Glossgenius vs. Vagaro vs. Square

Hello, friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. I am very excited to be talking to you today all about breaking down these three booking systems that I personally coach to, recommend, and find to be the, um, basic go-tos, you know, in today's day and age of being a beauty professional who utilizes current day technology. These are the three that are most used throughout the industry right now, and, um, because of that, because they are the most largely utilized, they are also the ones that I mostly trust because they have the resources, right?

They have the resources. They have the backing. They have the funding and the pressure to always stay ahead, to always be innovating, to always keep their systems up and running. And in my personal experience, somebody who teaches all about operations and streamlining and using online booking, right?

Um, somebody who has had hundreds of people come through my programs and I've been able to see the backend of their business and see how their b- online booking and their booking systems work for them, get feedback, all of those things, I find myself to be pretty knowledgeable about this and also understand how to prioritize what matters in a booking system and what doesn't matter in a booking system. I find a lot of the times that people spend way too much time thinking about this decision. Okay? Yes, it's an important one.

Yes, I am the snobbiest tech person on the planet. You know, I'm using the best of the best software, period. It is what it is. However, this is a part of your business that really should not be stressing you out too much, right?

Um, you should be able to choose something that you trust and then you should be able to make it work for you. And the way that we make things work for us is by making sure that we're not only relying on that one software. I want you to think about any Fortune 500 company. You know, we're, we're trying to hold ourselves to a higher standard in this industry, right?

Right? We're trying to treat ourselves as if we were really nice serious businesses and like we were any other Fortune 500 company. That's what le- helps us get to the next level, is when we start to step up as a CEO and treat our business just like any other business. If we're trying to do that, think about any Fortune 500 company.

Do they use one software for all of their processes in their business? No. They use a bajillion, right? They use a bunch of different softwares together to carry out different operations, right?

And so for us, that's what I've been able to learn how to do and to make it so I get all of the things that I want to happen in my business and I can grow in a very efficient and effective way. Building softwares that work around your booking system and, um, learning how to use them to all flow together and work together magically can really change your business and it can really bring your shit to the next level. And the unfortunate side of things for these booking systems is that they will never be able to do what a specialized software can do for that specific operation. So let's talk about, like, email marketing, right?

There are specific email marketing softwares out there that all they do is give people an email marketing platform to use, right? So they are the experts in email marketing, right? Like, that's exactly what they do, and so they have way more customizability, way more automation, um, way more options for how you can go about email marketing to your clientele slash customer base versus, you know, if you're only relying on your booking system to handle your email marketing for you, you're not gonna have as streamlined, a customizable, efficient process or ability to be able to carry out those operations, right? So I want you to remember that, you know, you shouldn't be trying to find this perfect all-in-one that, uh, that encompasses every single thing that you need to do in your business to grow, because it just does not exist, and I don't believe it ever will exist.

These booking systems get better and better and better, um, over time. As they grow, however, you know, it does, it does get harder for them to innovate because there's way more moving parts, and so, therefore, I just truly don't believe that any booking system is going to be the absolute perfect one for every part of your business, right? However, I want you to take in consideration the really important parts of your booking system, the most important parts of why you should be in- choosing one and, and what are the heavy pros and what are the heavy cons that are the absolute yeses and the absolute nos, right? And so in, in my expert opinion today, I'll be breaking down what I believe those are within each of these systems and giving you the option to choose them for yourself.

Now, here's the beautiful part. You don't need to take any notes for this episode because we have created a free resource for you. It's called The Battle of the Booking Systems free guide, um, and you can get that at hunterdoniya.com/booking or you can get that in the show notes, um, of this episode wherever you're listening to this podcast.

And it breaks down all three of these booking systems, the pros, the cons, and descriptions of them, processing fees, how much they cost, et cetera, et cetera. So you can go ahead and check out that in the li- uh, in the link in the show notes or at hunterdoniya.com/booking. Without further ado, let's get into the episode.

