You are a proud salon owner working hard every day to put a smile on clients faces. At the same time, the New Year is near and your motivation to improve the way you do business has been on your mind. Whether business was slow this year or it is time to take it to the next level, you have time to add value to customers and employees lives despite your budget.
How to Grow Your Salon Business
Where do you start? What can your team do better? These are the questions salon owners is faced with despite the ups and downs of the economy. Our helpful tips are a guide for you to use to attract new customers and maintain loyal clients.
1. Community Involvement
If you live in a moderately sized city, chances are you are one of a dozen saloons. The difference between the successful ones and the establishments with no customers base is its employees are involved in the following activities:
- Food drives
- Charitable donations
- Active community committee members
At some point, a woman will need to get her hair done. You can promote your business by helping those in need by showing up and helping with no expectation to gain anything in return.
2. On-site Events
Successful salon owners run events that include free cuts for the community, a free barbecue on a Saturday afternoon or teaching college students how to cut or color hair for a day. At the moment, it can appear expensive, but it is an efficient way to create word of mouth marketing.
3. Market Your Business Daily
You can run a referral program on a discount for hair coloring if clients bring in a new customer. When you pay for local advertising (i.e., TV commercials, radio ads, billboards), more residents will learn about your business. Improve the signage with visibility at your salon and send local media press releases.
4. Survey Your Customers
An anonymous survey box or an e-survey are a few ways to learn about what customers think about your hair stylists, cleanliness of the salon and ideas for improvement.
5. Keep it Clean
You can hire a custodian or ask an employee to sweep and keep the salon clean throughout the day. Ask stylists to review their tools to ensure it is sterilized after each use.
6. Improve the Ambiance
Who are your customers? If most are millennials, play popular music in the background. Invest in a flat screen and play reality TV shows. Now is the time to entertain clients waiting for their appointment.
7. Keep it Kid Friendly
If your clients often bring children with them, set up an area with books and toys for children to play to keep them entertained.
8. Co-Marketing
You can join forces with a competitor in the area and discuss co-marketing strategies that include them sponsoring your event. It can cut costs by 50% and create exposure to your business.
9. Open an On-site Barbershop
A unisex hair establishment is typical; it requires one section for barbers and another for hair stylists. Once you combine the two, there is potential to increase earnings naturally.
10. Open a Hair School
Do you have extra space? If so, opening a hair school on site can help to set you apart from the competition.
11. Employee Engagement
Happy employees can result in satisfied customers. Treat your employees good through recognition, encourage creativity and treat them like business partners rather than a regular work.
12. Design Your Hair Products
A salon with their products projects a business that knows the small details about hair. Instead of selling store-bought products, add your counters with products with your labels.
13. Treat Customers Better
This is the easy part. Speak to your customers as if you are talking to a close friend. People prefer to go to a salon they can communicate openly with about their lifestyle than one that sells additional products and hair techniques.
14. Be Known for One Technique
Let’s face it. People have a go-to-salon for hair coloring, perms, extensions or layering long hair. Be the salon the community knows for a few techniques, and it can create a dependency on your services.
15. Train Your Employees
As the latest hair trends continue, your employees need to be up to date. The last thing you want is a customer to ask about a new style, and everyone in your establishment is clueless. You can hire a hair guru to conduct an annual training to teach new strategies.
16. Target New Audiences
Young teens and children have an interest in hair care. Market your business to mothers that need help styling their daughter’s hair. You can capitalize off celebrity hairstyles that interest youth.
17. Change Your Location
Slow sales might not be you; it may be your location. How close are your competitors? Can you move downtown? Think about the population, where your clients live and convenience. You have the potential be the corporate salon workers downtown walk in after work before going home.
18. Salon on the Go
Thanks to innovation, some hair stylists are on the road traveling to their customer’s homes, place of business or events. Check your budget to see if this is a potential service you can start offering.
19. Increase Pricing
You can’t control the increase in the cost of water, electricity, leasing, and taxes. Ask your accountant to review the books to see if you there are areas for you to recover financially by increasing prices on services.
The journey of enhancing your business is not a race; it is a marathon; an ongoing process. Once you figure out what strategy on our list works, encourage employees and customers to provide open feedback. It is a helpful way to see what works and what you can discontinue.
Good luck!