How Stevie Vincent Runs her Booming Salon on 2 iPads and 7 iPhones

We recently caught up with award-winning hairdresser Stevie Vincent, to hear about her background, and how she uses Timely’s iOS app to run her thriving salon and provide an unparalleled client experience.

Starting from scratch

Three years ago, Stevie Vincent started renting a chair in a salon as a solo operator. A year into running her own business, tired of carrying around a paper diary and constantly losing pens, Stevie heard about Timely and decided to download our app onto her iPhone.

“I was doing everything on paper because that was the only way I knew how, and then I heard about Timely. It was cool to have it on my phone and take it everywhere with me”.

Stevie then got so busy she decided to buy her first salon, which went from one staff member to seven in under a year. “It was a really cool transition using Timely as a solo operator to how beneficial it is in a multi-staff salon, I thought it was good before but now that I have all my staff using it, it’s amazing.”

Timely has turned a technophobe into a tech pro

“I think Timely is awesome, I love having the technology in my salon. From being bad with tech, I’ve become a bit of a tech head and I think it looks really cool too.”

Having her own business, Stevie needed more structure. “I’m not very good with technology but Timely was so simple to use, the important things like setting up and putting in an appointment was easy to do.”  Because she was working for herself, she set up Timely and put her personal appointments in there too so that she had everything in one place.

Having automated messaging set up was also very important, to reduce the number of last minute cancellations and people just not showing up.

“Texting everyone on top of an already busy day is a lot of work. Plus, you don’t want people having your personal number.” Stevie found that automated messaging was worth every single penny. “I loved that I could do the SMS replies with Timely. That was amazing, it decreased no shows and increased rebooking.”

The iOS edge

With two iPads, a salon iPhone and six staff iPhones, you could say that Stevie Vincent Studios uses more than an Apple device a day, which keeps the doctor away. All jokes aside, Stevie believes that iOS devices add an air of professionalism to your salon.

“Everyone understands iPads and loves them. It makes you look more organised, which adds to the experience of visiting a professional salon.”

It also gives your clients peace of mind knowing that their appointment is secured because their salon uses the best tech on the market. “You can book appointments on the iPads and show them. Seeing it on the screen is comforting to the client as they know their next appointment is 100% booked in.”

It’s crucial to the client experience that the salon team are running according to schedule – Stevie’s staff can access their roster on their iPhone and iPad,  making their working lives significantly easier. Stevie also firmly believes that everyone loves new technology, so having iPads in the salon is very cool, and it looks great when paired with the mPop cash drawer at the front desk.

Stevie is also a ‘Sustainable Salon’ so being as paperless as possible is important to her.

Consultations are crucial when giving someone their dream hair

“We often do the consultations with the iPads, it’s helpful to write notes in the client profile.” Stevie’s salon also offers a 15-minute, in-store consultation where her staff perform patch tests and strand tests. Stevie’s team use this hair consultation to understand what the client’s hair goals are and clarify what the salon can achieve in one session. “Our free consultations often end with bookings being made but if it doesn’t, it’s only 15 minutes and we’ve educated someone on their options.”

For their vivid colours, Stevie asks the client to read and sign two copies of a transparency form which she calls a “consultation form on steroids”. The form explains the products the salon will be using and the honest effect of the products on the hair. It explains that bleach is abrasive and that even though the salon uses a bond builder and they want to keep the integrity of the hair, there may be some unavoidable damage. This form is important because not only does it inform the client, it also protects the salon.

On hearing about our new Consult customisable forms app, Stevie is very excited to start using Consult in her salon, which will replace her transparency forms and streamline her thorough consultation process. We’ll have to catch-up with her again to hear how she finds Consult.

Timely helps run the show

“We use Timely for everything now. When I say it runs our business, it does!  Bookings, rosters, lunch breaks, stock, all of our scanning and barcodes, messaging, and reminder messages. We’re also starting to order stock through Timely.”

The salon’s clients get an SMS appointment reminder (which Stevie mentions they love) and clients also receive a rebooking reminder after 6 weeks if they haven’t rebooked yet. Because Stevie works part-time at the salon, she gives the responsibility to her staff. The help guides have helped her staff stay confident with the system, allowing Stevie to focus on her education classes. Not only does Timely help run the salon, but it also saves them a lot of time too!

“Because Timely does everything, we save at least 6 hours a week. Even more time than that actually, because you’re not waiting around for texts and chasing clients.”

Clients love our online booking

“Timely looks fresh and new. It’s easy and straightforward to book online and my clients love that.”

“Timely’s online booking has been the greatest thing ever, we have it on our Instagram, website and Facebook.” As well as taking a 10% deposit online, they structure their online booking by using the Pencilled-in feature and also by saying that pricing is an estimate. “We use pencilled in bookings, so instead of the appointment going straight through, we get an appointment request. If we want more information or if we need to adjust the appointment, we then call or email the client”. They also make note that surcharges apply for long or thick hair.

As the salon relies on online booking, Stevie uses the Minimise Gaps feature to optimise her calendar, ensuring they have less unproductive gaps. Stevie makes use of the flexible options for managing which staff are available via online booking. “I’ve actually taken myself off online booking because I can not take on any more clients, I don’t have a Saturday free until October!”

The freedom to let go

Timely gives Stevie the freedom to run her salon from wherever she needs to be. She’s only in the salon four days a week. The other days are spent educating other budding hairdressers, but she’s still able to check in on her phone and help out remotely. At the end of the week, Stevie has a look at the reports, views the stock levels and tracks what everyone has put through in sales and products.

“I don’t do the ‘technical’ work in the business anymore, only our social media. We don’t have a manager in the salon, everyone has set tasks that they do. Believe it or not, my first-year apprentice who still isn’t on the floor does all of the managing side of things because Timely just so easy to use and you don’t need much training.”

Thanks Stevie, it was great to catch up with you and the team.

The time pressures of running and working in a business is a common theme we’ve heard from many business owners over the years. Larissa Macleman, salon veteran and one of our most popular writers, tackled that topic here: It’s time to take back freedom in your business. Take a look.