Let's go. Let me guess. You are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business even when you're not behind the chair.

My name's Hunter Doniya, and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm, and this is the Modern Hairstylist podcast. Okay, so like I said at the top of the episode, we're gonna be breaking down three booking systems. We're gonna be breaking down GlossGenius, Vigaro, and Square.Now before we get into the pros and cons of each of them and what my thoughts are for each of them, I'm gonna first talk about, like, the pros and cons spanning across all three of these booking systems.

Okay? So that way we can get those out of the way and then we can talk about s- specifically, like, what makes each of these different from each other, if that's cool with you. All three of these booking systems, here are the pros for all three of these booking systems. Okay?

Number one, client notes. Right? You can, you can have notes about your clients. It'll have the dates on them, whatever it may be.

Pretty basic, right? They all have integrations with social media. Now, you could see this as a pro. For me, I see this as a con.

I don't want you to be integrating your booking system with your social media. I don't want people to be able to random ask people to be booking with you online. I want people to go through one process where they are screened first. That's what I coach you, that's what I teach you.

I believe that is, uh, that allows you to have way more control over your online booking and make sure that there's no random ass person, non-ideal person coming up into your gig and ruining your day. That's not my tea. So, um, this is a kind of a pro but it's also kind of a con, depending on how you look at it. But they are all integratable with plenty social media platforms.

They all have, um, payment processing. So it's not like you have to find a different payment processor to integrate with your appointment calendar situation. Um, they all have their own, uh, native processing situation. Verga’s POS system I've heard very awful things about, just like from the, from the get.

I'll just share that really quickly 'cause I'm not gonna talk about it too much later. But Verga's, apparently their, their POS system really sucks, and so I won't be talking about that today, um, but I, I'll share it right now so that way I can get it out of the way. Um, the next thing is that they, of course, all have online booking. If you're using a software that does not offer online booking, I have no idea what you're doing with your life or what they are doing with their lives.

I mean, that's like, to me, the number one priority. Okay? That is the number one priority. Is the online booking good?

Because that is how we streamline our shit. That is how we automate our shit. Okay? Like, that is so important that your online booking is lit in today's day and age.

All right? So all three of these have online booking. Now, some of their online booking platform- platforms and, uh, user experiences are better than oth- others, and I'll be breaking that down more specifically throughout this episode. They all do have client appointment email and text reminder options, and they're all automated and they're all pretty good.

I'm not mad about any of them, per se. I wish they were more customizable, but they're all pretty good. Um, they all have reports and tracking and data. Everybody has their own opinion about, you know, who has better reports and what and why, but they all do have reports.

Um, they all can require a card on file and/or deposits based upon the service that is being booked, which I love. They all have inventory management, so you can track your inventory and your retail sales and your SKUs and how much it costs you to carry this product and then how much you sell it, uh, sell it for and what your profit is. So I love that. I love that it has a built-in inventory management and you don't have to use another software for that.

Now here are the cons for all three of these. Okay? No cluster booking. So there is no, um, option for any three of these that allows you to make sure that when s- somebody is booking with you online, that they bump up right next to a existing appointment that you already have so that way you don't have any weird gaps in your schedule.

Now, depending on how you run your business and how you run your service menu and the options on your online booking, you can really mitigate this, um, this option regardless. So I use Square successfully, and I never really have an issue with, um, cluster booking because the way that I run my schedule i- and the way that I have my services set up makes it so I don't really have to worry about this. And, um, once you simplify your menu and once you make sure that you really have your online booking on point and you have your processes and s- and systems all in place, I, in my personal opinion, I don't really have to worry about this too much. So, um, there is no cluster booking for any of these softwares.

However, there are other softwares out there that do have cluster booking, but that I don't find to live up to the standards of all three of these other softwares. Um, and then all of their forms, if they have, if they have them, right, every form or email marketing sucks. Okay? Their email marketing sucks, their forms suck.

Period. That's all I'll say on that. Um, they, they suck, don't use them, don't... Especially do not pay for them.

