Are you a text-only salon?

Ditching your phone line or online booking all together can feel like a gutsy move, but more and more professionals are swearing by text communication and booking to keep business running smoothly. 

Kelly Leahy, stylist and owner of Revive Hair Salon in Toms River, NJ, switched to text-only when she opened her own salon suite about a year ago, and has kept the practice going in her new seven-stylist salon. The salon’s receptionist fields the text appointment requests, while Leahy also has access to the app. The app, called Line2, is a complete business phone system on the cloud, and works in lieu of paying for a second business-oriented cell phone.

Surprisingly, Leahy says there was no pushback from clients.

“I think everyone is so used to texting now,” she says. “Some people don't realize it's text only, so they’re a little confused at first, but our voicemail explains it when they call us. They can also leave a message on our voicemail and we’ll just text them back and explain.” 

So why is text-only the way to go in Leahy’s eyes?

1. All conversations with clients are kept so the stylist can look back and see what was previously said if needed.

2. Online booking didn’t work for her salon, so texting was a great alternative.

3. Clients can send photos of their current hair goals so the team can schedule appointment times more accurately. 

4. She and the receptionist can monitor texts from home, although on their off days they typically don’t answer appointment texts.

5. They can easily confirm a client’s appointment and send the salon address to his or her phone.

6. Texting is more convenient for clients since it can be done from anywhere, and when they make an appointment via text, they’ll automatically have the date and time written down for future reference. 

“I used to feel pressure to respond to DMs all day long, and once you open a DM a client knows you read it and you have to respond right away,” Leahy says. “I definitely don't get as many DMs since everyone has been texting now.”

We loved Leahy’s post, so we reshared with MODERN’s audience on Instagram. A whopping 835 comments and counting prove that this topic is an important one, and not everyone agrees. Here’s what a few stylists had to say: