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How To Provide Your Salon’s Customers With Excellent Customer Service

Customer service is the process of taking care of potential, new, and existing customers before during and after a transaction is made. The aim is to provide an experience that exceeds customer expectations and leads to a satisfied customer. When done properly, customer service is mutually beneficial, providing the customer with a service that meets their needs, and your salon with repeat business. Good customer service will mean an increase in customer loyalty which may result in your customers spending more money, more often with your salon. It is also important for your salons reputation, as a happy customer will spread a positive message about you to others.

Providing excellent customer service means becoming more focused on the customer as a human being rather than as a profit centre, your main aim should be to build good customer relationships. This means you need to understand their needs and wants, treat them respectfully and go out of your way to help them, so you can develop a strong rapport with your customers.

Here are a few tips to help your salon provide the best service to your customers:

Salon Design

To begin with, your salon’s design should be appealing and the services you offer should be relevant to your target markets needs. There should be a formal system in place to deal with all the stages of interaction with your customers, and all your staff must be familiar with it. Also, you must take care of your staff as they are the face of your business. They must be properly trained and given the necessary tools they need to perform their duties.

Staff

Staff should conduct themselves in a friendly but professional manner at all times. They should always be polite to the customers, greeting them with a warm friendly smile. Using first names and remembering facts about their life, such as their birthdays, vacations stories or kids name will make your clients feel special and important.

Keeping The Customer Updated

Customers should not be kept waiting at any time. If you feel you will be running late, give them a call so they can make any adjustments to their schedules, it will be appreciated. It is important to ask clients questions about the service you are about to perform, so as to make sure you are on the same page, for example when it comes to new hair styles or hair colouring.

You can use technology to help you provide a better service, for example sending out automatic texts or emails a few days before their appointment, to remind customers and give them a chance to reschedule if it is no longer appropriate. You can also use the internet to send them information about how to take care of their hair after their visit, and to set up an opt in newsletter that informs them of new trends in the industry, combined with a loyalty discount programme for frequent salon visits.

Handling Complaints

You should listen to customers opinions and suggestions for improving your salon and their experience. It is also important to have a process in place for handling complaints, which must be dealt with quickly so as to avoid any further grievances.

Ultimately as a salon you are in the business of serving customers, so by providing excellent customer service should be your main goal. Good customer service takes time and requires constant monitoring in order to keep the standards consistent. The success of your business depends on how your customers feel when they leave your salon, because it is the customer experience that separates your salon from your competitors.

A regular review of your customer service procedures is essential to maintain and improve existing standards. Remember it costs more to get a new client than to keep an existing one, so make customer service the focus of your salon business to keep clients coming back.

Starting a Beauty Salon? Here Are a Few Things to Consider

Beauty salons tend to perform well throughout both good and bad economic times. This is because most of the services offered by salons cannot be done at home, also many people see a trip to the salon as an affordable treat. So demand tends to be fairly constant. Generally, salons and spas are quiet at the beginning of the week and booked solid coming up to the weekend.

Once you decide it is the right thing for you to do, then the next step is to spend time researching your industry and potential target market. Then put together a business plan that will guide you through the start-up phase. Start-up costs for a beauty salon can range a from between £50,000 to £200,000 depending on the kinds of treatments you intend to offer. It usually takes 6-9 months to get to full capacity and a further a year to reach break-even.

Premises, equipment and supplies

Choosing the right location for your salon is one of the most important decisions you have to make. Ideally you should choose a location that is easily accessible, safe, and with plenty of pedestrian and motor traffic as well as plenty off parking. It is best if there are other retail businesses in the area so you can benefit from their customer traffic. Premises usually range in size from 1,000 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft. The space can then be organised into a reception area, a treatment area, a storage area, and an area for staff.

Again the types of treatment will determine what equipment and supplies you need. However regardless of the treatments, you must try to get them at best price. Industry magazines and trade shows are a good place to source supplies and equipment and negotiate on price.

Licenses

This area that can often be overlooked, but it is one of the most important. The kinds of licenses required will depend on the treatments been offered, however there a some licenses that apply to all beauty salons. All beauty salons must get a license from their local council to operate as a beauty salon.

For treatments that involve lasers you must register with the care commission, and to play music in public you need a PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited ) licence. Other treatments that may need a licence include aromatherapy, massage, beauty treatments, chiropody, pedicure, reflexology, sauna, sun beds, and manicure. Also as some of the products used in beauty salons contain harmful substances, all salons must comply with the relevant health and safety laws

There are also planning permits that have to be applied for if any building work is to be done. It is best to contact your local authority early to find out what you need before starting any type of refurbishment work.

