Managing a salon can be a time-consuming process that you might struggle with when you don't organize your business carefully. While unpredictability is a factor that many companies encounter, you shouldn't let it be the only thing that determines your salon's success.
Luckily, several salon success strategies are available for you to incorporate into your business to help you bring in more clients and make more money. Experimentation is essential in finding what works best for making your hair or nail salon stand out from the rest, so don't be afraid to try something outside of the norm.
Salon Success Strategies
Several components play a part in salon success; from the look of your venue to how you entice your customers. Don't know where to begin? Here are a few salon success strategies you should consider when starting a new salon or improving your current one. These strategies apply to both hair and nail salons and should match the services you want to provide.
1. Salon Environment
Customers are more likely to come to your nail or hair salon if they enjoy the atmosphere of your facility. Salons should have a comforting appeal for clients eager for a moment of pampering. Whether you design a modern-looking salon or something with a rustic charm, you want to make the most of your environment to make your clients feel at home.
Adding candles, plants, or hanging lamps around your salon is an excellent way to keep it from feeling too empty. Comfortable salon chairs should have adjustable heights that reach the vanity mirrors.
Many facilities let relaxing background video and audio enhance calmness and reduce their clients' boredom while waiting between each service.
You may want to consider investing in television monitors you can hang around your facility. You can entertain your clients by streaming popular programs for them, with or without audio. Atmosphere TV lets your clients choose what they want to watch and helps you display your marketing promotions for product or service deals.
For example, products only make up 5-25% of a hair salon’s sales. But the products are where the highest profit margin lies. Therefore, it’s important to promote your products beyond simply having them available near the checkout. Having screens that advertise for you is the perfect way to increase profits.
2. Build Your Brand, Focus on Marketing
Marketing plays an essential role in building your salon's brand to the public. You can use several techniques to bring in customers, including discounts for the first 100 people to book a nail or hair appointment within a specific week, advertising coupons for care products, and offering business cards to beauty enthusiasts.
Encouraging referrals is another way to use your loyal customers for marketing your spa's services and bringing in new ones. Although online reviews act as contributing influences, word of mouth is an old-fashioned strategy that works best on any level.
Traditional marketing tools, such as signs and business cards, are also stylish ways to catch someone's attention. When designing a business card for your salon, consider the color schemes you use. Purple and pink are standard colors popular amongst salons, so it might be wise to add yellow, blue, white, or black accents to differentiate yourself.
Consider the tone and buyer personas you want to market. For example, local hair salons usually have more casual tones than luxury salons marketing to an audience seeking luxury and sophistication.
Another way you can build and market your brand is by establishing an online presence by creating a social media account or salon website. You can promote your hair or nail services, advertise care products, and let customers call or book an online appointment.
In a survey by GetApp, 90% of potential customers are more likely to request a service with a business that offers online booking. Some examples of online booking software include:
3. Analyze Salon Analytics
Among the many salon success strategies you should implement, tracking your analytics is one of the most critical ones. From in-house discounts to online purchases, you should track everything.
Consider using salon software to keep your inventory, revenue, staff schedules, customer activity, and other business data in check. Cloud-based systems allow every team member to access the data easily without losing track of any documents.
It would also be wise to run reports regularly to ensure no mistakes in profit gains or losses. For example, you should schedule stocking up on nail and hair supplies every few weeks instead of each week to ensure you don't waste the money you just earned.
4. Great Salon Management
To excel in salon management, you need to consider the performance of your staff and the feedback from your clients. When any issues arise, it's up to you to resolve them as quickly as possible to reduce the chances of your services' quality lowering and your clients being disappointed during their experience.
Although perfection is impossible, your salon can get as close to it when you take action.
By incorporating performance reviews for your nail or hair specialists, you can lay out their strengths and flaws and give them constructive feedback about what they can improve. For example, if a hair specialist can't get a perm that matches a client's requested volume, you can educate them about which style works best for the appropriate hair length.
Customer reviews are another excellent outlet you can use to see what works for your salon and what doesn't. Although complaints are the last thing you'll want in your business, acknowledging them is the only way you can keep them from reoccurring.
For example, if a customer complains about their nail specialist being ten minutes late for their appointment, you can adjust your booking practices to ensure they don't overlap with others.
5. Organization
Keeping your business organized is one of the essential salon success strategies you should integrate to avoid confusion between your team and clients when scheduling appointments. Therefore, you should provide efficient appointment setting through your website or the phone.
Coaching your receptionists to send reminders for appointments -- or utilizing an automated text service -- is ideal when ensuring whether or not a client wants to cancel an appointment and create open spots for others. Team members should also follow up with you if something interrupts their schedule and they can't make the appointment. This process prevents overlapping appointments where your client has to wait between each service.
6. Great Post-Service Product Options
Another excellent way to profit from happy customers is by selling them hair and nail products. It would be best to dedicate an area in your salon for your sales team to promote and showcase shampoos, conditioners, nail treatments, and polishes. Encourage sales specialists to train the newest team members and improve their workflow.
Consider having your sales team recommend products through your salon's online store if they don't have payment on hand after their appointment. That way, you can make more profit even when they don’t have time to book an appointment.
7. Exceed Expectations of Customer Service
Customers are more likely to keep using your salon's services if they feel welcomed during every appointment by a friendly staff. You can encourage your team to learn the names of their clients and prompt conversations to add personal value to their hair or nail session. Let your team ask them about their time and receive feedback about their experience.
Your team should answer any new client's questions and apologize when their appointments run a little late or don't meet their expectations. They can then use that experience to find solutions that prevent these issues from occurring in the future.
8. Offer Service Add-Ons
Service add-ons are excellent tactics you can use to make more money and enhance your client's salon experience. For instance, instead of letting your specialists use ordinary shampoos before giving customers a trim or color treatment, offer premium shampoo options to ensure their hair will be in top condition after completion.
When running a nail salon, consider airbrushing or nail art as service add-ons. It's an excellent way to emphasize your clients' color preferences and keep them coming back.
Educate your staff about upselling services that clients might want during their appointment. For instance, if they go for a wash and trim for their dry hair, have your team persuade the client to use a special conditioner to keep their hair hydrated and full of volume.
9. Be Close-Knit with Your Team
From the stylists to customer service, every position on your team plays a part in creating a business. By interacting with them, you encourage them to put effort into their work consistently. Acknowledging their skills is another way to boost their confidence and make them feel appreciated in their craft.
Depending on the size of your salon, clients are more likely to interact with different specialists than others. For example, a manicurist and pedicurist must work in tandem to refine their clients' nails without damaging them.
Conclusion
Implementing salon success strategies is essential for building relationships with your clients and helping you gain more profits from new or returning customers. In addition, a friendly, welcoming environment and staff keep their experience positive and reinforces their interest in buying your salon's post-service products.
Keeping track of your profits and organizing every aspect of your salon business pays off in the long run of its success. Additionally, connecting with your salon's team members encourages them to do their best and keep your customers happy.