Phorest or Ovatu software?

[Paige@TheClinik]

I have just invested in phorest, it didn't cost me a couple of grand but it is pricey. Booking online they don't take a deposit but you put your card details in, which is something that will obviously deter people booking online and not turning up or false bookings.
We haven't had the training and system set up yet I'll let you know how we get on at the end of the month!
I'm mainly looking forward to it doing everything that I do manually on its own

 

[Ovatu-UK]

Hi all

It's Pete here from Ovatu in the UK I've just seen this thread and thought I would put a mention up if anyone has any questions I'm here to answer them, and if anyone would like us to arrange a call back to explain our system in more details please feel free to let us know and we can contact you.

 

[Grace_Hair]

Hi all

It's Pete here from Ovatu in the UK I've just seen this thread and thought I would put a mention up if anyone has any questions I'm here to answer them, and if anyone would like us to arrange a call back to explain our system in more details please feel free to let us know and we can contact you.

I've Gotta say I was impressed with your customer service. I facebooked this morning. And it was literally minutes til a reply!!

 

[squidgernetball]

I've Gotta say I was impressed with your customer service. I facebooked this morning. And it was literally minutes til a reply!!

I can honestly say @Grace_Hair that it's the best customer service. I'll text Pete or call with a quick question and he gets straight back to me. There's a support group as well to get ideas of how to use it with promotions etc. Starting the new year we inserted a "book now" button in a couple of places on our new year newsletter and had 3 online bookings in half an hour!

Vic x

 

[djlest]

Ive got some questions for Ovatu or anyone else using it?
Here is my dilema, currently testing a lot of salon software but yet to find one that does what i specifically need.

1. we offer hair color services but obviously its impossible to know the price before see a clients hair, length, thickness, history etc. So this always puts a spanner in the works when setting up a system which allows them to book themselves online or when it comes to them coming to pay at the checkout after they have already booked online and the price is different. Obviously i know its probably possible to also change price of service or add extra services at the checkout which brings me to my second dilema.

2. we have multiple branches and i feel we are suffering theft at the POS, clients paying more but less getting entered or perhaps changing the ticket after. What other options can be done about this? or what does Ovatu do exactly taking into consideration my dilema and the above.

3.Another idea i had was using ipads for walk in clients or for consultations with color, we take photos of clients and they go in the customers private databse. that way i can check the checkout price versus the before and after pics for the client and know more as to if thinks are not matching. i also thinks its a good idea to have a photo portfolio of past client services and colors and professional. Does Ovatu or any other software out there do this?

 

[IBUK]

Ive got some questions for Ovatu or anyone else using it?
Here is my dilema, currently testing a lot of salon software but yet to find one that does what i specifically need.

1. we offer hair color services but obviously its impossible to know the price before see a clients hair, length, thickness, history etc. So this always puts a spanner in the works when setting up a system which allows them to book themselves online or when it comes to them coming to pay at the checkout after they have already booked online and the price is different. Obviously i know its probably possible to also change price of service or add extra services at the checkout which brings me to my second dilema.

2. we have multiple branches and i feel we are suffering theft at the POS, clients paying more but less getting entered or perhaps changing the ticket after. What other options can be done about this? or what does Ovatu do exactly taking into consideration my dilema and the above.

3.Another idea i had was using ipads for walk in clients or for consultations with color, we take photos of clients and they go in the customers private databse. that way i can check the checkout price versus the before and after pics for the client and know more as to if thinks are not matching. i also thinks its a good idea to have a photo portfolio of past client services and colors and professional. Does Ovatu or any other software out there do this?

why don't you just have a trustworthy receptionist when you are not there?

 

[squidgernetball]

Ive got some questions for Ovatu or anyone else using it?
Here is my dilema, currently testing a lot of salon software but yet to find one that does what i specifically need.

1. we offer hair color services but obviously its impossible to know the price before see a clients hair, length, thickness, history etc. So this always puts a spanner in the works when setting up a system which allows them to book themselves online or when it comes to them coming to pay at the checkout after they have already booked online and the price is different. Obviously i know its probably possible to also change price of service or add extra services at the checkout which brings me to my second dilema.

2. we have multiple branches and i feel we are suffering theft at the POS, clients paying more but less getting entered or perhaps changing the ticket after. What other options can be done about this? or what does Ovatu do exactly taking into consideration my dilema and the above.

3.Another idea i had was using ipads for walk in clients or for consultations with color, we take photos of clients and they go in the customers private databse. that way i can check the checkout price versus the before and after pics for the client and know more as to if thinks are not matching. i also thinks its a good idea to have a photo portfolio of past client services and colors and professional. Does Ovatu or any other software out there do this?

Yes Ovatu does all that. I quite prices ‘from’ so clients know it may be more x

 

[TheDuchess]

I have Phorest. I took it because I thought it would be cheaper than a receptionist, because I didn't have time to put together marketing newsletters and offers and because I liked the business guidance they offered. After we took Phorest our sales increased 25% very quickly. It was a bit of a shock - we'd had a computer booking system before.

It's a bit overkill tbh but I've had it 3 years now and more than doubled my turnover and increased retail sales from 10% of turnover to a comfortable 20%+. I do like that you can set the software up on phones, iPads, and multiple computers so you can always refer to your bookings. We take iPads into treatment rooms so we can amend bookings and discuss rebooking with the client. It also very handy for taking Facebook enquiries out of hours and for receptionist working from home with a sick child.

The GDPR have limited marketing to opt in clients only, but since I've still never sent out a campaign I guess that won't make any difference. Phorest did one for me as a trial pre GDPR - then they emailed me to say that it hadn't produced the uplift they were hoping for so they were stopping. I appreciated the feedback and effort free insight!

I do like their business blogs and podcasts and the weekly kpi report that gets sent out. These are great business tools. This has helped me grow my business by focusing my attention on the things that make the difference.

I still need a good receptionist, but now we can use her to convert enquiries into bookings rather than being the booking system. I think Phorest would be invaluable in a small to medium size area where clients don't move in and out of area that much. I'm in a 100,000 pop city with 20,000 students and 1million tourists visitors a year, so client loyalty and retention etc. are not too much of a concern, but it's easy to be a busy fool. I think Phorest has saved me from that.

 

[LexieBooksy]

Yes Ovatu does all that. I quite prices ‘from’ so clients know it may be more x

Hi there, with Booksy you can put prices from on the services which allows you to charge the correct price for your client on the day of the service.
with POS you can set each team member their own login details and security levels so they are unable to do certain tasks also they can pay by app so there is no need for your staff to take the bill at all.
Booksy is compatible with iPads and tablets etc in their client database you can add pictures as well as notes. also there is a section where you can add workplace photos to your online profile to showcase them. any other questions do please give me a shout.