Client management for hair salons: what counts
What client management in a hair salon has to do: show formula and allergy before the client sits down, tell you who to call, and let clients self-serve.
Client management in a hair salon is not an address book. It has to answer three questions, every day: what do I need to know before this client sits down, who should I call because she stopped coming, and what can the client sort out herself without the phone ringing. Software that does those three well saves time. Software that only stores names and numbers does not.
Before the client sits down
The most important thing on a client record is the colour formula, and right after it whatever a colleague needs to know: an allergy, a sensitive scalp, an earlier complaint. You should see that without looking for it.
- In HairConnect you pin a note like that. It then shows in a red block at the top of the record, in the window of every appointment for that client, on the block in the diary and above the receipt at the till.
- The latest colour formula is in the appointment window, without opening the record.
- You write the formula the way you always have. The software tries to parse it, but your own note is always kept — even when it is not understood.
Why that last point matters is in the article on colour formulas.
Who should I call?
A client file is only worth something once you can pull a call list out of it. For example: everyone who ever had a balayage and has not been in for nine months. That takes filters you can combine.
| Filter | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Not been in for | 3, 6 or 9 months, a year, 18 months, two years, or since a date you pick |
| Had this service | clients who actually had that service, from the diary — so years back too |
| Bought this product | clients with a closed receipt that includes that product |
| Without email and mobile | clients you cannot reach in any way |
A cancelled appointment or a no-show does not count as a visit: the client did not come. Neither does an appointment still to come. The calling you do yourself. HairConnect sends no text messages and no marketing email; it only records whether a client agrees to receive texts.
A file you can trust
A client file gets messy at the front desk, while someone is waiting. So entering has to be quick, and checking has to be possible later.
- No field is required. A first name is enough to book an appointment; you fill in the rest later.
- Type a mobile number however you like: 0477 33 64 36 is stored as +32477336436.
- If you add an email address, the client gets an email to check and correct their own details. That is on by default and can be turned off.
- The number of visits is counted from the diary, not from a figure stored somewhere. So it cannot drift.
- If you come from another package, duplicates and records that are not really clients (a "dryer delivery", for example) show up on your screen as clean-up suggestions.
What the client handles herself
Every question the client can answer herself is one phone call fewer. In the HairConnect client portal she sees her appointments, her colour history, her receipts and her gift cards. She can move or cancel an appointment within the window you set, turn emails off, download all her data and submit an erasure request.
Your notes about her she does not see. They are not in the download either: they belong to the salon.
Erasing a client without breaking your figures
When a client asks to be erased, that must not break your numbers. If nothing is attached to the record, it goes. If there are appointments or receipts, the name, contact details, colour formulas and notes are erased, but the receipts stay — otherwise last year’s turnover no longer adds up. Only the owner sees that button.
How to build the call list, step by step, is in the manual. What else the client record does is on the features page.