So, you’re looking for an app or software to manage your service business, and you’ve checked out Vagaro. In this article, we will be investigating the pricing and features of Vagaro; how Vagaro compares to PocketSuite; and what app would work out best for you based on what you are looking for. Vagaro has raised $63 million in funding as of 2019 – let’s see what they’ve built.
Also, since you’re looking for a business management app for your service business, it may be of use to list some of the necessary features that you would need to run your business efficiently and easily from your phone.
We will outline all of Vagaro’s features, how they compare to PocketSuite’s features, and also a pricing comparison to give you an idea of where your hard-earned money is going.
Choosing the right platform to run your business is critically important for the following reasons:
- Your business reputation and brand will be reflected in how skilled you are at using technology to provide best-in-class service to your clients.
- The functionality of the software you’re using will determine how efficient and effective you can be at delivering value at a competitive price.
- Your customers will be judging your professionalism based on the tools that you’re using and that includes your technology tools.
Let’s review what Vagaro is capable of and also how it stacks up against PocketSuite. Let the battle begin!
Vagaro Top 3 Features
Auto text customers
“I love how my clients will get text reminders automatically after booking an appointment with me. It’s so important these days as we can get so busy and forget an important appointment.”
Vagaro has a feature that will auto text your customers to remind them of your appointment. This is great because it decreases no-shows and late cancellations, as well as provides a gentle nudge to your customers to get to the appointment earlier or be more prepared. It also provides demonstrates that you are a tech-savvy business.
However, this has to be set up via desktop instead of mobile. With PocketSuite, you can do the same thing, but you can set it up from your phone! No desktop needed.
Additionally PocketSuite allows you to set up marketing campaigns to your clients so you can actually increase your bottom line revenue by proactively reaching out to your customers to get them to rebook you – automatically! Much better for small business owners who don’t have the time to proactively reach out to past customers.
Tech support
“I have called tech support twice now and each time I have called with a question it seems as though the tech support team member was truly happy to help me. I also love how they offer classes weekly.”
Vagaro’s tech support is phone only and they also teach you how to use the software by providing classes weekly. This is awesome because it’s a group environment where you can ask questions and everyone can learn together, which is great networking for small business owners.
However, you have to wait on hold, and wait for classes to get your questions answered. PocketSuite offers text support, and they are super fast and efficient because they already have pre-recorded videos of how to do all of the major tasks. No more waiting on hold for customer support or waiting a week for the next class. Now you can get all of your answers, right now! PocketSuite offers customer support 7 days a week. Noone else offers that kind of service to solopreneurs. Time to get back to building your business. 🙂
Client Import
“The option to transfer all my client data from a spreadsheet or my cell phone has been so helpful and a time saver. I feared I was going to have to enter each client one by one, but the import option made it so easy and only took a few minutes to do.”
Transfering to a new platform is super difficult if you don’t have a way to automatically transfer all of your clients over. With Vagaro it’s easy because you can just use the import feature instead of having to manually transfer all of your contacts and clients (and payment history, customer notes, etc).
PocketSuite offers a fully hand-held option for import. Instead of just having an ‘import function’ that is prone to have errors/bugs if your spreadsheet is even a little bit off, with PocketSuite they will actually have a live human that will go thru your spreadsheet and manually import everything for you – much easier and less headache. Saves you countless hours of spreadsheet formatting to get the import function to work for you!
Vagaro Top Complaints
Customizing Service Menu:
“One thing I found challenging is customizing my service menu. Vagaro has so many services already input in the statement I have had to go through and delete many services I do not offer as well as filtering through the descriptions of each service I do want to keep. It would make it more simple to keep the service menu empty so the business owner can customize without having to delete and edit prices for services they want.”
PocketSuite eliminates this problem by having a fully-customizable dashboard of services that’s based on your industry. So if you sign up as an Esthetician, you won’t have features enabled that are exclusively for other businesses like Contractors. In other words, PocketSuite actually keeps in mind what industry you’re in and customizes your experience to suit your industry perfectly. Seems like that should be a default setting with Vagaro, no?
