Ms. Ewa ran a popular hair salon and a store with professional hair cosmetics in Leeds. Her business was growing, but she herself was on the verge of exhaustion. Her phone rang non-stop. Clients called to book an appointment, reschedule, ask about the price of a haircut, or check if a given shampoo was available in the store.
Ms. Ewa spent a minimum of 3 hours a day answering phone calls and replying to messages on Facebook. She had no time to manage the team, and after work, she dropped from exhaustion. She considered hiring a full-time receptionist, which meant huge fixed costs.
Instead, she contacted us. As a Polish advertising agency in the UK specializing in digital solutions, we offered her something much better and cheaper than a new employee. We proposed process automation using a smart website.
Your website as a 24/7 virtual assistant
Modern websites in the UK are no longer just business cards with a phone number. They are advanced applications that can take over most of the repetitive, boring tasks in your company.
Here are 3 automation systems that we implemented for Ms. Ewa, saving her 20 hours of work a week.
1. Automated appointment booking system
We integrated her new website with a professional online booking system. Clients no longer had to call. They could go to the website at 2:00 AM, check the availability of the selected hairdresser, choose a service, and book an appointment.
The system automatically collected a deposit (which drastically reduced the number of no-shows), sent the client a confirmation email, and an SMS reminder 24 hours before the visit. Ms. Ewa's calendar filled up on its own, without her participation.
2. WooCommerce store with automated order processing
The sale of cosmetics, which previously took place via private messages on Facebook, was moved to a professional e-commerce store. We implemented WooCommerce stores with full automation.
When a customer bought a shampoo, the system itself processed the payment, generated an invoice, sent it to the customer, and automatically created a courier label to print. Ms. Ewa's only task was to pack the parcel and stick the ready label. What's more, the system itself updated inventory levels, so no one could buy a product that was no longer there.
3. Smart FAQ and Chatbot
We analyzed the most common questions that Ms. Ewa received over the phone (e.g., "Where can I park?", "Do you do color stripping?", "What is the price list?"). We created an extensive FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on the website.
Additionally, we installed a simple Chatbot on the website and on the company Messenger. When a client wrote a message asking about the price list, the bot automatically sent them a link to the appropriate subpage. The bot took over handling 60% of standard inquiries.
Reclaiming time and scaling the business
After implementing these solutions, the phone in Ms. Ewa's salon went silent. But not because she lost clients. The calendar was full for a month ahead, and cosmetics sales doubled. The phone went silent because all processes were running automatically in the background.
Ms. Ewa saved the money she would have had to spend on a receptionist's salary. She reclaimed her time, which she could devote to training employees and developing the business. Finally, she could also return home at a normal time and rest.
Technology is today the cheapest employee you can hire. Don't waste your valuable entrepreneur time on tasks that code can do for you. Contact us. We will analyze the processes in your company and build a website or store that will take the burden of daily service off your shoulders. Start working ON your business, not IN your business.
