Timely

Pros

The simplicity, it's easy to use and understand. No staff trainer required to use it, self explanatory. Easy to review calendar. Easy access from computer, devices or phones anywhere.

Cons

It doesn't do a cash daily reconciliation or detailed breakdown of what is coming in each day. A few more email options to personalise follow ups with clients and rebooking reminder emails. It would be better if there were more fields we could fill in for each client and personalise them according to what we need to know about them.

Pros

The best thing is the improved income - more bookings, more online bookings, more repeat bookings, more free marketing content produced by staff using the photo diary feature.

Cons

Needs a strong set of reporting filters added to enable segmented marketing.

Alternatives Considered

Hairware, Square Point of Sale, ZENOTI, Phorest, Square Appointments and Ovatu

Reasons for Choosing Timely

I am forbidden to discuss this by a legally binding Non-Disclosure Agreement with Shortcuts Software. I was with them for 11 years prior to moving and can say I am happy I moved, my business progressed in leaps and bounds once I did.

Reasons for Switching to Timely

I created a spreadsheet. In one column I listed every step of an ideal Client Experience Journey, writing what I wanted the software to do at that point. I then called every salon software brand on the market which I could get in touch with, and asked them what their software would do/if it could achieve, that step on my Client Experience Journey. This is the opposite of what most spas will do - they usually call the software company who sells them the SOFTWARE's journey. Then the spa owner flexes their business to match the software. You should not have to do that. For each software I considered, I filled in the spreadsheet with a yes, no, in development, expected development date, and details of how that feature/step worked inside that software. This took me several years, and of course had to be updated all at once at the very end to see if anything had changed. The interesting thing was that most brands had NOT delivered on their development promises that 'that feature is coming'...Timely was the only one who did deliver. In the time I was looking at it, they delivered 26 of the 34 things I wanted to be improved, including key things such as a Rewards Program. I therefore know, unequivocally, that Timely Software is the brand of software that comes closest to achieving the perfect Client Experience Journey. I have seen so many improvements in it that my Client Experience Map is now nearly perfect. I am about to renew for another year.

Pros

The support team is fantastic and the application itself 'looks' great. Looks are very deceiving though. The most basic functions work well. Beyond that, there are plenty of issues, including lots of unfinished features.

Cons

Far too many features are left unfinished. Every time something new is released I'm left somewhat shocked how basic functionality that could complete the feature is left out. Even Stock Management is tedious and unituitve. Something basic like not being able to make recurring appointments that have more than 1 service. Limited to a total of 160 characters for SMS. Sales Reports report incorrect/misleading figures. No customer accounts. No loyalty system. Can't create custom value gift vouchers on the fly (they all need to be preset amounts). If you have more than one staff member, you're going to be in for more surprises - good luck to you! There is far too many things to mention. I could go on but hopefully you get the point. Approach the application with caution, and if it means paying for additional month or two to PROPERLY test it out, do it! It could save you a lot of grief in the long run. Timely say they care about customer feedback but in the 2.5 years we've been using it, very little has been done to improve even basic functionality. In fact, not a single one of the things I've mentioned above has been addressed in that time. Given all the new (incomplete) features being released without first addressing the swarm of issues currently present is further proof.

Pros

Integration with our current process and systems was easy. It actually made it more efficient. It is user-friendly and employees/clients find it to be "high-tech"

Cons

Sometimes the software lags (rarely) and requires us to stop and refresh/restart the program. The cost is reasonable but we wish it was slightly cheaper.

Alternatives Considered

Time Tracker, QuickBooks Time and Timetastic

Pros

We use this to put our events onto our website calendar. It is easy to make reoccurring events!

Cons

Finding old events is a little difficult sometimes. Should make search feature retroactive as well.