Phorest Salon Software

The best receptionist ive ever had

Online booking is such a huge help. The bookings judt keep coming. Ability to charge for no shows is a god send

Pros

Online booking option is so helpful as we send it in our automated email response. The ability to fully charge no shows is a really good deterrent also.

Cons

It crashes every once in a while. Usually for no more than 60 minutes and probably only a handful of times a year. They are very quick to get on top of any problems

Own a saloon, or beauty spa, you should try this

Pros

What I like the most is that Phorest Salon Software is a one stop shop for Hair Salons, Beauty Salons and Spas.

Cons

It is a great software for saloons, by far the one I like the most. Pricing can feel a little expensive for some people.

Really great well thought out software

Pros

We are choosing this software after receiving a demo walkthrough for our Salon. It has just about everything you need. We especially like how review features on major sites like Google and Facebook are built in to the software to help get the most reviews possible.

We like the drag and drop features for moving appointments around. Text or email notifications with confirmation links for the customer to confirm the appointment. Tons of reports.

Cons

A little pricey for the top level. Not a huge selection of integrated hardware. We were hoping they would have a card reader similar to the square reader but they do not.

Stressful, hectic, traumatic

Better time clock management Better reports and end of week emails Loved the communication to our clients reminders and follow up emails

Pros

I loved the reports, the ease of using it on a mobile device, the communication it kept up on with our clients, and the ease of rebooking clients.

Cons

Not being able to book clients in for the correct time frame, not being able to book tanning appointments or packages, having to schedule a training to learn how to operate the software during my business hours, not having customer support available

Great Software, Great Support but could be improved

The automation and easy of management saved our business 10 to 30 hours a month, its an absolute dream but i just wish it could do more and be relevant in todays market

Pros

This software is absolutely great for any salon, we use it our self in our Worthing branch and it makes managing appointments extremely easy!

No training is needed as its very easy to use, the drag and drop interface makes scheduling our employees great, and if theres ever an absence its able to give us a staff by staff feature of their day plan (if its all booked in with Phorest)

Cons

What we have done to give the client complete control is integrate this software into our website, this lets them see all of their available options and times for treatments.

What i would like to see in the near future is staff, so someone can book a specific appointment with a member of our team!

The system itself is closed to the outside world so its quiet hard to grow your company once your using this software, its limited by its own design and before you invest i would make sure you aren't looking for any additional features before committing.

Brilliant cloud based solution

Pros

I really like the way the system confirms appointments and manage the entire inventory. You can monitor the entire staff and accordingly your clients will be attracted.

Cons

while conversating with clients there is nothing specific to maintain their requested data, which can actually be noted.

It is a good software, easy to use and quick.

Pros

The automated reach out to Cilents is such a time saving feature. I do like the loyalty scheme feature this I feel will support further growth together with the intervertebral social media marketing.

Cons

The training sessions I feel would be much more beneficial in smaller groups. With Phorest there does appear to be a lot of add ons to your original purchase price and monthly fee but hopefully as phorest's software encourages growth & Cilent retention these will be an investment.

Makes salon administration easy

Pros

Everything, it's easy to use, very convenient, gives me access to the salon 24/7. Very professional & the customer support is excellent.

Cons

The software comes at a price & there are fees that come with online booking etc. There are occasionally issues with access as it is cloud based which affects our ability to process clients & make bookings but these are very rare.

Amazingly easy transfer

Pros

It's capabilities and mobile app convenience. The access that our clients have to the system. User voice in the system allows suggestions to better services, create new possibilities, and to make the actual user's voice heard to make a difference with the software. Great customer support! It was very easy to switch from our old salon software to Phorest.

Cons

It's still a little bit quirky, but the support line is very helpful and always available to troubleshoot.

Makes life easier for client and company

Pros

The app to access staff. The ease of online bookings. The reports that cut down an owners time for accounting

Cons

The fact that for myself I've been trading for 11 years but have no financial report ported over to Phorest so can't compare year to year. A lot of the clients notes where missing too.

So far has been great. Everyone is very helpful

I feel that once i enter in all the information, it will actually save us time

Pros

What I like the most about the software are the marketing texts that are customizable and able to send out as necessary

Cons

What I like least about the software is that it needs to be uploaded into your computer vs just signing in from a website

I have this software for last 7 years and think it is the best in the market

I think this software is great. Contact to client is easy, online bookings, easy in use etc.

Pros

This system is easy to use, i like that there are regular updates to make its better and better. Very good support, too.

Cons

I would like if the working with the database on the pages would be easier. For example- if you work on clients database if you go from page 1 to work on page 2 to delete or archive some client the system automatically brings you back to page one. It is quite annoying if you are working on page 5 and you would like to work with more than one client on this page. You constantly have to scroll the system from page one. (I am not sure I explained this correctly :))

This software has changed my life!

Pros

It made Christmas in my salon run the best yet. Adequate appointments with sufficient turnaround time enabled all of us in the salon to be far less stressed and under pressure. Love it, love it, love it!

Cons

The fact that I can't set a maximum amount of treatments (i.e massage) for each day. We have to physically watch the diaries and cancel where necessary in order for me to ensure each therapist doesn't have, say, 7 massages one after the other

Really good so far!

User friendly

Pros

So much easier to find your way around - soooo user friendly! Customer support is amazing - they are so friendly and get back to you ASAP. Almost everything I need and the training was great!

Cons

just a couple thing - wish having 1 person pay for 2 different people was easier (we have a lot of families) Also wish there was a 3 segment timing structure (Start - Gap - Finish)

Still very new to Phorest but so far so good. Customer service is excellent and software features.

Pros

Features, it covers 90% functionality what we needed. Reports are good. Ease of use, Marketing assistance are main pros.

Cons

Forms are not ready yet. We can not sell courses online (without any good reason). Little expensive for new salon owners.

Exceedingly excellent!

Offer a better experience for our clients and launch our salon from a good salon to an excellent salon that stands out from the rest.

New to Phorest they have been super helpful so far!

Pros

Easy to understand, hopefully boost the business, app is a great extra feature, able to use on many devices and check on the business at any time, training is great for the whole team

Cons

Commissions still need to be done separately which could included on the software to make a more well rounded product

Excellent Customer Support

Really helps me to manage the business more easily

Pros

Quick and efficient support by experts.
Easy to use software.
Lots of reports
Makes running the business that bit easier!

Cons

Doesn't integrate with merchant services unit- have to cash up twice, once on system and once on merchant service terminal and hope the two match!
No stats on emails which makes me still prefer Mailchimp

Pretty easy to follow. Great team to deal with

Pros

Nice and easy to use. Does a lot of things for you. Help to run a busy salon. Compare to I-Salon System it has much wider offer of things it does. Really like the features. Very clear to read.

Cons

I just would add possibility of popping out alert for each online booking appointment like "please contact the salon" for particular service if the service can not be booked with the app.

Great for innovation and new things but basics are lacking. Things to improve!

Pros

The reporting is good when managing the team at a glance.

Client emailing / marketing is good for keeping in touch
Being able to access the system anywhere without paying extra is good

Cons

Quoting prices to clients is long winded and difficult.
The user interface when taking payments isn't as fluid as shortcuts.
Tracking schedules and reporting hours to send to payrol isn't good enough. Will track worked hours only, cannot track holiday hours. Support are sometimes dismissive of these issues.
The advanced stuff is great but the basics are lacking
Too large commission taken from online bookings