fundamental tips to BOOST your salon recommendations

 

A consistent experience is the key to success

 

“A business is only as good as its people and great customer service. You can spend all the money in the world on marketing to get new customers, but is wasted if you don’t have an end product.”

Did you know that approximately 70% of your customers are from referrals and recommendations?

 

For a business to grow, you need to keep your customers coming back and for them to rave to their friends about your service. If referrals are your number one source of getting new clients into your salon, then it’s imperative that you and your team provide consistently great customer experiences.

 

But, a consistently great customer experience goes beyond just what happens in the chair, it’s also about showing a true business brand through being consistent in the execution of your brand’s message.

 

Consistency is you marketing success

 

Take Costa for example, the coffee franchise. Whether you are in Dudley, Durham or Dartford, when you are in a Costa branch, you know about it. Their brand, messages and customer service is consistent across the board, ensuring they are selling more than just coffee. They’re selling a coffee experience. And with over 1,400 outlets in the UK alone and profits growing 30% year-on-year, they must be doing something right.

 

Take the time to look at other industries to see how they build their brand awareness and get inspiration for the sort of message you want to emulate in your own brand.

 

Have consistency in the execution of your brand message and you will be building brand awareness and loyalty with your clients. When a client is exposed to a consistent message of what your brand is, at each point of contact, this makes your brand recognisable, differentiating you from your competitors.

 

But I don’t have a franchise business or multiple salons, you may be saying. To that I say, “Pah!” Market your salon like you do and keep that consistent tone throughout, ready for when you do have multiple salons to run. Start as you mean to go on.

 

Here are my top 3 fundamental tips for salon recommendations:

 

1. It starts with the team

 

We all remember in school when we were told “There’s no I in TEAM” when that one kid hogged the ball and refused to pass so they’d get the glory of the goal themselves, but then would be ambushed by the opposing team who worked together to stop the threat. Well, that’s where were starting today too. Together Everyone Achieves More. Having a team that share the same clarity of vision and work together to reach the end goal, is key to business success. The right attitudes, regular training, encouraged creativity and above all having staff that enjoys coming to work each day, all make for a focused and driven team. Is that not the picture that is currently in front of you? There are many ingredients and disciplines to a successful salon business and one that ranks high for success is your team.

 

2. When was the last time you were WOW’ed?

 

Great customer service is the bare minimum of what clients today expect. They expect to be given a great haircut, they expect to have a happy and chatty stylist, they expect the salon to be clean and tidy. In today’s world, no matter the industry, businesses need to be providing more than just the essentials. A forward thinking salon should be turning great customer service into an amazing client experience to keep them coming back and recommending you to everyone they know. For this, you need to WOW your clients. Take a second and try to remember the last time you were WOW’ed. What was it about the situation that made you sit up and suddenly notice a unique customer experience?

Take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, implementing the outstanding, financially viable and consistency assured ideas into your own business. Just make sure it fits with your brand and is something that can be supplied consistently. Progressive salons dare to be different, have the courage to do new things and lead the way. In my own salon every time we implement a new service I make sure it touches on as many of the five human senses as it can: touch, smell, sight, sound and taste. For me, a new service must encounter at least three of the senses to ensure it meets the ‘memorable experience’ standard that will WOW the customer and encourage them to spread the word.

 

3. Use your database

 

I hope you do have a database, but if you have no idea what I’m talking about, fear not, and let’s get that database growing today! You need to be collecting your customers’ details so you can market to them. Email addresses, home addresses, mobile telephone numbers; get and use whatever you can. Whether you have a form for clients to fill in in-house, or when they sign up through your website or social media platforms, you must be gathering that all important contact information. By growing your database and keeping your clients up-to-date with new deals and promotions, you can increase the likelihood of your clients digitally sharing your message and BOOSTing your recommendations.

If you don’t have a database or aren’t getting data, then grabbing a customer’s emails address is the easiest place to start. Email is the currency of the web and everybody online has an active email address so when it comes to connecting with your clients, there is no channel better equipped.

With varying email & SMS service providers you can set up automatic appointment reminders, news from the salon, tips for keeping hair healthy, anything that will keep your salon in the clients’ mind. When sending any sort of marketing though, think about what you like to receive and make sure the information you’re providing is consistent to your brand messaging and useful to your clients. We never think well of those email pests that make us hit the ‘unsubscribe’ button.

Also, don’t just focus on getting new clients, focus on your existing clients and encourage them to be brand advocates and fans of your salon to get them visiting more frequently. The average time between client visits is 10.3 weeks or 5 visits a year. By encouraging your clients to visit one or more extra times a year, you will soon see a massive difference to your bottom line.

 

 

Things to remember

 

• Make sure you have an end product to be proud of before you invest in marketing to get new customers
• Begin with these 3 fundamental principles in your quest for BOOSTing your salons recommendations
• Focus on a culture of rebooking your clients before they leave and increase the frequency of visits to see more £££

 

For more hints & tips on BOOSTing your sales, sign up to our newsletters or call me 01344 834987 to arrange a visit and chat at your salon.

 

HappyBIZness

 

Carey