Please don't. No contracts, nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. All of it sucks.

Don't use it. That is where another software comes in, right? That's why I teach to Jotform, that's why I teach to Flutesque or ConvertKit. That's why I show my students how to build those softwares around your booking software so that way you can really create next-level experiences, protect yourself, right, with signed contracts that actually work and make sense for you and your business, that actually get signed, right?

I help you bring your client experience to the next level with these separate softwares. All right? So that is the tea on that. I highly recommend you do not use these softwares for forms or email marketing.

Okay? Let's get into GlossGenius first. GlossGenius is up first. So I have personally used GlossGenius in my own business, um, in the past.

I don't use it currently because my business needs have changed. I needed something more advanced. And that's where I'll s- go ahead and say that I think that GlossGenius is a really excellent option for somebody who is just starting out being independent. I got into my suite and that is what I started out with, and I just think that it is a really excellent starter software.

I think it's really great for beginners. I think it's super plug-and-play. I think it's great for somebody who's not trying to do, like, advanced shit and not trying to rely on online booking to, um, make sure that you're not texting and DMing and emailing all the time, right? Um, because that's what online booking should be doing, but I just feel like GlossGenius doesn't really bring it to that level precisely, and I'll talk a little bit more about that.

But anyways, I think GlossGenius is a really great starter up, um, user-friendly software for sure, 100%. Um, and I had a great experience using it, but it came to a point where I did not, uh, find it to be useful for what I was trying to accomplish anymore.So, here are some pros about GlossGenius, and I think this is the- these are the two, like, best pros about GlossGenius, is number one, it's a $24 a month all-inclusive fee, okay? $24 a- a month with all-inclusive fees.

So, so literally all of their features, right? All of their features you get for $24 a month. Now, there are limits on some of those features, such as text message marketing. You sometimes do have to pay a little bit more if you wanna get more text messages out or, um, other things like that, right?

But at the time of this- of- of recording this, it is $24 and it- and it encompasses all of their features, which I just think is so excellent. Like, the fact that you just pay this one fee and you get everything I just think is so good. And then it has a flat 2.6% processing fee for all transactions.

That's gonna be the lowest processing fee out of all three of these at the time of recording this, okay? That is crazy, especially because other softwares, they'll charge you extra if you go ahead and key in somebody's credit card or if you use a card on file, where this is just flat 2.6 across the board. And so again, I think this is really excellent for beginners because it's something that you don't have to worry about and everything is just taken care of for you.

So this is by far your most budget-friendly option, and it's just your most simple option as far as the- how much it costs you. So I just think that is absolutely excellent for sure. And, uh, like I said, it's an extremely user- re- user-friendly, uh, platform for stylists. Now, any new software that you're gonna play with is going to be confusing and overwhelming for you, right?

Like, it's going to- it's going to be a new thing that you've never experienced before and you're gonna have to play around until you really get it and you know it inside and out, right? Or you may never get it and know it inside and out. But with GlossGenius it's really great because it's just really simple and laid out really beautifully for you, and I just think that, um, they did a great job at making it so it's easy to get started using their software. So I think it is the most user-friendly.

For those of you who aren't as tech-savvy out there, um, I think that this is a really great option for you. Another amazing pro, and actually this is something that's a make or break for me as far as a booking system goes. This is something where I've explored other softwares outside of these three where this was not hitting the mark for me, where it was a non-negotiable. So, it integrates with Google and iCal, um, very well.

Integrates with Google Calendar and iCalendar so I can make it so my Google Calendar events go into GlossGenius and my GlossGenius appointments go out into my Google Calendar. So I absolutely love that. I cannot live without that. It has to be a part of what I'm using.

Because otherwise, I hate having to check my personal schedule and then going back to my booking schedule and going back and forth and back and forth and trying to see what I have No, ma'am. I love that it integrates with Google Calendar and iCalendar. It's an amazing pro of this software. And I think that it actually has fantastic text marketing, like I said, included up to a certain point with that $24 a month all-inclusive fee.

