How to choose the right payment platform for your hair salon.

The hair salon experience should be memorable for your valued customers in a variety of ways. Of course, each client should be made to feel uniquely special and beautiful, worth every penny they spend on enhancing their self-care. Providing each man, woman, and child with the ultimate customer experience from the moment they enter your salon until they cash out is the best way to ensure that your business remains dynamic, vital, and growing. Take some time to incorporate the following tips about payment processing for hair salons into your business model to ensure that your shop is the talk of the town.

Find software that accurately tracks everything.

If you have owned your hair salon for several years, you may still be relying on paper record-keeping strategies. Poring over spreadsheets, fumbling through drawers of receipts, and printing out laborious reports may seem like unavoidable costs of doing business. However, modern payment processing software for salons is designed to reduce or even eliminate these burdens altogether.

How? The key to your upgraded system’s success is that it does more than to simply accept your customers’ credit card payments. In addition, modern payment platforms can seamlessly integrate with what is known as a point of sale (POS) system, which can accomplish a stunning variety of administrative feats that go far beyond simply accepting and processing payments. 

One of your POS system’s most compelling features should be its ability to keep track of everything that is ordered and purchased in your shop. That includes the following:

• The date the products were ordered.

• Their delivery date.

• The date of purchase.

• Items purchased in each transaction, including price information, as well as any discounts that were applied.

• The name of the client purchasing the items or services.

• Tax-related details that can easily be retrieved later.

Having access to these details gives you the chance to gather an instant snapshot of how your shop is doing at any given time. In addition, you can customize your communications with customers, accurately reorder inventory, and keep your books well-organized at all times of the year, not just when the time comes to pay the IRS.

Find software that optimizes communication.

Because your salon’s payment platform is designed to interface with the rest of your POS solution, you will have several ways to keep in touch with your valued customers between visits. Keep in mind that the beauty industry is highly competitive. If you do not constantly work to keep your establishment top-of-mind with your clients, a certain percentage of them will defect to one of your rivals.

To maintain your customers’ awareness of your brand, your POS hardware and payment processing software come equipped with a robust database feature that stores contact details and keeps track of the specific service each person has utilized in the past. This is data that you can harness in several ways:

• Sending a monthly newsletter that highlights happenings in your shop and makes all customers aware of sales, promotions, and information about new staff members.

• Blogs that you can attach to your website or email to customers. These can include snippets from your newsletter, as well as styling tips and other how-tos.

• Customized emails. Direct, one-on-one communication is one of the best ways to cement your relationships with patrons. Drop them a message letting them know that their favorite stylist has availability during the next two weeks. Send a friendly reminder that it has been a while since their last visit. Introduce a new product that you think would work well with their specific type of hair. The options are endless!

These days, people want more than merely a transactional relationship with their salon. Making the most of the communications tools built into your software adds a whole new level of warmth and customization that can foster long-term loyalty.

Find cloud-based software.

No doubt, you have heard about the cloud. Even so, you may be wondering just what cloud-based software is and, more importantly, how it can benefit your salon.

In short, you have two options when it comes to how you store information. You can do so on your own server, which is the traditional method that businesses have been using for decades. Alternatively, you can invest in a payment platform with a third-party cloud-based vendor. With this type of arrangement, all of your data is stored off-site on the platform’s servers.

This latter type of data storage is becoming increasingly popular with businesses of all types and sizes. Businesses tend to favor it because their data remains safe even if the worst should happen to their shop, including break-ins or natural disasters. 

Additionally, the payment processing company that manages the platform is responsible for taking steps to protect the information that they are storing on your behalf. When you are selecting a payment platform provider, you will find that the most reputable choices will prominently advertise that they have been certified as complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a set of guidelines put forth by the major financial companies to help safeguard digital assets.

Find software that is affordable.

Whenever you accept forms of payment other than cash, you have no choice but to work with a payment processing company. This entity communicates with you as well as the other players in the process to verify the authenticity of the buyer’s identity and available funds, as well as to ensure that the customer’s funds are securely delivered into your merchant account. 

It stands to reason that payment processing for salons will come with fees. That being said, not all vendors are the same. When researching your various options, be sure that you clearly understand every charge that you will be expected to pay. This could include not only per-transaction fees but also set-up, monthly, chargeback penalties, and even early termination costs. You may also pay a penalty if your sales volume falls below the minimum that is outlined in your contract.

Find software that simplifies payments.

When you run a successful salon, you are offering a broad spectrum of services designed to provide your guests with the experience and choices they are increasingly demanding. Fortunately, your payment platform can be both nimble and flexible, able to grow and evolve right along with your business.

As we have already discussed, modern payment platforms can take a good deal of the manual work out of running your salon. In addition, its tools can help you to generate more revenue, including the ability to accept gift cards, run a thriving customer loyalty program that incentivizes patrons to visit more often, and incorporate upsells into your checkout process. In the end, the result will be more streamlined accounting practices and additional revenue flowing into your shop.

Find software that enhances the guest experience.

Think of your own ideal personal salon visit. As a customer, you want to receive high-quality service and be treated like a king or queen from the time you set your appointment until you finish paying for your services. Of course, you want no less for the guests at your shop.

Your payment processing software is as much a part of your brand as the products you sell or the beauty services you provide. For that reason, carefully select a payments partner that allows for a secure, fast, and customized payment experience. Be sure, for instance, that the system you choose allows for each guest to have a card on file that can be used during in-person or ecommerce transactions.

You are already very aware of how each of your stylists brings their own unique gifts to your salon. However, the idea that payment processing hardware and software have the potential to add another layer of value and service to your salon may be news to you. Take pains to dedicate time and energy toward selecting a vendor that understands the unique challenges found in the beauty industry. Do not accept anything less than a suite of software that tracks sales and tips, accounts for purchases and gift cards, and logs your clients’ preferences. With these enhanced tools in your arsenal, you can build a salon that provides top-tier services and provides your customers with the curated experience that will set you apart from your competitors.