As he took the main stage at iconic.22, Vagaro’s CEO, Fred Helou, was proud to see that the euphoria and energy of his company’s inaugural conference had carried over into day two—especially following the previous evening’s festivities.
“The bar here informed me that they ran out of alcohol last night,” Helou said to audience laughter. “I have never seen that before, so congratulations.”
Helou’s CEO Chat segment underscored his continuing commitment to Vagaro customers. He analyzes scores of customer data with development and senior leadership teams but bases his decisions about new features on one simple principle.
At the end of the day, what I want is to put smiles on people’s faces,” Helou said. “We are able to do that because we are always listening to you guys and cater everything to your needs.
That feedback-driven approach has worked, particularly in the last year. Helou was particularly proud of the Rent & Fees feature, which automates and simplifies every step of the rent collection process for salons and other businesses. Booth renters also benefited from the release of Vagaro’s Booking Widget, which provides embeddable booking links to their website and social media pages and enables them to receive commission on products they sell there.
Between its ever-expanding list of features and its commitment to 24/7 customer support, Vagaro currently has more than 68,000 customers and counting.
“More than 40% of our signups come from referrals from people like you,” Helou said, citing satisfaction level of Vagaro customers.
Helou foreshadowed five major upcoming feature releases. Among these is the highly anticipated Vagaro Pay Later, which will enable clients to finance more expensive services, such as hair extensions or Botox, and pay them off in four installments over six weeks—with no risk to business owners.
“We’re very hopeful that this will be a life changer to you guys, and you’ll be able to sell more of everything you sell,” Helou said.
Vagaro Pay Later was made possible through a partnership with Certegy, a financial services company that specializes in digital payment solutions. Certegy’s CEO, Cory Willis, joined Helou onstage to discuss the details of the feature, as well as the benefits of the buy-now-pay-later payment model overall.
This is about flexible financial spending and increasing cart values,” Willis said. “Vagaro is giving you powerful tools to manage your business from the financial side, and it’s going to make you a lot of money.
Fred's iconic.22 CEO chat was just one of many great panels at Vagaro’s inaugural conference. Missed out? Then be sure to join us next year for iconic.23 in sunny Southern California! Follow along HERE for updates! And check your email for future access to full-length sessions with iconic On Demand, coming soon.