So I actually love their text marketing. Um, it's really simple and easy to use. Their text character limit is, uh, it's, like, kinda short, but you can still make it work when you have to have, like, super intense announcements. So that's the only time I really recommend that you use text message marketing is when you have big announcements such as price increases or you're moving or, um, something like that, right?

Or you're changing the way that you do business. Um, I like it for announcements because text message marketing has a 99% open rate and you know your clients will see it. So I love text message marketing for that, but not really for anything else that's, like, salesy or- or something like that, you know? And GlossGenius does a really great job with their text message marketing in my opinion.

I've had a great- a great experience using it. Now, here are the cons of GlossGenius. So the first con is I think that because it's so user-friendly and they try their best to be an all-in-one software that it ends up being very uncustomizable and it ends up being way too hairdresser-centric. Now what do I mean by too hairdresser-centric?

So, like I said at the beginning of this episode, we need to start treating our businesses like any other business treats their business, right? We want to hold ourselves to the standard of other Fortune 500 companies that are out there, right? And we can't do that if we're working with softwares that aren't treating us as if we're any other business, right? Now, it- you know, it's a pro to have a hairdresser-centric software because they do specialize in what you do However, it's a con because most hairdressers aren't, right now at least, streamlining their businesses and automating their businesses, which is what I teach people how to do.

And because GlossGenius is so all-in-one and they try to get you to not use any other softwares by offering everything, they lose the customizability side and, um, you- you can't integrate it with other softwares. You can't put it into Zapier. It's just- I- I- it's not very big business minded friendly in my opinion and my own experience, and that's why I ended up switching. Um, another con is that it's a conf- it can be a confusing online booking interface for clients.

Yes, you can categorize those services and there's that little dropdown menu, but I just think that the way that it's laid out is really clunky and it's, like, hard to navigate, especially if you haven't simplified your online booking menu yet. It is a very hard online booking experience for your clients. And so if you wanna stop, you know, rescheduling and booking appointments by yourself and you wanna start to lean into online booking, then this might make it a little bit of a hard experience for you if- especially if you don't have, um, your system set up the right way and your online booking set up the right way. So I don't really love their interface very much, so.

Um, there's no desktop version at the time of recording this, which I just think is absolutely ridiculous. This is a very stupid con. It needs a desktop version. I can't believe that I'm recording this in 2022 and they still don't have a desktop version.

I think that is absolutely stupid. So, get it together GlossGeniusThere's not many customization options so it's not a very customizable, um, software to work with, especially with their online booking. Yes, you have this, like, website. That doesn't even matter.

Um, that website is not your website. Okay? That booking website is not your website, period. That you need to have your own website if you wanna have an effective, uh, marketing funnel and convert clients.

Nobody's looking at that booking website. That, that website is so uncustomizable. There are so many parts of GlossGenius that are just not customizable so the customizability sucks, and again, I think that goes back to it being such a simple user-friendly platform. I think that that's where you lose on that, right?

And then the client can't manage their own appointments very easily, which is trash, garbage, hate. Okay? If we wanna truly be automating ourselves, if we wanna truly have freedom when we're not working behind the chair, then our clients need to be able to go on and very easily without workarounds manage their own appointments. So, your client can manage their own appointment but it's, like, extremely difficult and it, and it, they have to, like, search through their emails or it has to be, like, two days before their appointment.

It's stupid. So your clients can barely manage their own appointments and I think that is just a massive con with GlossGenius. So, I think there's some great pros, I think there's some heavy cons with GlossGenius, um, and it's gonna be up to you to decide what your priorities are. All right.

Next up, we got Vigaro, and Vigaro is probably my least favorite out of all three of these and you'll see why. I actually had a very hard time coming up with pros for Vigaro , um, as far as how it compared to these other two softwares. Really, really I had a, I was trying so hard to come up with mo- with more pros than this, but I truly couldn't. Um, I know that there's a lot of people who love Vigaro out there, but genuinely, like, you can just truly accomplish all of the things that you love about Vigaro so much better for a better price in a more efficient way if you lean into another software and then use other softwares around it.

