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Shopbell against letting it ring, and against a generic answering tool
Most shops deal with the phone one of two ways. Let it ring out and call back later from voicemail, or sign up to a general answering or booking tool made for every kind of business. Here is how they stack up, one job at a time.
| Capability | Let it ring | A generic answering tool | Shopbell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers mid-cut | Nobody, or you, with clippers in hand | Depends; often a web form, not a voice | An Aussie voice that owns up to being the shop's virtual assistant |
| Knows your prices | Only when you call back | A script you have to write and keep up to date | Reads your price board, and quotes nothing else |
| A question you never wrote down | Sits on voicemail till you get to it | Some tools guess | Says straight out it doesn't know; the shop gets back to them |
| Bookings | Scribbled in after you ring back, if you remember | Many write straight into a diary you must keep perfect | Takes a request; you text the time |
| After the call | A voicemail to play between clients | An email or a dashboard entry | The request or the gist: texted, or emailed while texting isn't on yet |
| Your own mobile | Handed to whoever asks | Depends | Stays out of it; calls go to the line, summaries come to you |
| Setting up | Nothing | Hours of settings | Board and hours in, one button, one divert code |
| A link for your bio | A DM, maybe | Often a dearer plan | Every plan has one, even Free on its consent |
| Enquiries | Buried in your inbox | Sometimes | Forward them in; one list, reply from each |
| Cost | The clients who go next door | All over the place | Free on a consent; One Chair $25; Every Chair $74; no GST |
| Lock-in | None | Some want a contract | No contract. Stop it on Billing, any month |
Full salon software does a lot more. Shopbell doesn't try to. It keeps no appointment book, so two clients can never land in one chair because of it. It takes no money, so nobody reads a card number down the phone to a machine. It picks up, quotes your board, takes the request and sends it your way: a text, or an email while texting isn't switched on. Running the whole shop is a job for other software. Keeping the phone answered straight while you cut is the job Shopbell does.
Let the phone ring somewhere useful
Put up your price board, share your booking link and switch on the line when you want it. No card for Free, just a marketing consent.