How @66 Hair and Lifestyle uses Fresha to win clients, get booked, and grow

Glasgow-based @66 Hair and Lifestyle is an inclusive, vegan hair salon, built to be a safe space where clients can  express their creative selves. Founder Graeme Snell got the keys to his new salon the week before the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Far from giving up at the first hurdle, Graeme used the lockdown to figure out how to win clients and serve the community when he could reopen. With more people working from home instead of travelling to the city centre, the local area was missing a high-end, creative salon. 

“We listened to the community and we brought a bit of the city to them,”  Graeme said. He described how he and his team have enjoyed seeing clients become more comfortable expressing themselves through their hairstyles now that they don’t have the pressure of being in an office every day. 

According to Graeme, @66 sets itself apart with its openness and diversity. Experimentation with new hairstyles is encouraged, because as Graeme says, just as people change throughout their life, their hair can too. “I've never been the type of hairdresser that goes ‘Same again?’” Graeme jokes. “We really pride ourselves on the fact that our clients feel welcome and listened to. Whether you're 18 or80, you want to express yourself and feel special, and that's what @66 is all about.”

“Taking payments from our booking platform just makes everything flow.”

Reducing no-shows has been a key factor in the salon’s growth, and taking upfront payments with Fresha has helped them do it. When they first opened, @66 took upfront payments via bank transfer, kept notes detailing the amount, then deducted it from the final bill – a method Graeme admits was tedious. As soon as Fresha launched upfront payments, @66 was one of the first to take the new feature onboard. 

“Fresha’s upfront payment system has made life so much easier,” said Graeme. “It's so important, because a cut and colour service takes hours of a stylist’s time. As a small business, no-shows and late cancellations are really hard to fill. Since we started taking upfront payments, no-shows have really dropped; and when they do happen, our time and income are protected.” 

On top of that, @66 uses Fresha to take payments directly from the calendar, which saves the team time spent on admin and creates a “streamlined flow” from booking to checkout. “I can’t imagine doing it any other way – taking payments right from our booking platform just makes everything flow. It’s convenient for clients, and smoother for us.” 

Graeme even uses Fresha’s automated notifications to enhance each client’s experience, with appointment reminders and thank you messages after each treatment. 

“We’d struggle to gain the visibility we need without Fresha’s reports.” 

Having started out as a solo stylist, Graeme has grown @66 to a team of nine. He uses Fresha’s reports to monitor his salon’s growth and make plans for the future. 

“We use all the reports on Fresha. We need to know if the business is going in the direction we want it to, so we can keep pushing or change course if we need to. Plus, the reports show us how staff are performing, what we're selling and what supples we need to stock." As a manager, this helps Graeme keep his team in the loop and reward them for their hard work. “I’d struggle to gain that visibility without Fresha’s support,” he says.

“The salon's growing so fast with Fresha’s help… it’s a real partnership.”

@66 has the overwhelming support of their local community – the hundreds of five-star reviews on their Fresha marketplace profile attract more and more clients every month. @66 also takes online bookings through Instagram, Google Search, and Google Maps, all through Fresha’s easy booking system. “We've had loads of new people that have found us through Google and booked through Fresha. It’s rewarding to see how much the software has paid off for us.”

The growing team will soon enjoy a bigger salon space, with plans to expand the salon's basement and create a space dedicated to colouring, while all haircuts take place upstairs. Graeme credits Fresha as the best choice for his business. He says: "We’re growing so fast with Fresha’s help, and the platform is constantly bringing out powerful new features too. It’s a real partnership – we couldn’t have chosen a better booking platform.”