So, like I teach in my programs, whatever it may be. So, like, people, like, are obsessed with Vigaro forms, right? They love f- Vigaro forms and Vigaro forms suck, like, they're awful, and you can't customize the way that they flow within your system. And so, um, when you can use, you know, something like JotForm where you can customize and make the workflows happen and automate and streamline and work it into your online booking, that's when the magic really happens, and so I, I, I don't like Vigaro.

I don't think that it offers enough pros for the price and all of the cons that they have. So let's get into the pros and the cons. So the first pro is I love the fact that they have Zoom virtual consultations as a service. So you can have a virtual consultation option as a service and then have the location of it be on Zoom.

I don't know if they have a Google Meet option as well too, but it'd be really cool if they did. I just think that is so badass. Like, I love that option so freaking much. So big, big, big kudos to that pro.

Um, I think that they have the best text message marketing add-on, okay? I'm not saying that they have the best tex- text message marketing, I'm thinking that they have the best text message marketing add-on. So this is something that you would have to pay extra for, but I do think that they have the best, most customizable text message marketing add-ons where you can customize all of the reminder texts and all of those things. There's no other software where you can customize the text message marketing as far as these three go, but with Vigaro if you pay for the add-on you can and I think- and you can automate the shit out of it and I really, really like that a lot.

The other pro about Vigaro is you can categorize services which then show up on the online booking. So I love that when you go on Vigaro's online booking sites for you, right, for your, for your clients, um, I love that you, it breaks it down into different categories on the menu. Um, that makes it really easy for your clients to see all of the organization and you can organization- organize it in a way that, uh, makes sense and it's easy to navigate. So I really enjoy that about Vigaro's online booking interface.

But let's get into the cons. So speaking of their online booking interface, it is by far the most confusing and difficult out of all three of these. If you wanna lean into online booking then Vigaro is 100% the hardest one out of all three. Um, this is coming from somebody who, again, I mean, I see this, I see hundreds of people's online booking flows.

I, I, I teach to this, I coach this, and I have personally as a customer booked through Vigaro and I have found it to be an inconvenient process and very difficult to navigate, especially if you have not set up your menu and your online booking, uh, process to be streamlined, right? So, um, with Vigaro's online booking interface I just think it's confusing, it's not customizable, but again I do like the categorizing of services, but that's mostly all that I like about it. So I find it to be super difficult. Um, there is a $25 per month base price.

Base price. So, like, it's $25 per month just to use the included things in the $25 per month for Vigaro but then you have to pay a shit ton of d- for different add-ons if you want those add-ons. Um, and so I just think that they really try to capitalize off of those shitty add-ons that are, like, half-assed where I'd rather you be paying money into a software that specifically specializes in that. So again stop paying for Vigaro forms.

Invest that money somewhere else into, like, a specific form builder or take the money that you're investing into the email marketing add-ons and invest it into a real email marketing software. Okay? Like, please, please, please, please, please, please do not pay for this shit. It does not work well and it's not worth it for you, period.

Like, and it's, for some people it works just fine but I'm saying that you can bring it to a whole nother level that where you'll actually get a return on your investment if you look into another software and you invest that money elsewhere.I find Vigaro to be extremely confusing and not user-friendly. There are a million different options and s- places to explore on the website, and I just think it gets really confusing and it'd be really hard for somebody to start with Vigaro in their business, I believe. Um, and I think that it takes a lot of time to understand the ins and outs of it and the backend and to get it all set up.

And so I find it to be the least user-friendly for the stylist. So if you're somebody who is not tech-savvy, then I don't think that this is the right platform for you. Again, plethora of overpriced add-ons. I already talked a little bit about that.

