broad look at your business and assess your needs. Suppose you’re lacking member insight and struggling with member retention and collection of payments. In that case, you need a platform that will provide you with the correct customer data and automate collections. Utilizing data and generating reports is a critical part of any software system and gives you the detailed information you need to make the best business decisions.
Start Saving Your Time
Integrating your billing process and customer management under one software can provide a more integrated approach to running your salon business. Suppose you find yourself using one system for tracking your employees, another for booking appointments, and a third to store sensitive member information and payments. In that case, it’s time to consider new tan salon management software.
There is no need to switch between systems and run multiple software to facilitate your business needs. Eliminate your time-consuming admin tasks from reporting, member check-ins, and automated payments, which will give you more time to focus on managing and operating your growing business.
9 Essential Features to Look For When Choosing Tanning Salon Management Software
When deciding what tan software to implement, make sure that it solves problems you are having and will help grow your business forward. Upgrading your current software, what your current system is lacking in, and what is needed for your business to thrive.
Whether you want to market your tanning salon better or offer more to your members for loyalty, appointment booking, consider how the following features can meet your requirements and needs. We have shared nine essential features to keep an eye out to help you choose the best tanning salon management software.
Streamlined Dashboard
The dashboard is a critical piece of tanning salon software. The dashboard is the first place you will go to when using your software and help you navigate. This should be user-friendly, easy to navigate, streamlined, and facilitate a fast-learning curve for new and existing employees. The dashboard will be the center of operations and management. From here, you should access everything from member profiles, payment processing, check-in, communication, reporting, etc.
Integrated Communication
Using tan salon software will allow you to keep everything in your software for communication with customers, from marketing to automated failed payment notifications. Communication is a great feature to have in your software to streamline customer interaction and let staff members be on the same page. Utilizing integrated communication tools within the software will allow you to have better communication with members and potential customers from two-way texting, integrated calling, automated chatbots, and emails.
Membership Management
Membership management is a vital feature of any tanning management software. Bringing in new customers and retaining existing ones are the biggest keys to running a profitable business and generating cash flow. The main reason to use a software platform is to serve your customers better and ensure they keep coming back to your tan salon and renew their membership or update their package when the time comes. Utilizing the tan salon software’s membership management functionality will allow you to keep track of members, have better communication with staff, make and track account changes, and much more!
Members should have access to their membership history, book and pay for appointments, update billing information, and freeze accounts through the tan salon software system.
By allowing a member login or portal and streamlining this part of the business, staff can spend less time on specific tasks, allowing the member to almost service their account. From member check-ins at the front desk, which probably needed paperwork filled out by pen and paper in the past, can now be done through the software with digital signatures, making much more efficient use of employee and members time.
Besides providing members with an easy-to-use system to make their lives easier, membership management will allow access to several features, all from your dashboard or your member’s profile. Save time by not having to make all appointments on the phone or replying to simple queries over email; members can text or easily book online or find what they need through the software without making a call. Staff will be able to view and update member information easily.
Digital Waivers and Contracts
In addition to member management, easily collect and store signatures from members with digital waivers and contracts. Losing paperwork or holding paperwork in a cabinet will no longer be an issue. All documents and contracts can be stored electronically on the software and require members to sign before using any services. Collecting digital waivers and contracts will help lower overhead for office supplies and keep them automatically under the member’s account to ensure easy access.
Equipment Integration
For tanning salons to operate at total capacity and maximize profit, along with future expansion, there is a significant need to integrate the tanning bed equipment. The tanning management software will help manage and keep track of settings for your equipment. The equipment integration will also link to your tanning packages giving access to certain beds for various membership levels. Using tan salon management software with equipment integration will provide you with key insight into bed usage and which equipment generates the most profit.
Billing, POS, Sales
Accepting payments is a crucial part of any business; it’s how you get paid, optimize cash flow, and any company stays in operation. Accepting payments are an essential feature when choosing the best tanning salon management software. Automated billing and automated payment collection are critical to a well-organized and streamlined business. Automatic billing is not only an efficient way to receive payments but means you don’t have to chase payments from members.
Look for tanning software that can handle POS and membership billing with ease using different payment options such as debit cards or credit cards. By creating custom payment options, you will provide members with more flexibility, improving their overall experience. Manage payment processing and keep on top of cash flow with easy-to-use but accurate reporting. When payments are coming up or fail for members, use push notifications or automated email or text reminders to communicate the upcoming or failed payment.
Insights and Robust Reporting
Stay in touch with your tanning salon with real-time reporting, analysis, and insights. Reports can be a powerful tool that helps salon owners make better business decisions. The best reports will tell you which members are fully active and which members might be on the verge of leaving. This will allow you to step in and make changes you need to make to boost member retention. Not to mention reporting for what equipment is bringing you the most revenue, staff sales percentages, and much more!
Insightful metrics show date to focus on where you need to make improvements, where you can expand, and what you need to focus on. By utilizing reports, you can increase key revenue drivers and make better-informed decisions. Reporting is excellent to provide insight into members as well as your financial decisions.
Payment-related insights will give you a higher probability of collecting missed or late payments. Easily track how your members are paying, including payment methods and billing cycles to find trends.
Track growth against your goals and monitor several metrics: lead management and conversion, total revenue, revenue per member, employee costs, membership retention, and sales, attendance rates, and much more!
Branded Online Store
A unique branded online store integrated with your tan management software is the perfect opportunity to stay connected with your members and allow potential members to purchase. Easily create a direct sales channel, point of sale, and drive appointment books through your store or website. Your brand represents your tanning salon, and keeping consistent branding across all channels is key to increasing brand awareness and building loyalty for members and potential members.
Allow members to book, pay for memberships or appointments while still driving traffic to your website. This helps another way for members to spend money while offering complete convenience from your website. Allowing for an online customer portal and online store, your members will be able to stay in touch with your salon more efficiently than ever.
Customer Engagement Options
As you know, social media is an easy and fantastic way to connect with people. More so than ever, more people are engaged on social media, and your salon is the center of attention. Your tanning salon management software needs to be integrated with your social media and your website to allow users to pay and book appointments. Whether your members are on their phone or a computer, it should be effortless for the user across all channels. Using a simple link or a quick connection, you can connect your online store or appointment bookings anywhere, in addition to connecting to touchpoints for members for easy engagement options. Many tanning salon owners need a great loyalty or reward program to keep members fully engaged and help drive revenue. Look for tanning software that can help implement a simple yet powerful loyal program.
In Summary
Optimal functionality and usability in tanning salon management software are pretty much essential to running your salon. The platform should provide a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution for tanning salon owners, employees, and members. By integrating all business operations under one system, you can help increase member retention, make better business decisions and provide the experience your customers deserve.
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