The hairdressing and beauty industry will undoubtedly feel the same pinch as many other industries in some way or other during 2009, if they haven’t already.  The unusual economic state continues to affect more and more people, meaning it’s becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous for any salon businesses to predict or rely on previous trade.

Many hair and beauty salons will need to adapt areas of their business, such as salon Marketing and in-salon procedures, to ensure they make the best of the difficult times.  But what effects can we expect to witness in the salon? How can we prepare? And could salons even prosper?

Potential effects in the salon

With many people looking to save money wherever possible the likelihood is that you may well see clients, including your most loyal, look to spend less per visit or even visit less often, as they attempt to make their haircut or treatment last an extra couple of weeks.  In extreme cases some may feel forced to seek cheaper services elsewhere.

A client reducing their visits from every 6 weeks to 10 weeks would see revenue reduced by up to 30% over a 12-month period.  Apply this effect to a larger percentage of your entire clientele and you begin to see the importance of monitoring business, acting swiftly, making improvements and reducing potential losses.

Initially, it would appear that a negative impact on the business is inevitable, and, if left to run its course it almost certainly would be. However, remember that many other salons are suffering from the same effects, and as a result there are new opportunities to gain an edge on your competitors and even find extra business.

Improving client retention

Client retention is crucial for any salon to operate successfully and never more so than when times are unusually hard. To maintain a growing clientele and ensure customer loyalty, a salon must have excellent customer relations.

One way that salons can help improve its relationship with its clients is to follow up on a clients visit. Make a courtesy call or send an email asking about the customers thoughts and feelings following their visit to the salon. It will give you a wealth of information on all areas of the business from service quality to pricing, highlighting your strengths and also importantly any weaknesses, and from a customer perspective.
In my opinion this is the best way of discovering the opinions of the customer. They can talk freely and comfortably in their own surroundings, unlike an in-salon questionnaire for example.

Schemes and offers to increase salon sales

There are many offers and schemes that can be set up within the salon to help improve sales.  All schemes need very careful consideration though as they can have a very different impact on business due to each salons unique clientele. It is rare that one offer will suit your whole client base as well as the business. Your offers need to be suitably based on the individuals spending pattern and often multiple schemes can be used to great effect moving a client from one onto another etc.

To address the potential problem of increasing time between visits, one technique is to offer clients an incentive to book their next appointment within a certain time period. For example, “book your next appointment within 8 weeks and receive… retail offers, discounts etc.” Be sure to find an offer that suits your salon.

Other techniques such as loyalty schemes can work well, particularly to attract new customers during their initial visits.  Schemes like these need careful planning though to avoid reducing revenue from an already loyal customer base. In these instances other option like referral schemes could be used, but again, with careful planning.

Overview

It is fair to say that the spending habits of your clients ultimately lie with each customer individually. However, it is possible for salons to use various techniques to help influence and improve these decisions. It is crucial that salon owners and managers closely monitor sales and spending patterns to ensure that they can act quickly to prevent the business suffering.