CRM for aesthetic medicine clinic

In the clinic of aesthetic medicine, there are always many processes going on: recording clients, with all possible transfers and cancellations, monitoring the workload of specialists, tracking the balance of materials in warehouses, and many others. Managing all this manually is very difficult, which often causes errors and overlays, and if this approach still worked before, then in today’s high competition there is no room left for it. To achieve success in the beauty industry today, you cannot do without automating and optimizing routine tasks.

When creating CRM, we take into account the individual business processes of your clinic, which is why the functionality of the system will not be limited to standard modules and will be able to solve almost any task.

As an example, here are the main functions that can be implemented:

• Planning tools. Your clinic will have the possibility of online recording, reminders and control of the employment of masters. The planned time of visiting the client will be automatically entered into a single calendar, with the possibility of rescheduling, canceling and replacing the master.
• Control of employment of masters. Thanks to the use of a unified planning system, you will always know the workload of your staff and will be able to effectively distribute customer traffic.
• Automatic notification of masters. After registering a new visitor, the information is automatically sent to the master so that he can plan his working time.
• Maintaining a client base. CRM stores data about each client and all information about the history of interaction: how many times he visited the salon, when was the last time, what service he used, contact information, and so on.

• Automatic mailings. Using customer data, you can set up automatic sending of invitations for repeated procedures.
• Accounting for materials. The accounting system for cosmetics and other tools will help to avoid shortages in the warehouse.
• Integrations. The ability to integrate CRM with social networks, website, telephony, external portals and services will allow you not to miss a single client, and will also contribute to the improvement and automation of marketing.
• Collection of analytics. Tracking analytics will help you get to know your customers and their preferences better. Using this information, you will be able to make the right management decisions for the development of your business.

There are two main types of CRM systems that can be used in the beauty industry.

The first is boxed customer relationship management systems. Most of them are distributed under the SaaS model, that is, with a monthly fee for use. As a rule, such solutions are relatively inexpensive and can be integrated into a business in a matter of days. They have impressive functionality but, at the same time, they solve problems rather superficially, as they are designed “at once for everyone” – for beauty salons, commodity business, agricultural companies and many others. Because of this, even with a huge number of modules, such CRMs have low efficiency.

The second type is individual CRM. This is the exact opposite of the first option. Often they have little functionality, but it is designed to solve the problems of your company and has all the necessary integrations. Thus, you get the most effective solution with a convenient interface that is not overloaded with unnecessary modules, which is easy to learn and comfortable to use in daily work.

In the second case, you will need a lot of investment and time, but in return you will receive a tool that can take your business to a whole new level.

The development of CRM for beauty clinics is carried out according to special methodologies. We prefer to use SCRUM, the idea of which is that the product is implemented in short sprints of 10-14 days, and improves with each new iteration.

This approach allows you to build closer communication with the client – the customer always knows what kind of work is being done, what the result should be and in what time frame. In addition, working on SCRUM. specialists and the customer always have room for new ideas that can be easily implemented into the project at any stage of its implementation.

In addition to methodologies, there are also development stages. Let’s take a closer look at the six main ones.

Stage 1. Gathering information

First of all, our experts conduct research. At this stage, they need to study the business processes in the client’s clinic, his experience of using third-party solutions and understand the expectations from the new CRM. To do this, online or real meetings are organized with the customer or his representatives, at which each issue is discussed in detail.

Stage 2. Design, documentation and technology selection

Further, based on the information received, the concept of the future CRM and its prototype are formed, which includes:

• mockups of pages and interfaces;
• navigation system;
• list of technologies to be used;
• description of functions;
• implementation plan.

After that, the prototype is presented to the client and, if necessary, supplemented with new ideas and features.

Stage 3. Design development

With all the multitasking of the CRM system, its interface should remain convenient and comfortable for users. This task is solved by a UI designer who draws an individual environment, taking into account the functionality, the client’s brand book, the approved structure and usability.

Stage 4. Programming

The technical development of CRM is one of the most time-consuming stages, within which all the functionality of the system is implemented. At the same time, it is worth noting that it is often difficult for a client to evaluate this work until the project works as a single mechanism.

Therefore, to ensure high-quality communication, team leaders are involved in the delivery of such sprints, who can answer any questions from the client and make recommendations, if appropriate.

Programming consists of two parts:

• Frontend. Creation of the client part of CRM based on previously approved design layouts. When developing mobile applications, the following technologies are used: Swift – for IOS, Java / Kotlin – for Android, or the Flutter cross-platform framework and the Dart language. For web applications, static HTML/CSS/JavaScript technologies or reactive Vue.js/React.js frameworks can be used.
• Backend. This is the server part of the project, which is responsible for the operation of all functionality, external integrations and interaction with databases. The technologies used to develop the backend also depend on the chosen platform: for desktop applications, these can be C/C++/C#/Python/PHP languages, as well as Django/Flask and Yii2/Laravel frameworks. For web applications – Python / PHP / Node.js and also Django / Flask and Yii2 / Laravel frameworks.

Stage 5. Testing

At the testing stage, QA engineers check how the real work of the functionality corresponds to the expected one and, in case of dissonance, make a bug report and return the CRM to the responsible specialists for revision.

In practice, testers are not connected to the project at the end of development, but participate in each sprint.

This allows you to minimize the cost of fixing bugs and detect problems before they have a serious impact on the project.

At the end of the implementation, acceptance testing is additionally performed, which shows how ready the CRM system is for release and deployment in the company.

Stage 6. Technical support and development

Even with the most thorough testing, after the start of using CRM in real conditions, the first time users may encounter unexpected errors. This is due to the fact that it is simply impossible to calculate all application usage scenarios. In this case, you need to report the problem to us, after which the developers will determine its cause and quickly fix it within the framework of technical support.

The peculiarity of CRM is that it helps a business grow and develop. Accordingly, over time, you may need to expand the existing functionality. To turn ideas into reality, developers study new requirements, design a solution, and create an update. After that, the patch is tested on our servers and installed on your system.

Individual CRM will help automate most of the processes in your clinic and relieve staff from routine work. Administrators no longer have to keep in mind when to call the client and remind them of the visit, who is scheduled for what time and which master will be free. CRM will do all this work on its own. Accordingly, your customers will receive better service and are more likely to return to you again.

AVADA MEDIA specializes in the design and development of CRM systems for various business areas. Our experience, supplemented by the use of innovative technologies, will allow us to implement a project of any complexity.