Treatments and charges

When deciding what treatments to offer, you must weigh the equipment and staff costs against the potential profitability of the treatment. There are however three broad types, skin and body-care, hair removal, and make-up.

It is important have an idea of the average income levels in the area you intend to open up, so you can set prices accordingly. If you are in an upscale area you can price your services higher as well as offer more varied and unique treatments. But if the area has a lower disposable income, it might be better to stick to the essential services at an affordable price.

Traditionally the most popular types of treatments are massages, manicures/pedicures, and waxing.

Staff

All staff must be properly trained , usually with a minimum of a level 2 or 3 NVQ . Some beauty salons prefer to recruit staff from beauty schools so as to ensure they are trained to the required standards. However others like to train the in house so they can learn to do the treatments the way the salon likes. If your salon does not have the qualified staff for each treatment, you might not get a license from the council to operate

The amount of staff you need will vary on the the size of the salon, and once a gain the types of treatments you intend to offer, however staff will be be your largest expense.

Summary

Beauty salons have become more than just a place for grooming, they are fast developing into modern day sanctuaries where people come to get pampered and let go of stress. It is important to have an atmosphere that is conducive to relaxation, coupled great customer service to match.

Because the clients experience is so important, you will need the right mix of attractive premises, high quality treatments, and trained staff to build a loyal client base.

Pamper Yourself with Nova Insurance’s Competition!

If you work in a salon then you probably spend most of your time pampering other people, which is why Nova Insurance has decided to give away a special prize which will let you pamper yourself for a change! In this month’s competition we are giving away two large bottles of TIGI Re-Energize Shampoo and Conditioner to one lucky winner! Continue reading “Pamper Yourself with Nova Insurance’s Competition!”

Meet the Winner of our Top 40 London Salons Competition!

Last month we ran a competition to try and find the number one salon out of 40 selected London salons. The salons included the likes of Paul Edmonds in Knightsbridge, Alfred Dunhill in Mayfair, Brooks and Brooks in Marylebone and many more. These salons were all high end, popular London salons with great reputations, so the competition was a close one.

After campaigning on Twitter, Facebook and other social sites, contacting friends and family and even sweet talking their clients there was thousands of entries for this award but the salon with the most votes was Michaeljohn in Belgravia! After winning the award we wanted to ask Michaeljohn more about their salon and why they are so successful: Continue reading “Meet the Winner of our Top 40 London Salons Competition!”

Invention of Colour Applying Hair Straightening Irons

At the University of Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratories, they have recently been inventing a hair straightening iron that changes hair colour when applied. Researchers and inventors have found that small spiral patterns that they call ‘gratings’ engraved into individual hairs, will reflect the light in a way that will change hair colour permanently. Continue reading “Invention of Colour Applying Hair Straightening Irons”

Top 5 Summer Wedding hair styles for Long Hair

The summer wedding season has begun! With the beautiful flowers, bright colours and sunny weather you could not really pick a better season. When planning a wedding, brides and grooms have hundreds of different things to think about, but for the bride one of the most important things will be how she is going to look on her big day. From an up-do with plaits, flowers and waves to a long, straight natural looking hair style, at summer weddings almost anything goes! Continue reading “Top 5 Summer Wedding hair styles for Long Hair”

Vote in our Top 40 London Salons Competition to win a Champneys Gift Set!

Our Top 40 London salons competition is now closed, click here to find out who won!

Here at Nova Insurance we have helped hundreds of salon owners over the years find suitable salon insurance policies. From this work we have realised that no two salons are the same, as each has their own quirks and benefits that their customers love. Continue reading “Vote in our Top 40 London Salons Competition to win a Champneys Gift Set!”

Salons extending Opening Hours to attract new Customers

Here at Nova Insurance we often discuss how salon owners need to adapt their businesses in order to attract new customers and ensure their success for the future. In fact, just last week we posted a blog post containing four ways in which salon owners can add little extras to their salons in order to appeal to a wider client base.

It is therefore not surprising to hear that a number of salons across the UK are also coming up with new ways to attract customers, such as offering extended opening hours. One salon in London has even gone so far as to open 24 hours a day between Tuesday and Saturday, and so far it seems as though it is proving extremely popular. The Neil Cornelius salon is based on Bond Street in London, and in 2012 the owner decided to keep the salon open for twenty four hours every Thursday. Continue reading “Salons extending Opening Hours to attract new Customers”

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