Like all hair and beauty salons, Chewy’s in Gloucester have had to significantly adjust to the ‘new normal world’ of 2020. Part of that adjustment was future proofing their card and online payments, as cash transactions are now the exception rather than the rule in the industry. We met up with salon director, Lisa Chew, to discuss how partnering with EVO Payments, through our lead referral partner Smart Communications Limited, has opened up doors of opportunity, at a time when it’s most needed.
Problems with previous provider
Chewys was set-up in 2015, and initially they used their bank as their card payment provider. However, from day one Lisa experienced problems with the service, which ultimately hampered the salon’s operations. “We had numerous problems with the old card terminal. It was losing connection all the time and the experience just wasn’t great. It also seemed very slow to operate. It could crash at any time during the middle of a payment. In addition, we felt the charges were extortionate.”
Why choose EVO?
We asked Lisa to explain how she ended up switching to EVO Payments. “The guy who works on our social media and printing recommended EVO to us, and at the time we were just so fed up with our old service that we gave it a go. The more I read up about EVO the more they appeared to tick all the boxes I was looking for. Indeed, since we have been with EVO, about a year now, we have not looked back. It’s been a fabulous experience.”
Easy switchover and onboarding
With a busy salon to manage, it was important that everybody got up to speed with the new payment system quickly and for Lisa’s team it was an easy transition. “It was so easy. It was seamless. They set it all up. It’s a great card terminal, a lot faster than our previous one. We’ve had no technical issues at all. It was very simple to use from the start and the whole process was taken care of by the EVO team. We haven’t had to think about it since. Thankfully we have had no issues and haven’t looked back. It works and that’s all we have to think about.”
Peace of mind
As for the most positive experience of using the payment system, Lisa apologised for repeating herself as she explained again how easy everything is to use and how seamless the experience is, “Just generally speaking, it’s so easy to use and it’s very quick with no connection issues. It gives us peace of mind. It is a mobile terminal so you can also take it around the salon if necessary to collect payment from the Client and the end of day settlement reports can be accessed with one button and it’s all done. It makes life so easy for everyone,” Lisa said.
New opportunities in challenging times
“Because of Covid, we’ve taken cash away from the business. Thanks to EVO we do prepaid bookings now as we live in a different world. Clients can book online safely and securely, without us getting involved at all. It’s just such a really easy payment system to set-up and operate and the costs are much more affordable.” In these uncertain times, with many high street retail stores suffering from government-imposed lockdowns, Lisa explains how EVO got in touch to help her transition to the new-normal world.
“They contacted us during lockdown to help us incorporate online payments, as less physical contact is obviously better. They were very proactive and very helpful and it made sense for us to take this direction. We take money 48 hours in advance now. The girls here can follow-up to secure the bookings, so it’s a quick and easy system for the reception team, rather than having to deal with payments in the salon,” Lisa said.
Business growth through online payments
Asked if EVO have helped Lisa achieve her business goals, Lisa was enthusiastic in her praise. “Yes definitely, EVO has helped us. Especially when the government gave us the go-ahead to reopen, we had 4 days to prepare and we had a huge backlog. Everyone wanted an appointment, so we organised a tight schedule and took all the payments in advance online. Everything worked like clockwork.”
“July was actually our best month since opening and having the EVO’s solutions in place has helped us run everything smoothly. So it has made a huge difference to our revenue. I would 100% recommend EVO Payments to other businesses for all the reasons I have mentioned. In addition, costs are also so much more affordable compared to the bank that we previously used where we felt they were charging us far too much. So all in all, I can’t speak highly enough of EVO and I would recommend them without hesitation,” Lisa said.
Why choose EVO Payments?
Transparent Pricing
Our ready made plans make card payment acceptance predictable
Great Value
You can make considerable cost savings by signing up to EVO
Exceptional Service
With 24/7 customer support we will be here to help you every step of the way
Simple Switchover
Request a callback today and see how simple it is to get set up