[Salon Business] Square Processing for Independent Hairstylists
I’ve been using Square since I branched off on my own as an independent stylist and I cannot recommend it enough! I absolutely love it! Here are the main reasons I love and recommend Square.
Fees
This is by far the most common question I get: “Do I have to pay a monthly or yearly fee?” You’d be happy to know that Square has no monthly or surprise fees, only a fee per transaction.
This means that when you’re not working, you’re not paying.
If you decide to take 3 weeks off work, you aren’t paying a subscription to a POS system that you don’t use.
Text Messaging
Square is always on top of what clients want, so recently they’ve rolled out text messaging, saving you hundreds of dollars a year on having a second business phone or texting app to stay in contact with your client.
You no longer have to rely on email or your Instagram DM’s. As soon as your clients book, you can text back and forth.
I shoot my clients a text message to remind them of my location, because my studio can be hard to find, or the products we talked about during our appointment right from my phone or laptop.
Booking
Clients love it! It’s simple, straight forward, user-friendly and customizable. You can set your schedule however you like, and your services in whatever way you want to advertise them.
It also has these awesome features:
Sends out reminder texts and emails. You can customize your message to suit the voice of your business.
Gives you the option to ask for pre-payment or payment after service.
Gives you the option to hold credit card information to protect against no-shows. My policy is no credit card, no booking. I have only had one no-show in 3 years.
Gives you the option to immediately accept bookings or for clients to have to ask for confirmation. I have to accept or decline appointments to allow for any scheduling issues. For example, sometimes I book something off in my Google calendar that doesn’t show up so I have to explain this to clients.
Square even started a marketing campaign feature that I’ve yet to use because I love Convertkit.
The Professional Advantage
Most importantly, having an easy online booking system allows you to stand out as a professional who is easy to do business with. Clients know how you operate and will enjoy working with you.
To check your appointments you have to download the Appointments app on your phone, not the Square app.
To get started with Square click here. I hope this helps!
