Most beauty businesses start with one person, growing slowly and steadily first with the opening of premises, then with the addition of additional staff and an expanding range of services.
Over time, however, this organic growth can plateau, and it can be difficult for homeowners to know how to move forward. In these cases, it is often not advisable to try to grow but to streamline and improve the way the business operates. If you run a beauty salon and are looking for ways to improve and grow, here are four steps to a more effective salon that might help.
1. Encourage your customers to pre-book
Studies have shown that only 30% of new customers will return to a salon, even if they are satisfied with the service they received. By encouraging customers to pre-book their next appointment before leaving the salon, a salon can dramatically improve its customer retention rate.
If you’re currently leaving it to clients to call the salon when they want another meeting, they’ll likely leave it until the last minute to book. This makes it less likely that they will be able to make a convenient date and more likely that they will go elsewhere. Consider offering a discount to clients who book their next appointment before leaving.
2. Activate online booking
Many salon owners find that their staff spend a large portion of their day taking calls, manually booking appointments, rescheduling them, and calling clients to confirm. This is an important aspect of your operation, but it can be made more efficient. By switching to an online reservation system, you will free up time for your team and make it easier for clients to manage your appointments.
You can also incorporate appointment reminder software which will automatically remind customers of an upcoming appointment. If a client cannot make an appointment, it will encourage them to reschedule so that you can offer the time to another client and reduce the loss caused by no-shows.
3. Embrace SEO and digital marketing
It’s not uncommon for beauty salons to be wary of digital marketing. After all, it takes time to establish an online presence, and a lot of business comes from word of mouth. However, in today’s digital world, it is no longer possible to avoid digital marketing.
When a person searches for a salon, they turn to search engines or social media platforms to find it. They’ll check online review sites to verify that your salon has a good reputation, and they’ll visit your website to see if you ‘look’ like the kind of place they want to trust with their hair, face, or hair. body. Click here for a beginner’s guide to digital marketing.
4. Continue to train your staff
Sure, you could become a digital marketing expert and set up a streamlined online booking process, but if your staff isn’t trained enough, your progress will be slow. Staff training should include not only hands-on training on the services you provide, but also IT training that will ensure they are able to use your software effectively, customer service training and others. professional development courses that will allow them to give the best possible performance.
Training is usually most effective when delivered in stages on a regular basis, rather than trying to pull it all together into one day.