Running a beauty and wellness business can leave you feeling more like an admin than a skilled professional. Appointments, inventory, and payments pile up quickly, and your to-do list grows longer as your schedule fills.

The good news? It doesn’t have to be this way. Small business automation is on the scene, ready to save the day. 

Automating tasks reclaims your time and energy. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it solution for boring to-do list items, giving you the space you need to make clients look and feel amazing. 

Read on to learn how automating critical aspects of your business streamlines operations and sets you up for success.

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What Is Automation for Businesses? 

Business automation uses technology to handle repetitive, time-consuming tasks otherwise done manually. For beauty and wellness businesses, these tasks can include scheduling appointments, tracking inventory, and processing payments. 

You might spend hours answering the phone at your salon every week and inputting new appointments by hand. When you learn how to automate your business, you can use a scheduling tool that takes online bookings 24/7 – even while you sleep. The result is a win-win: less work for you and a streamlined process for clients. 

Some tools for automating business processes use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate, classify, and perform tasks. While AI is on the rise and becoming more sophisticated, it’s important to remember to use it to support your company and clients, not to replace your expertise. 

For example, many salons and spas use AI-powered chatbots to answer common client questions without human effort. As helpful as an AI chatbot is for simple tasks, it can’t answer complex questions from current and prospective customers – that’s your job, so use AI moderately. 

An AI chatbot can handle basic questions and direct customers to you for bigger conversations. That way, you know that any phone calls you receive are from customers with questions you need to answer. Clients always appreciate (and often prefer) personalized interactions with you as a business owner. 

7 Ways To Automate Your Business 

If you run a beauty or wellness business, time is your most valuable asset. Automate these tasks to save hours in your workday and keep operations running smoothly: 

1. Appointment Scheduling

Automating scheduling means clients can book their own appointments online, anytime. This means less answering phone calls and emails throughout the day. All you have to do is set up your booking site and preferences, then keep tabs on the system, answer questions, and double-check who’s coming in and when. 

Many software options also let you send automatic client reminders via email and text. This helps clients remember their appointments, reducing no-shows and preventing you from losing income. Other companies may charge extra for appointment notifications, but not GlossGenius – see more on GlossGenius pricing. 

GlossGenius does all this and more with our Booking Website, Online Booking, and Client Notifications features. We also offer a Waitlist feature so if someone cancels, the system automatically assigns their spot to the next client in line. This maximizes your and your team’s schedules, and you don’t have to lift a finger. 

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRM is the process of building and maintaining solid client relationships. This is crucial for long-term success because happy clients lead to higher revenue – but paying attention to every client’s details and feelings can be hard to do. Automation makes the process easier. 

GlossGenius’ Marketing automation tools help you develop personal relationships with customers with personalized text messages and email marketing campaigns. Send an email about a spa day special, a birthday discount, or a quick “We miss you” text to clients who haven’t rebooked in a while. 

If you need help crafting the perfect message, GlossGenius’ AI business tools are ready and waiting to help you find the right words, and send texts and emails that hit all the right notes. This targeted communication engages clients and appeals to them personally, showing them you care and encouraging them to rebook. 

3. Inventory Management

We all know how tricky it is to keep track of salon or spa retail and backroom products, especially when you’re juggling services and items from different brands. Automation simplifies inventory tracking by giving you real-time updates on your stock levels and letting you know if something’s running low. You’ll never forget to reorder what clients need most. 

GlossGenius’ Inventory Management is an all-in-one automated system that updates inventory quantities, sales tax, and client histories when you use or sell a product. With easy barcode scanning right from your phone, all information is as current as possible, preventing service disruptions and saving you time chasing down the right numbers. Plus, when you start with GlossGenius, we’ll personally move your inventory tracking over (plus clients, staff, and appointments) for free. 

Sign up for a 14-day free trial with GlossGenius!     

4. Payment Processing

You don’t always have to take payments manually. With GlossGenius, you can keep clients’ cards on file so payments happen with the push of a button – no hardware necessary. 

But GlossGenius makes even the non-automated parts of your payment process easier. Our point of sale (POS) tools speed up the checkout process (and make it more secure). Our powerful POS hardware connects to your mobile device or tablet and accepts chip cards, contactless (NFC) cards, Tap-to-Pay on iPhone, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. 