Payment Issues:
“There are really only a few things that I like the least about Vagaro. One would be, the system issues, especially with the credit card processing. When we first opened we were using Vagaro as our merchant processor as well for our credit cards and we had nothing but issues. Even now, I get the texts whenever there is a software malfunction and it seems most of the malfunction is with credit card processing. So, we ended up having to buy an actual credit card machine and go with a different merchant provider and now all of that is resolved.”
PocketSuite uses Stripe to process payments, the same company that’s used by Amazon, Google, & Facebook to process payments. Because of this, you can rest assured that with PocketSuite you won’t be running into the same issues that you would using Vagaro and having to integrate different payment processing services into your platform. PocketSuite makes it easy – download the app and start accepting payments after a quick verification process, and you’re good to go!
Selling Products
“I also wish there was an easier way to get products that I sell into Vagaro.”
As a service provider who sells products too, it can be very frustrating using Vagaro because you can’t sell your products using the software.
With PocketSuite, you can absolutely include products to sell to your customers and you even get inventory management so you can keep track of how many products you have left and restock when necessary! Finally, no more having to use some other software or payment processing to sell your services and your products. Now everything can be done with one (1) app – PocketSuite.
Basic Features of PocketSuite and Vagaro
Calendar Integration
Both apps allow you to integrate with all major calendars.
Online Booking
PocketSuite allows you to put a booking link on your Instagram, Facebook, Website, and anywhere else customers find you.
Notifications
PocketSuite goes a step further than just reminding your customers of your appointment like Vagaro – with smart marketing you can actually schedule automatic follow-ups with clients that haven’t booked you in a while, which can bring you more recurring income!
Customer Profiles / Notes
PocketSuite allows you to take notes on every customer and add them to your client profile. This is easy to manage from your phone as opposed to having to use your desktop. Just pull out your phone and start taking notes on your customers! Access everything from your app as well.
Advanced Features
PocketSuite actually has the lowest fees for credit card processing that are available to the public (2.9% + 30¢), which makes it a great option for solopreneurs and small businesses (who can afford to pay more for processing fees? Not the small business owners I know!)
Marketing – PocketSuite partners with Google AdWords to bring you new customers. Vagaro has their own marketing offer. I don’t know about you, but I trust Google.
Payroll – PocketSuite is perfect for small teams because everything is handled in-app. No more having to export to Wave or Gusto or any other payroll provider like you would have to do with Vagaro.
Pricing
Vagaro Pricing:
PocketSuite Pricing
Flexibility
PocketSuite is much more flexible in terms of being able to set everything up from the comfort of your mobile phone – no desktop needed!
Speed
PocketSuite is much faster and more responsive, which allows you to handle your tasks quicker and more effectively! No more waiting for things to load and making you look unprofessional in front of your clients.
Support
PocketSuite offers best-in-class support that allows you to text them when you have an issue, and they will respond ASAP and provide you with instructions and even pre-recorded videos on how to get things done – fast! With Vagaro you have to wait on hold to speak to someone, only to be directed to a group class where they will be discussing other client’s problems and you have to wait to ask your question.
As you can see, PocketSuite has a tremendous amount of extra features that would require so many other apps to accomplish. Normally you’d have to hunt the internet for a “free” service that requires you to give them your contact information in exchange for using their tool one or two times. Now you can have it all in PocketSuite.
There’s also a feature of PockeSuite that can’t be articulated in a Top 10 list. It’s something that’s vastly important to business owners, yet time and time again this gets swept under the rug is not given enough attention when selecting business software.
Choosing an app or software to run your business is kind of like getting into a relationship. You’re not sure at first, but as you grow accustomed to it, your trust grows and you become more comfortable with allowing your precious business to be supported by this technology partner.
That being said, no matter how intuitive and simple a piece of software or app is, it inevitably will come with a certain learning curve when you’re getting started.
PocketSuite’s extensive Support Center as well as Customer support team have helped me tremendously and I think it’s important to mention.
You want a customer support team that has your back. You want speedy replies and over-the-top support that is beyond helpful and bordering on obsessive (in a good way!).
All of this is available to you when you sign up for PocketSuite.
Make sure you choose wisely when it comes to selecting a business management app.
If you want something that fits your business perfectly, is mobile-first in design, and has an intuitive non-clunky interface, give PocketSuite a try today.
Like this article? You’ll love our guide on how to generate leads for service businesses in 2022, and of course our Frustrations with Square article!
