In this strange new age we’re living in, so many of our wonderful clients have needed to change the way they operate to ensure they are trading more safely and strongly in a coping-with-coronavirus world.
From pre-appointment checks, to new cleaning and safety precautions for the team, and limits in waiting areas and appointment times – business owners are finding it hard to know where to start.
So we thought – why should you guys do all the hard work?
Our super–smart development team have been tinkering away to come up with some enhancements to the software you’re already using, that will allow you to get the message to your customers quickly, efficiently and safely. Convenient, right?
Let’s get into them.
Automated Pre-Arrival Messages:
This nifty little enhancement to Shortcuts Marketing allows you to schedule emails or SMS to be automatically sent to your clients before their appointment.
Simply pick your time period (anywhere from 5 minutes to 24 hours before the appointment), choose whether you want it to be an email or SMS – or both – and decide what you want it to say! 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.
You can find the pre-arrival instruction messaging functionality in your Shortcuts Live or Cloud platform – navigate to Communications Setup and then choose Marketing and Pre-Arrival Instructions. Check out these resources and get your pre-arrival messages set up today.
Some ideas of messages to set up are:
- Let clients know that they should wait in their car till their stylist is ready
- Send clients a link to your new COVID-19 safety precautions
- Remind clients to call and reschedule if they’re unwell or have been in contact with someone who is unwell
We’ve built this feature to be automatically sent to all new appointments booked from the very minute you activate your Pre-Arrival Messages – handy, hey! So you can rest assured that any new bookings will get your most up-to-date info before their arrival.
🔥 HOT TIP 🔥 If you want to make sure that anyone who visits your salon is getting your COVID-safe info, you can now include a tiny link in your appointment confirmation texts. Simply publish the information you want to let your clients know on either your website, or even a Facebook or Google My Business post – copy the URL and go to bitly.com. Paste the URL into the box called “Shorten your link”, click the button and hey presto! A tiny link you can include at the end of your confirmation texts and emails! Editing your SMS confirmation messages is simple – check out this video with Jonny to learn how. 📱
But wait – there’s more…
Ad-Hoc SMS – custom and templated
Have you found you’re spending time sending the same messages to different clients? Wouldn’t it be simple if you could send those messages with just a few clicks, straight from your appointment book? Well. Have we got news for you.
From talking with our clients (hey you guys!) we know that now more than ever, you’re wanting to get in touch with your customers before their appointment. You want to let them know certain measures are in place, maybe you need to let them know you’re ready to see them, or their stylist is running late.
With our latest enhancements, you can now create SMS templates for messages you need to send regularly, and your team can send them to clients directly from the appointment book!
It’s as easy as 1,2,3…
- Add as many SMS templates as you’d like through the Communication Setup area of your Shortcuts Live or Cloud platform.
- From your Live or Cloud Appointment Book, click on the client you’d like to message, click the three little dots and then “SMS customer”
- Choose the templated message to send, make any changes or edits you’d like, and click “Send”
Voila!
But wait – there’s STILL more. You can now send custom SMS direct from your Live or Cloud appointment book! Think special instructions for keeping that hairdo in place all night long, or post-peel or laser care – the possibilities are endless, and customisable to fit.
Best of all, you can determine who has the ability to send them, meaning you can let your team go wild with the personal touches, or keep a lid on it if you’re on a tighter SMS bundle. (Pssst – to learn more about our SMS bundles, and to check out the upgrade options, click here)
To make life super simple for you (‘cause hey, that’s what we’re here for right?) we’ve created some How To videos with your favourite Shortcuts Educator Jonathan – check them out here.
We used our brains-trust to come up with some ideas for templates like:
- We’re ready for your appointment
- We’re running 5/10/15 minutes late – hold tight!
- Personalised pre-appointment tips – like a reminder to come in with wet hair if you’ve got a blowdry only appointment, or to shave your legs before laser!
So there you have it. A little treat from our development team, to you – two brand new ways to help you communicate with your clients.
And remember – if you have any great ideas for the product, we’re all ears! We LOVE hearing from the people that use Shortcuts most – that’s YOU. If you think of ways the system could work better, let us know by getting in touch over Facebook or Instagram. Every feature starts with a great idea!
