Here’s how to find the best tool to improve your client experience and build your business

You want your spa to be an oasis of calm in your clients’ busy days. You put care into crafting an experience that washes away their worries the second they pass through your door, leaving them relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready to be their best selves by the time they head back out.

But the spa market is growing fast, and many other businesses are elevating their offerings, too. As excellent as your offerings already are, you’re facing stiff competition. How can you make sure your spa stands out? By using spa scheduling software that makes the experience as smooth and stress-free as possible even before clients get to your doorstep — and that empowers your employees to spend less time on busywork and more time crafting a superior client experience.

What is spa scheduling software?

Spa scheduling software is an application or platform that is built to address the particular booking needs of spa businesses. Generic scheduling systems can achieve some of the same features — a work calendar to track appointments, manual phone calls for reminders, a spreadsheet hand-populated with utilization statistics, and so on — but dedicated spa booking systems allow businesses to centralize and automate as many of those processes as possible. 

7 essential features for spa booking software

So, what sets great spa appointment software apart from general-purpose solutions? Certain features will help give your self-care business the biggest advantage possible. Here are seven to prioritize:

Self-booking

If you’re looking for just one feature in spa scheduling software, make it an excellent self-booking experience. More specifically, look for self-booking that is:

• Easy to use, whether clients are accessing it from their phone, tablet, or laptop

• Beautiful and inviting out of the box, yet customizable to match your spa’s individual aesthetic

• Usable both on your website and from the many ways new clients may find you, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Google Search

• Deeply integrated with the rest of your scheduling system

If your solution checks all those boxes, you’ll be ready to offer your clients a superior experience even before they check in for their first visit.

Optimized scheduling

Your self-booking experience should do more than show potential clients a list of available times. It should offer intelligent suggestions to make sure every appointment slot is optimized. Look for spa appointment software that can build in transition, processing, and finishing time. This will allow each step of the process to run like clockwork and give your employees the time they need to do their best work.

Form handling

Most new clients aren’t going to show up 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork, no matter how nicely you ask. Rather than risking delays by sending them back to the waiting area with a clipboard, let your spa scheduling software handle the details when clients have the time and attention to spare.

Your system should make it easy to build the required forms with templates or fully customized designs. Then, it should send them off for clients to complete using whatever device they choose. And forget about time-wasting data entry or duplicating profiles — all the info should flow straight into an all-in-one client profile that’s available across all of your business’ locations.

Integrated payment systems

Maybe you collect payment details upfront to offset the likelihood of no-shows, or maybe you want to make the checkout process as smooth as possible so clients go straight from the treatment room to your retail shelves to the exit with minimal interruption. If your spa booking software includes an integrated payment system that can store cards on file — including the option to set up memberships that keep clients coming back every month — each following step in the client experience will run even smoother.

Automated reminders

No-shows are no fun for anybody, but they don’t have to be a grim inevitability. Using automated SMS confirmations and appointment reminders as part of your spa booking system reduces no-shows and late cancellations by 71%. That means more appointments, fewer employees sitting around with nothing to do, and more chances to turn a new client into a regular. For the best possible results, add conversational SMS options that let your staff easily connect with clients all in one place.

Advanced reporting

To build a better self-care business, you can’t only take a day-to-day view of money in and money out. You have to spot trends in who is booking what, when, and why. This will let you see when your spa is most profitable, for example, and when you’d do better by giving the team a late start or day off.

In other words, your spa scheduling software should feature deep and powerful connectivity with your reporting tools. Copying data by hand or exporting it from one tool to the next can introduce delays and complexity to your planning process. Instead, opt for a system built from the ground up to show you the most important data for making impactful decisions all in one place.

Excellent customer support

Even if you have the perfect spa booking software, you’re bound to have questions now and then. Whether you need help adding your self-booking system to your website, your schedule looks a little funky and you can’t figure out why, or you need help navigating any other issue, you should be able to count on customer support that’s just as dedicated to your business as you are. Look for a platform with a dedicated support team, in-depth documentation, and ample educational resources to ensure you can get the assistance you need, when you need it.

Your scheduling experience is the first real interaction many new clients will have with your brand. It’s what gets them through the door on time so you can work your magic and keep them coming back time and time again. Taking the time to find the right spa scheduling software now could make a big difference for your business down the line.