How to compare salon booking software: twelve questions to ask before you sign

Every booking system has a calendar, online booking and reminders. Every sales page has a smiling stylist and the word "effortless". If you compare on those, they all look the same, and you end up choosing on price or on whichever salesperson called back first.

The differences that matter show up six months in, when you are trying to do something the demo never covered. These twelve questions are meant to drag those moments forward to before you sign. They apply to us as much as to anyone.

Money

1. What will I pay in a normal month, all in?

Add it up: subscription, per-staff fees, SMS, commission on bookings, payment processing, add-on modules. Ask for it as a single figure based on your own numbers, such as five staff, four hundred bookings and sixty new clients. A low monthly fee with a commission can cost more than a high one without.

2. Do I pay when my own regulars book?

Some marketplaces charge only for clients they introduce, some charge differently for repeat visits, some do not charge per booking at all. Get the rule in writing, including how "new client" is defined. Someone who has been coming to you for years but has never used the app may count as new.

3. What happens to the price as I grow?

Per-seat pricing is fine at two people and painful at nine. Ask what the bill looks like with double your current team.

Your data

4. Can I get my client list out, and in what shape?

A list of names is not the same as a history. Ask whether you can export clients with their bookings, notes and files, and whether you can do it yourself at any time or have to request it.

5. Who may contact my clients?

If the platform also runs a consumer marketplace, find out whether it markets other salons to people who came in through you. This is normal for marketplaces and not sinister, but you should know the answer.

6. What comes across if I switch to you?

Setting up a menu from scratch takes a weekend. Rebuilding years of client history is usually impossible. Ask exactly what can be imported, whether you can see a preview first, and whether your clients will receive any messages during the move. They should not.

The working day

7. Can it describe my menu without workarounds?

Bring your three most awkward services to the demo. The one priced by hair length. The one that costs more with your senior stylist. The one that needs the single machine everyone fights over. If the answer involves creating six near-identical services, you will feel that every day.

8. What does the front desk see at nine on a Saturday?

Ask to see a full day for the whole team on one screen, then ask them to move an appointment, swap the specialist and add a walk-in. Count the clicks. Then do the same on a phone.

9. What does it do about no-shows?

There are roughly four tools: reminders, deposits or prepayment, a waitlist that refills cancelled slots, and some record of who has let you down before. Few systems have all four. Decide which you need. For what it is worth, SalonRadar has all four.

The back office

10. Does it know what my services cost me?

If product is a serious part of your costs, as it is in colour, aesthetics and nails, ask whether stock is included, whether services can carry a recipe, and whether you can see consumption per person. Many systems stop at "products for retail".

11. Can my team see only what they should?

A junior does not need the revenue report. A receptionist may need every calendar but no settings. Ask how roles work and whether there is a log of who changed what.

12. Which reports will I open every week?

Ignore the dashboard with twelve charts. Ask for the three you will use: what we took today and whether the till balances, who sold what this month, and which clients have stopped coming. If those are good, the rest is decoration.

How to run the comparison

1. Write down your five non-negotiables before you look at anything. Otherwise the best demo wins.
2. Shortlist three. More than that and they blur.
3. Use a trial with real data. Enter your real menu and a real week. Problems hide in the details that demo data never has.
4. Ask your most sceptical team member to try it. If they can book, move and cancel an appointment without help, everyone can.
5. Ask about leaving. The way a company answers "how do I cancel and take my data?" tells you most of what you need to know about the next five years.

One more thing

There is no best salon software, only a best fit. A lash artist working from her phone, a twelve-chair salon with a front desk, and a laser clinic with consent forms will each use a different tenth of any system. Judge a product on the tenth that is yours, not on the length of its feature list.

If you want to see how two specific options line up, we have written our own honest comparisons with Treatwell and Watalook.