It’s finally starting to happen! A glimmer of hope after a very, very challenging time for New Zealand and Australia with many states and cities experiencing extended lockdowns. With the government now starting to talk about potential reopening dates for hair, beauty and barbershops, we bet you’re on the edge of your seats and keen to start getting ready to get back to it
We know you’re probably eager to dive into reopening preparations as soon as possible. The fab news is there are a tonne of things you can do in Shortcuts to get ready for the big day – whenever that may be for you. If you’re a Shortcuts Fusion user, you don’t even need to visit the salon to use Shortcuts. You can access all of your favourite features, like the Appointment Book and Marketing, from the cloud!
Here’s a few of our recommendations to help you prepare.
NEW: Rebook your clients by sending a targeted campaign to those who had an appointment in a specific date range
Coming out of lockdown and want to send a targeted campaign to those clients who had an appointment booked for the months you were stuck in lockdown? Sending a targeted campaign to your clients is the quickest and easiest way to get your clients to rebook their appointment ASAP. Simply set up your targeted campaign, and set any date range you like, for example all clients in May.
We’ve worked super hard to get this marketing campaign enhancement ready in time for you to come out of lockdown, so here it is!
Watch this quick video to learn how to send them a marketing blast and encourage them to rebook ASAP!
Restart your computer
If you’ve been stuck in lockdown for a hot minute and your computer has been on and running this whole time, it will be due for a shutdown restart – just like you after the madness of Christmas trade! Shutting down and restarting your computer will mean it runs in tip-top shape when you’re ready to start business again.
Update your online booking terms and conditions and confirmation email
Updating your T&Cs isn’t the most glamorous task when preparing to reopen your business, but it is essential. Make sure to reword your online booking T&Cs to state any government directed messages you need your clients to understand and accept for them to be able to visit for their appointment.
For clients that book over the phone, you can use Shortcuts’ Contraindications feature to ask for this consent.
Get started with Contraindications
Contraindications are going to be a lifesaver when you reopen! Contraindications can be used to prompt your staff to ask specific and relevant questions to your clients when they book their appointment in person or over the phone. These questions could be government directed questions that you will be required to ask a client prior to the appointment. Likewise, they can be questions relating more to their appointment – such as if they have any known allergies.
The answer to these questions is then recorded against the client’s record and can be viewed by your team when needed.
Watch this video to learn how to use Contraindications.
Set up payments
Upfront payments will help your salon or barbershop secure that appointment revenue ASAP and ensure your client is way more likely to show up for their appointment. Their regrowth and box-dyed-ends will desperately need it!
Upfront payments will essentially be an online booking deposit when your clients’ book their appointment online with you. You can choose to charge a partial or full upfront payment for the client to secure their appointment.
Watch this video to learn how to set up upfront payments in the Shortcuts Console.
Please note if you need to set up an Online Payments provider if you don’t already have one set up, please contact our Customer Care team on 1300 667 374 (option 2) to discuss your options.
Watch this video to learn how to use upfront payments.
Send once off marketing messages
Marketing to your clients is going to be more important now than ever! When you reopen, you’re going to be so flat strap trying to squeeze everyone in that you’re going to be short on time to manage the admin side of things.
To help get your client base up to speed on all these changes, you can send a once off email and/or SMS campaign communicating what is required of your business and of them as a client for you to be able to reopen.
Watch this video to learn how to send a once off marketing message.
Send a pre-arrival message
Keep your guests in the loop! We’ve added a tool in Shortcuts Marketing that allows you to schedule emails or SMS to be automatically sent to your clients before their appointment.
Whether you want to remind them to wait outside the salon when they arrive for their appointment or cancel if they are feeling unwell, you can set it up in a flash. Once set up, the messages will run automatically for all new appointments to be scheduled after this point, meaning you can rest assured your new bookings are getting all the information they need before they arrive.
Update your opening hours and change your roster
Last but not least, chances are your hours may have changed post-lockdown. Don’t forget to update your opening hours in Shortcuts, on your social media profiles, and your Google My Business page so your clients know when you are available.
You’ll also need to update your staff roster in Shortcuts to account for any staff changes, and the times they’re available moving forward.
Watch the quick video below to learn how!
Keen to reopen and looking for extra resources? We’ve prepared a reopening checklist of some of the key things you need to do to reopen your salon after a lockdown. Click here to check it out.