GlossGenius also offers one of the best payment processing rates in the biz at just 2.6% flat. Unlike most other beauty and wellness POS systems, GlossGenius offers transparent pricing, which means we don’t charge any extra transaction fees, or different rates depending on appointment volume or checkout method.

5. Payroll and Staff Management

Timesheets and clock-ins are things of the past. Automation handles everything from tracking employees’ hours to filling out necessary paperwork. Getting software to handle these processes doesn’t just save you time – it helps you ensure accuracy and pay your team promptly. And who doesn’t want to get their paychecks faster? 

GlossGenius’ Payroll and Scheduling tools make paying, scheduling, and managing your team a breeze. Payroll is built into our system and includes automated tax filing, with full support in all 50 states. You get unlimited payroll runs without extra fees and can customize commissions, tips, and pay rates to suit your needs. Plus, our calendar lets you quickly slot in appointments, manage team bookings, and access client information from any device.

6. Client Follow-Ups and Reviews

Sending follow-up notes and gathering client feedback can be time-consuming, but these tasks help build customer relationships and your company’s reputation. Clients feel cared for when you follow up after their visit, and soliciting glowing reviews makes your spot seem like the best in town – because it is. 

Automating these tasks lets you engage with clients without adding too much to your workload (whew!). For example, an automated system can trigger a thank-you email and request a review after a client's appointment so you don’t have to. 

When it comes to showing appreciation without taking time out of your day, the GlossGenius platform is a no-brainer. Our beautifully automated, completely built-in system of client reminders and notifications follows up for you, and our Client Reviews tool proactively gets you more testimonials and helps you manage them. You’re in control of your reputation and brand.

7. Reporting and Analytics

Gathering and analyzing data takes time you probably don’t have. Avoid this task by implementing a system that analyzes data and creates reports for you. Get information on sales (how much income you’re earning from retail products and services), client retention (whether or not your customers are sticking around), and other vital metrics so you know where and how to improve. 

GlossGenius’ Reporting and Analytics tools clearly show what’s working and what’s not, giving you the tools to optimize your business processes. We put your most essential numbers into easy-to-understand dashboards so you can instantly access your data and find out how you’re doing, where you’re heading, and what you need to change.

Process Automation for Small Businesses: 3 Tips To Consider 

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Approach business process automation strategically to get the most out of it. Here are three tips:

1. Start Small With High-Impact Tasks

Trust us – you don’t need to automate everything all at once. Overhauling all of your systems takes a lot of work, which gets overwhelming fast. Instead, identify tasks that take the most time and automate those first (and thank us later).  

For example, if your team spends hours every week sending out appointment reminders, that’s a good place to start. After automating booking and reminders, you’ll have more time for other items on your to-do lists, and that system can help reduce no-shows and keep revenue up.

Once you’ve seen the benefits in one area, gradually expand your automation. Starting small gives you quick, confidence-boosting wins to continue the process. 

2. Research and Select the Right Tools

Not all automation tools are created equal. Choose one that fits your business needs and budget by listing what you want to automate – like appointment booking, managing payments, or sending marketing emails – and researching tools that offer those features. 

3. Get Your Team on Board

Train your team about business automation and how to use your tools of choice. You don’t want to end up with a mistake that doesn’t get caught because people aren’t sure how to use the software. Change is hard (we get it), but your team is more likely to embrace and correctly use automation when they understand what’s happening. 

Give them the “Why?” behind it all. What are the benefits of saving time? What new things can you do with automation that you otherwise couldn’t? For example, tell your team that automated appointment scheduling reduces back-and-forth with clients, directly affecting their work day by giving them back valuable time. 

Automate Your Beauty and Wellness Business With GlossGenius 

Automation is the secret sauce that helps streamline operations and keep your clients and team happy. From appointments and payments to inventory, letting technology take (more of) the wheel is a game-changer because it lets you focus on providing stellar customer experiences. 

With GlossGenius, you can work smarter, not harder. Our platform supports every aspect of your business with automation tools like Client Insights, Instant Payouts, and Finances. We also offer a Custom Website Builder so you can build an online presence, and Genius Loans provide access to fast, flexible financing. 

Sign up for a 14-day free trial with GlossGenius!     

Whether a solo entrepreneur or team manager, you can simplify and scale with GlossGenius’ automation software. Start your 14-day free trial today to discover how big a difference it makes.