I'm reading off my list. I think that they do have a Google and iCal integration. However, I went on there and I tried to test this out myself multiple times, and I've always failed. And my, my students have told me that this integration doesn't work well for them most of the time, or at least as well as the other softwares.

And some people have had success with it. So the Google Calendar and iCal- uh, iCalendar integration isn't that great, or it's hard to set up, or s- it's glitchy or something like that. So just be wary if that's a priority for you. I know it is for me.

Then, I've heard people have bad experiences. And I've also heard people say that their POS system sucks, that their POS system, their point of sale system, um, their own processing system is bad. And the majority of the people that I work with, um, and that are my students and that I have experience with, um, normally integrate Vigaro's appointments with Square's POS system. So they check people out in Square, but they book people through Vigaro.

That's normally what I've seen most Vigaro users do. All right, next we're gonna get into Square. So Square is my personal favorite out of all three of these. It's the one that I use in my business currently at the time of recording this.

And I just, I really enjoy Square, dude. I really, really enjoy Square. I think that is the most user-friendly. I think it is big business minded.

I think that it helps all small businesses, um, really thrive. And I think that it allows you to do so many customizable things, and it really just sets you up. I, I just, I really enjoy Square. So let's talk about why.

Let's get into the pros and the cons. So way more pros than cons. And I, again, I tr- I tried to be super non-biased with this. Like, I tried, but I am also coming at this from a perspective of somebody who I teach this shit, right?

So I, like, I know what matters and what doesn't. And so, uh, I'm gonna break down the pros and cons right here, okay? And you take it for what it is and you download the, uh, the free resource that we have in the show notes and you make decisions for yourself, okay? I want you to use whatever is best for you.

So as far as pros go, the first one is it is extremely user-friendly and a customizable online booking interface for your clients, okay? So on the client end, their online booking is so excellent. Like, it is so easy to use for your clients on online booking, okay? My one gripe with their online booking is that the only thing that's not customizable is you can't change the order of how the services show up on your online booking, and you can't categorize them as far as how it faces the client in online booking.

I don't love that. However, if you have streamlined your menu the way that I teach in Pre-Visit Pathway, um, then you shouldn't really, this shouldn't really matter too much for you. But if you have, like, a bunch of different options on your menu, then this might be a problem for your clients. So I love how it is a s- extremely user-friendly and customizable online booking interface.

You can create, you can create, customize, even change the link of your, um, of your own online booking site, which I just think is so badass. You can change the colors, you can add different texts, you can, you can do so many things. I just love their online booking interface. Um, going along with online booking, they have customizable booking widgets in which I do actually believe that Vigaro may have this, but I can't confirm nor deny that.

But I, I, I have personal experience with Square's and I really, really enjoy it. So customized booking widgets with Square at least, is where you can make a link that only includes certain services within the link for the online booking. So let's say you had new client services and existing client services. You never want your existing clients to book the new ones and you don't want the new ones to book the existing ones, right?

You could take all of your new client services and put them into one custom booking widget and only send your new clients the new client booking widget, right? So they only choose those new client services. I think that's badass and I think there's so many advanced things that you can do with a customized booking widget, and I think it's a really badass feature. Um, they have robust and predictable Google Calendar and iCalendar integrations.

It works fast. If I add something into my Google Calendar, it shows up in my Square appointments immediately. Um, I actually use my Google Calendar to control a lot of the way that I do my online booking, um, with Square, and I just think that it works super beautifully. It is a magical integration.

I could not live without it. And then another pro about this is that, um, your clients can manage their own appointments very easily. So with Vigaro, I think that they had to, like, make an account and they have to, like, log in and they get bombarded with all of this other shit. Um, whereas with Square, they don't have to make an account.

They just put in their phone number and it's just, like, an automatic account for them, and they can go in and manage their own appointments very, very, very easily, which then helps to take the burden off of you for having to reschedule and book and text and DM and call and all the things, right? So your, your booking system should be very easy for your clients to navigate as far as online booking goes if you want online booking to work for you. If you wanna reduce those client communications and if you wanna give your client an excellent experience with online booking, then, um, something like Square is, I think, the best way to go in my b- in my opinion, okay? In my opinion, just because of all of these, uh, pros that I have, um, listed out.

