Benefits of the Technology
The integrity of the whole information system can be better managed using Hair Ware 2000. The technology allows for multiple services to be provided to a single client without any trouble, whereas before, manual procedures caused a lot of problems with clients often being under-billed. The system has also helped cut the cost of "no-shows", an expensive and common problem in the beauty industry. The next day's appointments are printed out and these clients are phoned to remind them about their appointments.
The technology has resulted in considerable time savings in administration tasks. Sue estimates that the computer system frees up about five minutes per client - this translates to a saving of almost 7 hours a day in administration time. It has also allowed time savings for clients who need prescriptions. Instead of having to wait for their technician to confirm a prescription, the computer keeps details of any prescriptions clients have, so the receptionist can simply look up the client's records on the system to verify the correct prescription.
The system has helped a great deal with cash-till management. The takings in the till and the sales recorded on the computer are reconciled at the end of the day, and the occurrence of staff theft is much lower. The same applies with staff theft of stock. Barcodes are attached to products and scanned in and out of the system, allowing much easier reconciliation of shelf stock and stock records. This also enables monitoring of usage, and Ian says this is important as usage can make the difference between profit and loss. The products used in-store (such as shampoo and even toilet paper) are tracked by the system. This firstly highlights any problems of excessive wastage, and secondly enables management to narrow down excessive waste to a particular staff member through a scientific process rather than relying on potentially inaccurate "gut feel".
Print outs of average dollar sales for the week, and dollar sales of each area of the business (such as nails, hairdressing etc), make analysis of business performance much easier than under the old system. Although Sue had previously relied solely on "gut feel" as to how the business is going, she has learned to rely more on the computer's figures to assess those areas of the business that are doing well and those that are not, as well as evaluating the overall performance of the business.
The computer system has also improved the management of staff performance. Information such as how many customers a staff member has seen in a day, how many products they have sold, and how many rebooks have resulted from their consultations is easily retrievable.
Sue believes that the technology has achieved another strategic objective - the aim to portray a professional and leading edge image to customers. The technology, along with an appropriate atmosphere, conveys a professional image to anyone who walks in the door, and this is used to differentiate the business from others in the area. In addition, the technology offers a differentiating factor for staff. In using the system, training staff and giving them skills, Planet Skin can offer its staff some intrinsic benefits that are not available in most other clinics. Although it is difficult to tell how successful this has been, Sue hopes that being associated with a clinic using state of the art technology will induce her technicians to stay with Planet Skin, rather than move on to non-computerised businesses. Ultimately, client loyalty to technicians will be far less significant for the business, simply because the turnover of technicians is reduced.
Originally, Sue hoped that the technology would allow her to spend less time on management tasks. The system has given her about 20-30 percent more time, but she has actually ended up committing a lot of this time to improving promotion and management of the business. The marketing capabilities of the business have increased dramatically with the software, by allowing allows marketing campaigns to be tailored specifically to the customer. For example, the software has the ability to record and remind about clients' birthdays. Each month, birthday cards with special offers are printed and sent to clients having a birthday, promoting customer relations and loyalty. The technology has freed up Sue's time to focus more on the marketing of the business, and the new marketing techniques that have been made possible by the software create the potential for a more direct relationship with clients. In turn, this has grown the size of the business, vastly increasing the need to use the system even more to assist with increased staff scheduling needs and stock management tasks. The automated management of many of these tasks within the system mean that the additional work has, to date, been manageable.
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