When it’s time to cHaNgE…
06.06.08

A Diet Coke for anyone who knows where that line comes from!

So it’s June already and salon owners are now scrambling to compare their season to last year’s numbers and on a more global sense, trying to compare to other salons in the industry. Up? Down? Flat? It all depends on who you talk to and whether or not you are getting honest and accurate information.

With all of these questions, one answer is easy…the day and age of salon computerization being a luxury is behind us. What may be an even more telling sign of the times is that today’s industry software may also be approaching the point of being too far behind the times in its current state. OUCH! That really hurts to admit from someone whose livelihood depends on being able to meet the needs of an ever changing industry as well as keeping up with mainstream technology.

A common misconception in the world of technology is that the higher the version number the more stable the application must be. This should make us at Helios feel like throwin’ the chest out and peacocking around the tradeshow floor this coming September since we are on version – GET THIS - 11! Wow, double digits in fact…must be good right? Well unfortunately not necessarily.

Software companies could never survive if they rewrote each new version from the ground up, but at some point you get to a point of diminishing returns on the continual retrofitting. New features are always a big hit with salon owners, but speed, security and flexibility are the core to running a successful salon.

Credit card and EFT processing have become more of an integrated process in most software offerings today. With customer data being transmitted over the Internet in most multiple salon chains, data security is critical. In my opinion, it’s paramount that your software provides you with built in security features to protect you rather than walking away from the design and development board and placing that responsibility back on you.

With that being said, now is the time to start kicking the tires and looking under the hood of your existing software and those other options that are out there. This can be a very undaunting and intimidating task for a lot of salon professionals, but something that absolutely should be done each year to keep us honest. I always recommend that people do their due diligence when deciding on their salon software. Salon professionals should call and get a demo from the 3 or 4 major vendors in our industry, but should not stop there. As the demos come in they should be reviewed immediately while writing down any questions that come up for each product. When the review process is completed what better place to compare apples to apples than at the ITA show in Nashville? The show is a month earlier this year so it’s time to start requesting those demos again and see what’s available this year and see who is keeping pace with technology.

So much to say and so few words allowed by the folks at IST to say them. With that being said, if you have any questions that you don’t feel the sales or technical support staff are answering to your satisfaction while doing your due diligence you should go straight to the top. Request to speak to the president, certainly if he/she values your business they will make themselves available to you.

Until next month…PEACE!

Opps, almost forgot! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyooALwfxO8