The Grass Isn’t Always Greener

We left during the second lockdown. That period ended up being a time of reflection for me about Bloom as a business. Strategically I wanted to be in a position at the point of reopening where I wanted to communicate with Bloom guests in a slightly different way, the marketing suite on the alternative software seemed more proactive, it appeared slicker and perhaps more agile. During the sales call it seemed that the new software promised all that we already had and then some more.  The problem with the timing was that we weren’t doing guests every day, we weren’t seeing our team either, so although we didn’t realise it at the time, we didn’t compare a working salon

The team wanted to go back, it was an immediate relief for everyone, we could run both the guest facing business and the back room business to the same standard as we had previously

Really very simple, we lost a little of the data in the transition back, which on its own would have been a challenge for the team, however they were so relieved in the end they didn’t care!

In all honesty I personally don’t give up easily and because of that I ended up taking it personally as a bit of a failure!!  That said though, when I realised I had ‘lost’ the team in terms of their commitment to the new software it was a no brainier.  They all worked so hard to try to make it work, i felt sad that I had put them through it.  Especially after covid stresses.  Everyone is relieved and delighted, happy that they feel in control again.

The team at SalonIQ are amazing, its a very personal service.  I feel like they understand the salon business and how diverse it is across many salon types and offerings.  They keep things simple and concise and if they don’t feel they can do something 100% then they tend to collaborate.  At Bloom we feel like they listen to us, coach us and make sure we know when we aren’t using something we might benefit from.

There were problems with the new software both for guests and in the back room.  It was over complicated, for example rebooking a guest who was in front of you was potentially 3 or 4 steps, where with IQ it was 1.  Pulling off a wages report was also multiple reports where IQ was 1, generally it was almost like the new software did 100’s of things but not one or two very simple and vital things

We left SalonIQ for the only reason to try and improve our marketing in terms of segmentation via terms of sending out the right communication to our clients. Using their buying history and their forward thinking of potential services or products they might need.

There were so many other aspects that we were reliant upon, data, numbers, reliable information, quick and easy turnaround when we got problems to be able to be solved. So many aspects we missed once we went.

The answer is extremely and infinitely easier than when we left. To leave it took us three months because of people on furlough, ripping through data sheets, looking at excel documents and very time consuming. To come back it was done for us, literally give the access and SalonIQ looked at the data, created it behind the scenes. We came into the salon and almost all the information was there ready for us to trade.

My favourite features of SalonIQ really comes down to the team members that work there, you get a different answer from different team members. My side of the business is to do with the data and information being accessible from anywhere. Once we hit perhaps a challenge that we need to get resolved then we can get that instantly answered.

The training, the data side of it, the information, the documents, that cross reference to each other so I can rely on it and get access to that information anywhere.