There are plenty of ways to boost your customers’ growth, but here are some tools that you can use to immediately pump up your sales and increase that customer list. If you are in need of help in managing your salon business, don’t forget to consult Zensoft for your salon needs.
Try your hand at selling gift cards
Gift cards are one of the most underrated products you could sell at a salon, but that doesn’t mean it is not effective in growing your clientele list. It is a common salon practice to sell gift cards for your salon business, as gift card sales are very much effective in increasing your sales.
When customers can purchase gift cards or gift certificates, you are also selling to their friends and family. Gift cards can be a way to bring new customers and increase your sales without having to give service upfront. Selling gift certificates and gift cards will get you paid immediately in full even if those who will receive the gift card will not avail of your service.
One way to encourage your existing customers to buy gift cards and gift certificates is through upselling. Train your staff on how to upsell your gift cards and gift certificates. You can also advertise right at your front desk, in your store windows, as well as your online pages, such as your website and social media pages. Another way to encourage your staff to sell your gift cards and gift certificates is to give incentives or commissions for every gift card they sell.
In terms of encouraging your customers to purchase your gift cards and gift certificates, you could always sell them at a lower price compared to the value of the service that they could get for it. You could also relate your gift certificate to upcoming occasions or holidays like mother’s day, father’s day, Christmas, graduation, and other occasions where they could give this gift to their friends and family. According to Salonist, Gift cards have been the number one asked item on the wish list since 2007.
You could also promote these gift cards and gift certificates to companies who are looking for gifts for their employees so that you could sell them in bulk for a discounted price.
Make a referral program
Make sure your customers know about your referral program. It is a win-win opportunity for both your business and your loyal customers. For your referral program, it is best to let your customers know that they will get an incentive every time they refer a friend or a family to avail of your salon’s services. Some examples of this referral program incentive could be offering your existing customer a free product or service or a discount when they bring a friend with them.
This referral program is a great way to get new people into your salon and also foster loyalty within your existing customers. For some businesses, this type of referral program paves the way to transform their struggling business into a thriving one.
The great thing about the referral program is that it is actually natural to bring someone along with you when you go to a pampering session at a salon. That is why it is a no-brainer for your customers to agree to a referral proposition because they are likely to bring their friends or family to your salon for their own benefit and enjoyment.
The only tip on making this referral program successful is to make every referral worth it. Do not wait for an existing customer to refer a hundred people before they receive their reward, otherwise, they will lose interest in helping your business out.
Create a subscription service
Subscription services have been disrupting industries across the world for quite some time now. Some examples would be the taxi service industry being overtaken by uber and grab, Spotify overtaking the music industry, and the Netflix subscription service completely overtaking any video rental business, as well as cinemas. 15% of US online consumers have subscribed to a service in a single year, according to Savemycent.
The immense success of these subscription services is proof of how you can use subscriptions to leverage your salon business. By incorporating this subscription model into your own salon services you are using your key selling points and partnering it with value for money and ease of access to your customers.
Keep in mind that when you subscribe to a service the best thing you can get is priority service. In your salon, a subscription service for your customers may mean not worrying about booking an appointment, or finding cash whenever they are availing of your service because they already availed and paid for a subscription service. For your customers, it is convenient and gives value for money, while for your business this means a predictable cash flow because membership is renewable every certain period.
If you have trouble managing this kind of system for your salon business, you can ask for help through Zensoft.
These three tools mentioned above – selling gift cards and gift certificates, creating a referral program, and making a subscription service – are just some of the tools that you can utilize for your salon business to create more sales, guarantee revenue, and expand your clientele list. All these three are very effective when done right and when you consistently practice and apply these methods to your marketing strategy.
Aside from these three tools, make sure you have an online presence where you can leverage these three tools even more. Having an online presence is very much important to raise awareness that your business is up and running and that you can promote and advertise your products and services to a larger demographic.
For example, selling your gift cards and gift certificates would be very effective online since they could purchase these items through your website or your social media pages even if they are not able to visit your salon. This is great for your holiday revenue such as mother’s day or Christmas because people are having a hard time choosing and buying gifts.
Having your referral program recorded through your online pages is also a great way to keep your loyal customers referring to their friends and families. Create an engaging post that would remind them of their perks and benefits when they refer a friend so that they will be encouraged to refer people to your salon.
Advertising your salon service subscription online can also increase your revenue because more people are looking for ease of access and contactless payment for the services that they avail. It is also great in securing what services would be in demand for this month because you would know which services are already booked ahead of time.