How to Boost Business in Your Hair Salon

Your salon is open, you have clients, but you are looking for ways to increase business and gain more clients. Increasing business can come in many different ways from word of mouth to social media and marketing/advertising. It is crucial to always be on the lookout for ideas on how to boost business, the more clients you gain the more successful your salon will be.

Ideas for boosting business in your hair salon:

• Referral Program
• VIP Program
• Sell Gift Cards and Certificates.
• Marketing on Social Media.
• Be an all-inclusive salon.
• Be an active part of your community.
• Actively promote special event packages.

Just to name a few.

These ideas are not all-inclusive however they are ideas that have proven track records within the industry and others.

Referral Program

There are many different ways you can use a program like this. Below you will see examples of a couple of ideas on how to use this program:

• An existing client gives someone a referral card, coupon, or code for $20.00 off of any service in your salon that they have not tried. Once that person uses their referral, the salon credits the existing client a $25.00 credit off of their next visit to the salon.
• An existing client gives someone a referral card, coupon, or code for $25.00 off of any service in the salon. Once that person uses their referral, the salon credits the existing client with $25.00 for any product in the store.

These both have benefits to existing clients as well as working towards establishing a new business.

VIP Program

This program works for existing clients. It must be kept in mind that just because you have a client that has frequented your shop for a year that doesn’t mean if they find a better price somewhere else they aren’t going to go there.

So to keep your existing clients coming back, offering a VIP Program is an effective way to hold their loyalty. I mean who doesn’t like free stuff. Yes, I said free, but let me explain:

You have an existing client, and for every five services they come in and pay for the salon offers them a free product of their choice up to $25.00 on their next visit. Now before you even give them anything they have already paid for five services to receive the product and a sixth service to get the product, starting them on their way through the next five services.

If your minimum service is $35.00 and they come back for the product, even if they don’t come back again, you made $10.00 after giving them a gift. But again, who doesn’t like free and gifts? So they are now on their way to another one, more than half the time clients will come back especially if they have always enjoyed their experience at your salon.

Gift Cards and Gift Certificates

Another great tool to attract new clients is offering gift cards and gift certificates. Whether an existing client buys them for friends or family or someone needs a quick gift and your salon is open and sells them, you will get a new customer who can potentially become a new client.

These types of products can be a positive attraction to new prospective clients.

Marketing on Social Media

Using platforms such as Facebook, Facebook Marketplace, Twitter and Instagram can cause a significant boost in your salon. By using platforms such as these you can reach thousands and even possibly millions of people that you would not have otherwise.

These platforms as stated can be a great source for prospective clients; they do need to be maintained properly. Posting pictures of hairstyles and stylists, making comments about specials and events the salon is offering, and any other information that will benefit the salon. Managing the comment section within the platform is extremely important. If you have negative feedback or other issues on your platform page, this will be seen by many and can cause the opposite effect of what you are hoping for.

Check out these promotion ideas you can use in your salon!

All-Inclusive Salon

Simply this means to be a full-service salon. Being a full-service salon will help you draw onto a multitude of customer bases. By offering services that include:

• Hair Care
• Manicures
  • Acrylics
  • Gel
  • Dip
  • Manicures
• Pedicures
  • Acrylics
  • Gel
  • Dip
  • Massage
• Eyebrow Treatments
  • Tweezing
  • Waxing
  • Threading
  • Tinting
  • Microblading
• Facial Waxing/Waxing
  • Chin
  • Neck
  • Legs
  • Bikini

All these services will offer prospective clients more items to choose from at your salon, also giving you the opportunity to up-sell services to clients as they come in.

Active Part of Your Community

aYour salon being active in your community can add much-needed foot traffic. If your salon is in a small close-knit community and they do events such as a holiday or seasonal, they have parades and kids days, these are an opportunity for you to open your doors and join in, offering walker bys the opportunity to see the salon and what it has to offer. If your salon is off the beaten path, set up a stand near the event and have signage, business cards, brochures, anything that will highlight what your salon offers. Maybe do a raffle for a free service or have referral codes to offer those that would like to try your salon.

If your salon is in a larger metropolis and you don’t have options like these, create them yourself. Set up a sidewalk stand so people can see what the salon has to offer. This can be a great source of new clients.

Promote Special Event Packages and Events

Actively promote specials for Weddings and Bridal Showers, you can also include things like event specials for “Babies first haircut $5.00 off” or “Haircut for Santa” $5.00 off”. Not only will the Wedding events be big-ticket items for you, but they will also fill your chairs and provide a great source for new clients. Having the children’s specials are a source to invite parents into your salon, once they see how wonderful it is and how friendly the staff are with their children, you have just landed two or more new clients.

 

Related Questions

1. Can I boost my salon with no money?

Yes, however, it won’t be that easy. Trying to boost a business with no money is tricky; you are using sources such as social media to do all the work for you. As stated social media can be a great source of revenue and a boost to the business, but even though there is no cost there is a lot of time involved daily until you have reached the desired outcome.

There are several options you can use to boost your salon business with pennies. Using the VIP Program, Coupons, and Coupon Codes will encourage your current clients to keep coming back as well as invite their friends and families to visit your salon. The cost is relatively pennies if you use the salon computer to print out all your coupons and coupon codes.

2. I am doing all of these things and it is still not working. Am I doing something wrong?

Yes and no.

Not all of these ideas will work for every salon. Location, type of clientele, and hours of operation these all play a part in achieving success and boosting sales.

If none of these are working you may need to consider a couple of different things. First, from the above statement do any of those apply? If so how can you rework some of the suggestions to suit your needs? Second, and maybe most important, look at your salon closely, the stylist, the staff, the decorations, lighting, music choices, ambiance, etc. are these what your prospective clients are looking for?

Sometimes it is a personnel issue, and although we never want this to be the case, we have to look at the staff closely, are they presenting the salon in the way that you envisioned, are they polite, courteous, helpful, kind, pleasant and offer the clients the experience they want? If the answer to this is no then no matter what gimmicks, events or offers you try, they will continue to fail.

3. Is having a niche better than a full-service salon?

There are many variables to this question. The location of your salon, the clientele you are striving for, the stylists you have hired, and others.

But to make it simple, having a full-service salon does offer more chances for boosting clientele, sales, and services. This is because you are offering multiple services, a one-stop-shop idea. By encouraging clients and prospective clients to have their hair cut, colored, styled, manicures, pedicures, brow care, and waxing just to name a few, done in one place, you are receiving all the possible business for each person you work with.

Having a niche can exclude clients, whether it is men, women, or children, or clients based on hair type. When you exclude anything or anyone in business you are essentially excluding your own source of revenue.

 

Looking to start your own Salon? Get the documents you need to get organized and funded here.

Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.