Success. We’re all striving for it but how do we achieve it? There are many ways to grow your business, but what methods are proven to work for hair and beauty salons?
If you want to know how to make a salon successful, here are three simple things you can do that will drive revenue and increase client satisfaction and loyalty.
1. Sell vouchers
Secure future revenue
There are significant benefits to selling vouchers. It allows you to secure future revenue in advance, and it gives your clients a reason to return again.
If you do it right, you’ll also have the opportunity to make additional revenue. Often when a client redeems a voucher, they actually spend more than the value of it. So, when a client visits with a voucher you can work your magic to upsell retail products or other services.
Free marketing to potential clients
When a voucher is purchased as a gift, chances are it’s for someone that isn’t a current client. That means by selling vouchers you’re potentially increasing your client base.
A voucher doubles as a recommendation from a friend or family member. Nielson research found that 83% of people trust recommendations from these groups of people, so it’s likely you can gain a number of new clients this way.
A convenient gift
We’re sure you can think of many times when you’ve needed a last minute Mother’s Day or Christmas present, so make sure you offer vouchers to your clients to give them a convenient gift option.
Gift vouchers are also easy for salons, spas and clinics to create. Creating vouchers using your salon and spa software should only take a few minutes and it’s inexpensive to design and print a range of great looking vouchers using free tools like Canva.
2. Offer concessions
Create a habit
Selling concessions locks your clients in to visit you multiple times in the future. Not only do concessions secure future income, but they also assist in building a habit and routine for clients, as they consistently revisit for services. Regular, loyal clients are a key part of growing a successful salon, spa or clinic business.
Improve your revisit rate
Add an expiry date to a concession to ensure your clients visit you regularly. This will help reduce your revisit period.
For example, if you sell facial concession cards with six visits and an expiry date of six months, you’re essentially enforcing a four week revisit period. This ensures your clients are visiting you regularly enough to realise the results they’re after, so you’ll have happy clients as well as a shorter revisit period.
Offering payment options
Concessions give your clients different payment options to suit their budget and preferences. They may prefer to save up and pay for their services all in one go, or they might love the thought of receiving a discount for their ongoing loyalty. No matter the reason, concessions allow you to be flexible and accommodate your client’s needs.
3. Develop a loyalty program
Create loyal clients
Every salon, spa or clinic should have some kind of loyalty program to assist with developing loyal clients. A loyalty program is all about incentivising your clients to choose your business over a competitor, and is a way to reward them for returning.
It’s important for your clients to visually see their loyalty points adding up so they know what they need to do in order to get a reward. Check if your salon and spa software offers this feature, as it’s an easy way to keep your clients motivated and excited as they get closer to reaching their reward.
Save money
The cost of keeping an existing client is 10% of the cost of acquiring a new one. That’s because you don’t have to spend money attracting them and they’re generally cheaper to service. A loyalty programme is an easy way to incentivise those clients to stick around and to ensure they feel valued by you.
Upsell and make more money
According to customer loyalty statistics in 2020, you have a 60-70% chance of successfully up-selling retail products or services to your current clients, compared to just a 5-20% chance with new clients. That’s because your loyal customers trust you and are more likely to feel comfortable spending money with you.
Pair this knowledge with a team challenge or target to upsell the products you’ve had on your shelves for too long, or an additional service to each client, and you’re likely to see great success. Track the success of these challenges by setting targets for your team.
Grow your salon’s success
There are many ways to grow a more successful beauty business and these are just three simple ways to assist in achieving this goal. Start by choosing one or two to implement in your salon, spa or clinic and we’re sure you’ll be impressed by the results!
For more ideas for growing your business, download our free ebook: 100 ways to grow your salon, spa or clinic.
Read next: How to measure the success of your salon, spa or clinic
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on 19 Mar 2018 and has been completely revamped for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
