The top 5 mistakes that make a beauty salon lose customers
The main problems of beauty salons come from mistakes that, with a 99% probability, someone else has already made before you.
Why not take advantage of someone else’s experience? In this article, we look at beauty salon mistakes that cause customers to leave, how to solve them and useful beauty salon tips.
1. Incorrect definition of the target niche
Example. The owner of a salon in the city centre spent a lot of money on eye-catching advertising. The focus was on trendy haircuts, creative colouring and fancy nail design. Unfortunately, the expenditure did not pay off. Attracted only occasional visitors.
What was the beauty salon’s main problem? When analysing the client base, it was found that the main core were women in their 30s and 35s working in nearby offices. Their priority was business style and quick service. Because of the too “youthful” advertising, many lost interest in the salon before they even got there. These typical mistakes when opening a beauty salon sometimes cost a lot of money.
Solution. The salon radically changed its approach and brought out express services: manicure corrections, light styling, and beauty treatments during the lunch hour. A more discreet business card leaflet was printed, which met the interests of the target audience and inspired their confidence. The result was a steady flow of clients.
Tip. To avoid this mistake, it is worth studying the market and decide on your niche at the start.
2. Lack of service standards
Example. Beauty salon A has been in business for several years. But when salon B opened in the area, many clients started to go there. However, the prices and quality of service in both establishments were about the same.
What is the problem? The level of service. The behaviour of staff in the salon A was not controlled in any way, administrators communicated with the guests indifferently, ignored the elementary rules: to offer tea/coffee. Masters could take a break and delay the start of the procedure. In today’s competitive environment, if a client has a choice, they will always prefer a salon with good service.
The solution. In the salon introduced a clear and understandable instructions: not only what to do, but how. Agreed on what actions are strictly prohibited. The business owners organised training and made sure that what they learned was put into practice. Improving the quality of service has helped to retain customers and increase sales in the salon.
Tip. Even if you have internal rules do not forget to monitor compliance. A beauty salon admin error can have a huge impact on sales and the profitability of the entire salon.
3. Poorly trained receptionists
Example. A cosmetology centre used to receive about 20 calls a day from potential clients. At best, 3 or 4 people signed up.
What was the problem? From the receptionist’s side most conversations sounded something like this: “Hello. Yes, this is our centre. Yes, this service is available. It costs 60 €/£/$. Goodbye.” In fact, the receptionist was acting as an information desk. His or her task is to guide clients, consult them and suggest the best option. So that a person did not think about whether to come to the salon or not, but decided when to do it.
The solution. For the receptionist wrote a scenario – a step-by-step script of dialogues, which included the possible turns of the conversation and the client’s reactions. Now, if someone was interested, for example, in a facial beauty treatment, they got a detailed answer: there is a mechanical, ultrasonic (a little cheaper) and combined (a little more expensive), and also a complex programme with peeling. “Come and see us for a consultation, – invited the receptionist. – It’s free of charge. Our beautician will choose a procedure that suits your skin type”. The owners started recording and listening to the calls, paying attention to the mistakes made so as not to make them in the future. The number of recordings from potential clients has increased dramatically.
Tip. Inability to conduct a dialogue – this is the main mistake of the receptionist of a beauty salon, which leads to the fact that the salon loses a huge number of potential clients. The person who meets people in the salon (in person or on the phone), should be friendly, polite, concerned about the comfort of customers and be able to competently advise. It’s great if a competent person can be found or trained. But you should still check on his or her work regularly.
4. Lack of competence of the salon staff
Example. A client asked for a haircut “like the picture”. The hairdresser was eager to do it, but overestimated his strength. The result was far from what she wanted, she left disappointed and went to another salon and asked for her haircut to be redone.
What’s the problem? The quality of the service provided is the salon’s calling card. Would you yourself go back to the hairdresser who caused you to wear a hat for a month waiting for your hair to grow out? It’s another matter that finding good professionals is not so easy. However, don’t spare the effort and time to build a strong team. You don’t have to look for stars. You can raise a first-rate specialist from yesterday’s graduate under the watchful eye of a mentor.
Solution. Carefully check qualifications at the stage of personnel selection, including in practice. You can divide masters according to their skills and price levels. Then the client will understand who is a pro here, and who is still learning, and can choose what is more important to himself – price or quality. If a young employee does make a mistake, offer to correct it immediately and refer the client to a more experienced colleague. And with the master analyze the situation to avoid its repetition in the future.
Tip. The beauty industry is incredibly fast-paced. New techniques, devices and materials are constantly appearing. Therefore, try to create conditions so that your masters can regularly attend training sessions, master classes and refresher courses.
5. No reminders about appointments
Example. There were many appointments at the aesthetic cosmetology clinic. But some clients simply didn’t show up at the appointed time.
What was the problem? The main reason for no-shows is common human forgetfulness. The client has a lot of other things to do, they can mix up the date, remember their plans only in the evening. The salon not only loses profit, but also loses the opportunity to receive another visitor at that time. These are the problems of a beauty salon that can be solved in one fell swoop.
Solution. The salon started using automatic SMS appointment reminders. Clients were told in advance that they were expected to come in for their treatments at a certain time. The number of delays and absences was reduced by more than half. The clinic benefited even if someone called to cancel the appointment: the receptionists had time to offer a “window” to someone else.
A beauty salon tip. Taking advantage of online scheduling and SMS messaging, you can feel free to offer your visitors an immediate appointment for a second treatment, even if it is scheduled in a few months time. This has proven to be a good way to keep clients in the salon.
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