2021 is almost over yet businesses still struggle to stay afloat with the changing times. It is important to take a step back and assess how your salon business is doing and where you want to take it.
Oftentimes, business owners are just putting their focus on the next issue in front of them, with no long-term plans, no future strategies to keep up with the changing business demographic.
It is quite difficult to find the time to ponder and plan where you want to take your business, yet it is very crucial. The direction to where you are headed will help you make sense of what you need to accomplish to get there.
How to Make Your Hair and Beauty Salon Business Grow:
Here are 5 things you need to do to make your hair and beauty salon business grow (no pun intended!)
- Grow your clients and contacts
- Work on your customer marketing
- Maximize the number of services and products you sell per salon visit
- Bank on the sale of expensive services/ products
- Reduce your salon operation cost
Grow your clients and contacts
Growing your clients and contacts for your salon business is the lifeblood that keeps your business up and running. The only way to keep running your salon business is to work on growing your customer list each month.
Every new customer you add to your list impacts your sales directly and affects the growth of your business. In fact, 82% of businesses believe that retention is actually cheaper than acquisition.
The number of customers on your list is one of the most important indicators of growth and the KPI or Key Performance Indicator you should be monitoring. By keeping your existing customers loyal, you are keeping a portion of your list secure and unmoving.
You should not neglect your existing customers because even though you are earning new ones, it is futile if you are also losing the old ones, making your list shorter.
One of the ways to make sure you are actually keeping your customers is to track their visit records. If you don’t have a customer database to keep track of your customers’ preferences and visit history, then you should invest in a reliable spa and salon management software now.
Now, let us talk about attracting and acquiring new customers. One of the most effective ways for attracting new customers is through digital marketing. According to Hubspot, 51% of shoppers surveyed say research online before they decide to make a purchase or try a service.
Everybody, especially your customers are always online and on the lookout for products and services they can purchase. Your online presence, mainly your website and social media pages can impact the growth of your customer list.
Running a limited-time offer for new customers also helps with attracting new customers to give them a taste of your service and if you do it right you might just get another loyal customer.
Work on your customer marketing
As mentioned above, taking care of your existing customers is very important in terms of growing your business. Not only that it ensures that you are growing your list of customers, but it is actually easier and cheaper to keep existing customers than to attract new customers.
That is why it is important to constantly provide good service to your old clients and offer perks that would make them stay loyal to your salon business.
Some tips on how you can maximize your existing customers are:
- Providing loyalty awards through cards or apps
Reward your most loyal customers using different rewards programs. You can give free products or services for each milestone they achieve e.g. their 5th or 10th visit. - Encourage existing customers to write reviews
You can trust your loyal customers to write good reviews about you. Use this to publish on your social media pages and website because reviews are read by prospective clients - Ask for referrals and reward them
Your loyal customers have friends and families they could bring along when they visit your salon. Ask to be referred and offer them incentives when they do. This way they will always have a plus one when they go to your salon. That means more sales!
Maximize the number of services products you sell per salon visit
Each customer does not mean one service per person. You can maximize each visit by offering more than one product or one service. You can make bundles that will help you push to get more sales of products and services per person.
For example, customer number one is going for a haircut, you can upsell by offering your hair coloring services and other products to keep their desired look even when styling their own hair at home.
Bank on the sale of expensive services/ products
Another way you can grow sales is to bank on your most expensive services and products. Selling them more would mean more profit and it makes your salon on the higher end. Make sure that your customers are aware of these premium products and services that you offer so they have more options to choose from. Also, putting them in a bundle with other best-selling products could help you sell them faster.
Reduce your salon operation cost
Not only do you have to increase your sales in order to keep your business growing, but you also have to make sure that you reduce your salon operation cost. By decreasing your salon operation cost, you naturally increase your average profit.
Even if your business is doing well and growing sales each month, you should consistently review your costs to make sure you are really getting the most out of your capital.
Check which days your salon does not have many visitors so you could cut on electricity costs.
You can also find better suppliers that could give you a better price for the products you use in your salon. Buying in bulk could also help your salon reduce costs for stocks.
Another strategy would be to remove services or products that are no longer lucrative. With a good spa/salon software management, you should be able to keep track of your daily sales with comprehensive sales and expense reports.