Discover how beauty salon software helps UK salons stay compliant with industry regulations, from record-keeping to health & safety and more.
When you decide to open your own business, you suddenly become responsible for lots of things that might never have crossed your mind before. This includes things like taxes, employee safety and protecting your customers from accidents.
Accountants, HR professionals and insurance will help you out in lots of ways. But did you know your salon software can also help you to remain compliant with some very specific requirements.
In this guide, we’re looking at one of the lesser known parts of compliance that affects how you market your business and keep in touch with your customers. We’ll explore how it affects you and how you can use your salon software to remain compliant.
As a business owner, you have a responsibility to make sure that you are following the rules in the country you operate in. In the UK, this includes things like making sure you have the correct insurance to protect your customers and employees. You’re also responsible for making sure you pay corporate tax and personal tax. If you have employees, you’ll be responsible for their wages and pension.
All of these are forms of compliance that salon owners must be aware of. How you manage customer data and contact customers is another area impacted by compliance laws. In 2018, a new type of compliance came into effect. While it was big news at the time as many companies scrambled to make sure they were following the rules, it has become less common to see companies talking about it. But that doesn’t mean that it is any less important. If you didn’t guess by this stage, we’re talking about GDPR.
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation and it covers the whole of Europe, including the UK. It is enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It relates to how businesses protect the data that they collect from their customers. This includes new and lapsed customers.
The main thing to know about GDPR is that any identifiable information that you collect on customers must be properly protected. Customers also need to have the right to access, change and delete any information that you might be holding on them.
There are many ways a company might collect data, but for salons, the main one to know is customer sign up information. It’s likely that you will need to collect identifiable information from your customers. It’s essential that you store this information in an appropriate way. For example, you can’t print out your customer list with email addresses and then leave it in a cafe.
Thankfully, having modern salon software makes light work of keeping your customer data safe and staying compliant with the rules.
GDPR regulations relate to how customer data is collected and stored. You can’t ask for more information than you realistically need. And if your company does suffer a data breach, you need to report this to the ICO within 72 hours.
If a customer decides to leave your salon, you have to make it easy for them to request that their data is deleted. It’s not enough to simply stop sending them your marketing updates, you have to delete information about them.
You also have to be cautious about how you use the data you collect. Salons will often use data for their marketing, but you need to make sure you have given your customers the chance to opt in before sending them marketing messages by text, email or post.
Thankfully, most customers are happy to hand over information if it makes sense to the context of the activity. For example, when they sign up for an account to book an appointment, it’s common to give your phone number and email address. Provided you are careful with granting access to your salon software, there is also a low risk of data breaches.
Most modern salon software packages offer GDPR compliance as standard. This will include features such as data encryption to help protect information when customers sign up. It could also include pre-filled forms that request consent from customers to send marketing communications.
It’s common to let customers know that some communications are essential, such as appointment reminders, and that these are different to marketing messages which may be sent after the appointment to encourage them to book again.
Another way that salon software can keep you in compliance with GDPR is with a compliant website. If you track information about your users using website analytics, you have to let customers know about this using a GDPR cookie banner. They should be able to opt out of this data collection.
And finally, it can also help to protect you by keeping your customer list safe from prying eyes. Remember that human error is often the most common reason for data breaches. Regularly check who has access to your salon software and make sure you revoke permission when someone leaves the company.
If you suffer a data breach or you’re worried that someone might have accessed your customer data without permission, it’s essential to report the breach to the IPO. You should also take steps to secure your accounts by changing passwords and closing down access until you know more about what is going on.
You may need to inform your customers about what data has been accessed and if they are affected. Customers may be entitled to seek legal action if you have allowed their personal data to get into the hands of bad actors.
For this reason, it’s also a good idea to speak to your insurance company about how they can help you. Insurance companies often offer free legal advice to customers so they can act with confidence. And if you do face legal action as the result of a breach, your insurance should cover you.
Want to simplify compliance and protect your business? Book a free demo of Salon Iris and see how our salon software can help you manage data securely and confidently.