Um, last but not least, it is integratable, um, with other softwares. So again, I don't like very super hairdresser-centric softwares, because I don't believe that they treat you like a real-ass business who would ever think about using another software. Um, it, it's almost kind of, like, offensive to me that they don't think that we would be doing, like, advanced shit, you know? Um, but I know that you listening to this want to do advanced shit.

And so what I love about Square is Square allows you to automate and elevate your business by integrating with other software. So I can say, "Okay, Square, whenever there's a new customer added into my, into my, um, my, uh, Square database, I want them to automatically also get sent to my email marketing software so they're on my email list." Or whenever something, um, happens in Jotform, right, whenever I get my new client intake in Jotform, I wanna be able to automatically add them into my customer base in Square. Like, I just think that that is really fucking cool, because I can get what I want to get as far as all the customizability goes, all the automations, all the workflows, all the efficiency, and make it all work together seamlessly.

Now, in Previsit Pathway, I teach you how to build softwares around all of these softwares, no matter what booking system that you use, and create a seamless automated experience. But I find Square to be the best one out of all of them to be able to do that. Now, here are the cons of Square, okay? Processing fees are the highest, I believe, um, if not comparable to Vagaro's POS system, and it is the highest priced subscription.

So as of right now, they have three plans. They have a free plan, um, a p- uh, and then two other paid plans, and the $29 a month plan is the one that the majority of people will probably need and want to use. And so it is the highest price out of all three of these. Not by a crazy amount.

You know, um, the monthly fee's maybe, like, $5 more than the other ones, and the processing fees are pretty comparable for the most part. They're not too crazy much higher. But again, this is the most trusted with the most pros, out of ... in my opinion.

And it's also a, an extremely trusted POS system, you know? Like, everybody knows Square, and I ... And if you're gonna be getting your card on file for your clients, you're gonna wanna make sure that your client h- sees a recognizable software that they can trust, right? And everybody's used Square before.

You've seen people check out with Square at multiple businesses across the United States, at least, that I know, right? And so, um, so if your clients are gonna be like, "Oh, I don't wanna put a card on file for security reasons," it's like, okay, well this is Square. It's, like, one of the most massive POS systems on the planet, and their security is probably top-notch, right? So having a recognizable software like this, I think, and paying for it, I think is completely well worth it, and I do get a return on my investment for all of these.

They are the worst text message marketing. They have the absolute worst text message marketing. It absolutely sucks. You have to get your clients to confirm that they want to be a part of the text message marketing, and then there's, like, another step to it.

It is absolutely awful. Um, and like I said, all of the email marketing for all of these softwares just sucks, period. But with Square, their text message marketing just is absolutely awful, like period. So I'd recommend that you use a different software for that, or definitely just lean way more into your email marketing than your text message marketing.

All right, friend. I hope that you enjoyed my breakdown of all three of these booking softwares. No matter what booking software that you choose, I just wanna make sure that you choose one that is in alignment with your goals of achieving more time, freedom, and energy in your life, and making more money in your business, right? I want you to make sure that you're using something that makes it so your clients can have a really easy process working with you, um, and that they're not texting and calling you all the time.

That's what my, that's what my programs are all about, that's what I teach you how to do, and that's where my priorities lie for you, because I truly believe that that is what you deserve. You deserve to be off of work when you're off of work to spend your time and energy with the people that you love, including yourself. Like I said, we have a free resource for you that breaks this a- breaks all this down without you having to take notes for this 30-plus minute episode. So if you go into the show notes of this episode, you'll be able to get the link to the free resource right there, Battle of the Booking Systems, or you can go to hunterdoniell.

com/booking, and I hope that you enjoy it. I hope that it is helpful for you. So much love. Thank you so much for listening to The Modern Hair Stylist podcast.

Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.