There’s no doubt that the past year has been a tough one for the country and many small businesses, but the salon industry has been hit especially hard. Some salons fared well and will survive, while others were not as lucky or as well prepared upon reopening.
Here’s how one salon’s experience with their salon software helped them weather the storm and come out the other side to continue to thrive.
With two salons in Los Angeles and a third in his hometown of Milwaukee, Howie Goldklang agrees that the shutdowns have been difficult in terms of continuing to build, create, and serve their community. However, he and his team never underestimated the severity of COVID and knew from a health standpoint, the shutdowns have been the right thing to do.
Even with the roadblocks of the past year, Howie has ensured that his clients were kept up-to-date: “Rosy has been such a tremendous communication resource during the shutdown. Emailing our database of guests specific to appointments or retail purchases was exactly what we needed.”
“For our salon team, Rosy’s deep reporting for any wage or time clock information for furlough status or unemployment reporting that was needed was always at the fingertips of our team, 24/7. We can see from log-in records how often it was used and it helped keep all of us stay on the right side of reporting throughout,” Howie added.
One of the popular features launched this past year specifically for COVID measures is Curbside Check-in. “15 minutes before an appointment, guests get a text prompting them to self-check-in to let us know they arrived. We can then communicate back via text, or a member of our team can greet their guest and let them know the timing and protocols leading up to the start of their appointment. The start of a visit with a text helped bring professionalism to our interactions. With guests, it brought some order to the new way we needed to operate. Texting from Rosy has been exceptional,” Howie explained.
The ability to have a credit card on file before clients can make a booking is a feature that Howie had already tapped before the shutdowns. Upon re-opening, the rebooking process proved to be seamless for his team, with the option to use contactless checkout to be convenient and timely.
Howie also found the support at Rosy to be especially helpful during the shutdowns. “Everyone is always so helpful and quick to reply. The personal touch and peace of mind that Rosy had our back was a nice feeling to have with so many other things being so unclear,” said Howie.
When asked how Rosy helped his business during the difficult times, Howie responded: ”Rosy is a true salon industry original. The software existed in the cloud before the cloud was a thing! That tech and cloud-flexibility made it easy to communicate with our guests and staff without leaving home. It is especially useful for our curbside, contactless retail sales.
“Now that we are back in the salon, the auto-texting feature makes check-in a breeze for the front desk, guests, and staff simultaneously. With our hours and days open constantly changing, the simple time clock and reports keep us organized and easy for the staff to see their time in the salon, productivity, and any other reports needed for their own files.
“2020 was tough to adjust to in many ways, but Rosy helped soften the fall,” Howie stated in closing.
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Howie Goldklang and wife Carly Flynn own three salons: The Establishment in Milwaukee, WI, and The Establishment and Southpaw in Los Angeles, CA.
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