I want you to ask yourself these two questions:
- “What can I do to grow my business?”
- “Am I willing to do whatever it takes to get clients into my salon?”
Hair stylists who are successful are asking themselves these questions on a regular basis. They are not contemplating ways they might promote their business. They are not thinking sometime in the future they will post their work on social media. They are not delaying getting business cards. And they are certainly not skipping networking events where they can gain potential clients.
Instead, they are taking initiative and doing all the extra things they can do during their downtime that will help them build their business.
So, how do you ensure you’re doing the right things to grow your business? First (this is hands-down ultra-important): grab a rag, a towel, and some cleaner, and clean the salon. Now, I am not just talking about COVID-19 cleaning. That’s a given. We all need to be following state guidelines and keeping our salon as sterile as possible for our guests. I’m talking about other things.
- How long has it been since you dusted the top of your wall mirror?
- Have you cleaned the glass on your door?
- What about cleaning and reorganizing your product shelves?
Why is this so important? Because this is one of the main reasons clients will leave a salon: cleanliness (or lack thereof). Now, more than ever, the overall appearance of your salon needs to be impeccable. In an independent survey, clients listed cleanliness as one of the most important factors considered when selecting a salon, and that they will leave if they feel that the salon is not up to par and go somewhere else. So, you can never go wrong with grabbing a duster, cleaning up the glass and mirrors, and taking extra time to make the floors look spotless.
Along with having a clean salon, clients want to feel that they have a special relationship with their hair stylist, especially if they have been seeing the same stylist for a long time. It’s easy to get busy and fail to do the little things you may have done in the beginning. It’s important to always keep a personal touch with your business.
Some of those little things include sending “we miss you” cards and birthday cards, and even offering long-time clients a small sample gift at Christmas. To really be efficient, every quarter you should sit down and reach out to the clients that you haven’t seen in a while. If you use a point-of-sale system, there is frequently a report that will show you this information. Send a postcard in the mail saying, “Hi Susie! It has been so long since I have seen you. Come back in and enjoy a $10 gift toward your next experience.” Clients sometimes leave—not because they had a bad experience or they didn’t like their service, but because some clients just like to try new things. However, clients also feel bad when they leave, followed by feelings of awkwardness should they want to return. If you send them a “we miss you” card, it lets them know that you are totally OK with keeping your doors open to them and allowing them back into your space.
We all realize that social media is an absolute must. However, there are still many of us who fail to take time to plan our social media posts. Social media has become the dominant advertising tool in our business. Yes, we all love referrals and word of mouth, but don’t think for a moment that referrals aren’t being made on social media platforms too! Next to referrals, social media is now recognized as the top way to attract new beauty customers. So, collect your photos, your before-and-after shots, and create some before-and-after videos, retail videos, or educational videos. Now is the time to build your own library of content. There are also some great inexpensive online graphic design tools you can purchase if you really want to get a professional look. A few are even free. (Check out CANVA or Smilebox). Once you’ve gathered content, do Instagram and Facebook stories. Think about all the things that are going to keep you trending and in front of your audience all of the time. With all the tools available on social media platforms, you can schedule your posts out a month or more. This makes it very convenient for planning and posting in your off time.
Consider building some marketing hours into your schedule to get some of these tasks completed. Remember, if you want to grow your business, it will take some effort. Use your time wisely. Invest in yourself, and others will as well!
Article by Gina Rivera, Beauty Expert
by-gina.com
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