Timely Bootcamp: Strengthen your cashflow
It’s super important to be thinking about how your business can generate cash both before you open your doors again, and afterwards. The businesses that can continue to generate revenue while they're closed and then take advantage of the demand when they have an open date will be back on their feet faster, and better prepared to tackle any future restrictions or changes to the industry.
Over the next 4 weeks we’re running our very own Timely Bootcamp to help get your business fit and ready to hit the ground running! This blog is the second in a series of 4, and each week we’ll be releasing a blog and hosting a Facebook LIVE class focusing on a different topic covering all the essential information you need to get ready to reopen. Follow us on Facebook to learn more.
This week’s Facebook Live – Strengthen your cashflow
New Zealand: Wednesday, 15th April at 8pm NZST
Australia: Wednesday, 15th April at 6pm AEST
United Kingdom: Wednesday, 15th April at 9am BST
Contents
- Sell products and packages online
- Sell gift vouchers online
- Get paid upfront with online deposits
- Sell a premium bundle
- Connect Afterpay and Laybuy to your Timely account
- Put your upsell hat on
Sell products and packages online
Your clients will want (and in many cases, need) their favourite products even though your doors are closed! Where possible, take your stock home and get ready to sell online through your website or systems like Shopify and WooCommerce.
Another way that you and your clients can help each other is to offer special packages. These might be a set of your regular services at a slightly discounted rate so your clients can buy a colour and cut with three blow waves to be used when they’re allowed to leave the house and (finally) socialise again. The client gets a great deal, and you’re generating revenue in advance.
To sell products and packages online with Timely, promote your products through Insta and FB; getting on your insta stories and talking about the product or the offer makes it personal for the client and they can message you what they’d like to buy, you’ll be able to raise the sale in Timely and send them your payment details.
Want to start selling online now? Selling online helpguide
To get our best tips and advice, head to our ‘Selling products online during COVID-19 with Timely‘ help guide.
Sell gift vouchers online
Selling gift vouchers online is like a small interest-free loan; they’re a great tool to keep money coming into your business! You can promote gift vouchers to your clients through this time that they can use for future appointments (when you’re open again) or suggest they send them to someone who needs a pick me up. Even better, there are some improvements coming to online gift vouchers next week!
We’ve created a library of social assets you can download and use to promote your business online, including gift vouchers! Check it out here.
Help Guide: Set up online gift vouchers help-guide
Set it up in Timely: Set up gift vouchers in my account
Be ready for opening day
Get paid upfront with online deposits
You can generate cash on every booking made, not just appointments you’ve completed, by using online deposits. Businesses that take deposits or require prepayment for their services when they reopen are going to be in a much better position to survive the post-COVID restrictions than the businesses that aren’t.
Worried that clients won’t book and pay in advance? Demand for your services will be through the roof once lockdown is over! The first thing most people will be doing is booking appointments for their much needed services, and they’ll be happy to pay a deposit to secure their booking. In fact, clients love the experience, because at the end of their appointment they can leave without having to wait around to pay – it’s like Uber for your salon!
With high demand and smart communication of policies to reassure clients that their deposits can be shifted to a new booking and even refunded if the appointment can’t go ahead within X months, your calendar and your bank account will be full.
Tips: TimelyPay is coming soon! This will be the fastest way to start taking payments online. You’ll be ready to take prepayments and deposits for all bookings and sell gift vouchers and products online in no time. Plus, you can see all of your payment details in Timely and the fees are some of the lowest.
Help Guide: Set up deposits help-guide
Set it up in Timely: Set up deposits in my account
Sell a premium bundle
Consider how you can take advantage of the demand when your doors reopen. You can’t see everyone at once and there may still be restrictions on how many clients you can see, so you should try to prioritise the clients who are willing to pay for more services or even pay a premium to be seen first. One option is to open up your bookings for a limited period (maybe the first 1-2 weeks) but only offer a select few services as a bundle, and you could even include products.
Tip: To do this in Timely, create service groups that can be booked online and turn off all other services for the first few days after you open your bookings up. Once the most eager clients or your VIPs have filled the first spots, you can enable the rest of your services to be booked again.
Help Guides:
Set up service groups help-guide
Turn services on and off for online bookings help-guide
Set it up in Timely: Set up a new service group in Timely
Connect Afterpay and Laybuy to your Timely account
Afterpay and Laybuy are not only going to help clients afford your services in tough times, but they’re also proven to increase your average sale amount by 74%! Not only will clients be more likely to come in; they’re also more likely to spend more.
You can offer both Afterpay and Laybuy as payment options to your clients, and the forms to get setup require the same information so you should set both up at the same time and give your clients more ways to pay.
Note: Only Afterpay allows you to pay for an invoice that has a deposit applied. Laybuy requires clients to pay the whole invoice.
Set it up now?
Register for Laybuy (AU, UK, NZ)
Register for Afterpay (AU and NZ only)
Put your upsell hat on
Upsell to your clients by offering additional services, and make sure you’re selling products at the same time to grow that average sale. Not everyone is a natural salesperson and this might not be something you’re used to doing, so you should get some tips and upskill on this while you’re closed; it’ll help you get back on your feet faster!
