Running a successful beauty business comes with certain obstacles, particularly if it is in a competitive area. Sometimes, a few mistakes are all it takes to fall behind the competition and lose your customers.
Keeping up with the latest beauty industry trends and putting effort into improving the business on a regular basis is a solid strategy. To help with that, here are some valuable tips that should come in handy.
Educate Customers
Overall, people are not that well-versed in the beauty industry. Someone might hear or read misinformation and make wrong assumptions about what kind of effects certain procedures will have on a body.
A beauty salon can combat the problem of misinformation by educating customers. If possible, hire licensed professionals and have them come in person or host a remote seminar and have interested people participate virtually.
Giving opportunities to learn will provide value to your customers. Moreover, they will be more open to doing procedures at your establishment because you provide valuable information and build authority.
Automate Processes
Cutting various business processes will save you resources, particularly time and money. It makes sense to invest in tools that offer long-term value.
For example, you could get a booking tool that you can use to send reminders to your clients and reduce no shows.
Letting clients book appointments themselves is also worth a shout. Not everyone is keen to make a phone call or visit a salon in person if there is an option to book an appointment online using a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Protect Salon’s Reputation
Managing damage control is difficult when you run a beauty salon. A tarnished reputation can come from pretty much anywhere. Perhaps one of the employees was rude to a customer, or the hygiene was poor inside a salon.
Word travels fast, and all it takes are a few negative comments on social media to snowball out of control. And once it reaches that point, a salon may find that even the most loyal customers are no longer visiting.
Trying to be as blameless as possible is a recommended approach. From training employees proper customer service and technical skills to taking care of hygiene and not skimping on tools and products, a beauty salon should be at the top of everything it can to protect its reputation.
Reward Loyal Customers
A beauty business will not succeed without its customers. Salons need to reward loyal customers and incentivize new ones to join as well because word of mouth is not always enough to attract enough clients.
For loyal customers, you could offer them freebies, gifts, or exclusive discounts. However, the most important reward they deserve is attention. Many people go to beauty salons to relax and enjoy the pleasant company. A beautician should get to know customers and establish a good relationship with them.
Becoming friends is not necessary, but it is important to note that the overall experience can be just as important as the services you get in a beauty salon.
Customers who have a pleasant stay are more likely to recommend the establishment to their friends and family, which is another benefit for the business.
Ask for Feedback
Feedback should come from both customers and employees. Managers who run a beauty salon are unlikely to find out about everything that is going on, and it is easy to miss some things when you are not attending to them yourself.
It is true that casual customers who are satisfied with everything will leave the salon without offering their thoughts. However, it is still worth your while to encourage them to share some thoughts about what could be improved.
Perhaps they have been keeping up with the latest trends and have some ideas but feel like it is not their place to “teach” professionals. Or maybe they would be interested in a new procedure that the salon is not offering yet? Regardless, feedback from customers can be valuable.
As for the employee feedback, it should be a given. A beauty salon will operate better if its staff is on the same page and they are efficient at sharing and solving problems and coming up with new ideas.
Improve Good Employee Retention
Good employees get poached regularly regardless of the industry. For a beauty salon that is trying to succeed, it is important to retain the top talent. After beautician leaves, most of their clientele leaves with them, which means losses to the salon.
Try to create an environment in which employees feel appreciated. Provide training opportunities, acknowledge their talent, and reward them with extra pay, holiday days, maternity leave, and other benefits.
At the same time, a beauty salon should not put all of its eggs into one or two talented beauticians’ egg baskets. It is difficult to predict whether someone might leave or stay, so having a backup plan in a few “understudies” is a solid tactic