As you’re most likely aware, the hair and beauty industry is WILD at the minute. There are so many new artists and stylists popping up across the globe, and the talent is something else. We’re a welcoming community with open arms – who blames them?
Despite this, when it comes to gaining more clients and increasing footfall into your salon, you may find it difficult. Don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing more heart-warming than getting to treat your loyal clients week in, and week out, but boosting clientele to your business is another level.
The market is saturated, and people have a range of options to choose from. So, how do you stand out from the crowd? How do you make yourself known as the lash lady in your town or the dream hairstylist everyone wants to have touch their hair? There’s more to it than just having a social media account or branding yourself. Take a look below at our 15 tips to get more clients to your salon or new business venture – we give you the low down on everrrrrything you need to know!
1. State your availability
There’s nothing worse than messaging a salon asking for a time slot, for them to come back and let you know they’re not working…WHYYYYY. Let the client KNOW! In this day and age, people want to know things instantaneously and it’s important you react to this.
If you’re not working for a week because you’re jetting off to Ibiza, pop it on your IG story and add it to your availability highlights. This will benefit you in the long run, saving the hassle of having to individually message every client who asks.
If you have a last-minute cancellation, ask your followers if anyone’s interested in taking it up. You could even add a discount to try and entice them further.
Even better, why not invest in a salon booking app? Then you can manually update when you’re available and reduce the amount of back-and-forth dm’s coming your way.
2. Display your price list
Displaying your price list is a brilliant way to gain new clients, as it openly lets people know your range and what they can expect from you. It will attract the customers you want, and you’re making it openly clear who your target audience is.
We would highly recommend having a highlight on your business page named something like ‘Prices’ which includes the treatments you offer and their price range. Keep it as transparent as possible, and not completely out of the market price for what you’re offering.
3. Post client reviews
In today’s society, reviews are imperative if you’re looking to grow your client base. It’s rare that people ever invest in a product or service without spending countless hours scouring the internet for reviews. It’s a way of proving to others that what you’re offering is worth it!
Once you finish every client, ask them to leave you a review for your business, either through DM, Facebook or Google Reviews. It’ll help boost your business much more than you realise – we promise!
4. Showcase before and after pictures
Credit: @danielle_dolly_bird_studio
Who doesn’t love a cheeky before and after pic? There’s just something so mesmerising about being able to visually see the difference between what your client began with, to what they left the salon like. Having these images on your social grid will attract those potential clients who want to book with you, but might not have yet.
5. Introduce yourself to your followers
People LOVE investing their money into people, so make sure to let your followers know who you are! It creates brand recognition and humans can relate more to other humans, making it a fantastic way to increase your salon clientele.
6. Offer a refer a friend scheme
Introducing a refer a friend scheme is an amazing route if you’re looking for tips to get more clients. It’s kind of similar to word of mouth, but you’re offering a financial advantage to them! EVERYONE loves an incentive…
There are many ways you can do this, and we have listed a few below!
- Book two people in and get a discount price
- Invite your friend and get a discount on your next treatment
- Offer incentives for the more friends who book in
7. Ask your clients to post afterwards
Word of mouth is one of the most reliable and trustworthy ways to gain clients, and E Word Of Mouth (eWOM) is a great way of projecting this even further.
EWOM is the sharing of information about a product or service by using the internet. It has been recognised as a brilliant way to attract new customers, especially with all of the organic social media algorithms we face day in, day out.
When your client comes to you and receives a service, ask them to re-post you on their story or share the pics online. We can guarantee their post will have a domino effect and you’ll notice an influx of clients who follow afterwards!
8. Hashtags and location tags
Like we mentioned in the previous point, social media and its never ending cycle of algorithms will be the bane of your life! They change CONSTANTLY and will only allow you to reach a small percentage of followers (sorry, WHAT?)
When it comes to getting more clients, you need to try and work with this algorithm to boost your reach and put your brand in front of potential clients. Hashtags and location tags are one of the ways we suggest doing this! They’re pretty simple to understand and won’t take too much time out of your busy schedule.
If you’re posting a photo of a hair transformation, make sure to tag things such as:
#hairtransformation #hairgoals #hairstyletransformation #salonhair #clienthairinspo #hairinspiration… etc!
For location tags, you’ll be able to let people know where you’re based! It saves you the bother of having to let people know where you work and they can decide before messaging if they’re able to get to you.
9. Team up with local businesses for a giveaway
We absolutely LOVE this idea! Teaming up with local businesses will allow you to reach potential clients, who are local and are interested in your business. Seriously, it’s an effortless way of boosting awareness of your brand.
There are some things we would definitely recommend considering when doing this competition, however. They should be making sure that they:
- Follow your account (and others that enter the giveaway)
- Tag their friends in the comments
- Post to their story
By sticking to these rules, you will maximise efforts in reaching more people!
10. Make sure you have a Google Business Profile
Not every one of your clients might utilise Instagram or Facebook, a high percentage will probably use Google search to find their local nail techs or hairdresser. That’s why we urge you to get set up on Google My Business (GMB). It’s very similar to the yellow pages and it allows you to add all your business details. This will make sure you’re the business people find when looking for your service.
11. Optimise your Instagram bio
How many times have you found an amazing Beautician and realised you know NOTHING about them? It’s happened to us one too many times, and it’s a huge put off when looking to invest in a service.
Give the client allllll the information they need on the first page they see your business. Instagram is a brilliant app for this!
Pop your salon address in, add an email/phone contact number, state your availability and even add your pronouns to make customers aware of how to address you in conversation.
12. Stay up to date with trends
Keeping on top of trends is an unspoken way of reaching new clients and improving your customer base. If customers see you as passionate about your line of work and understand the trends of the time, they’re going to trust you and shout about your business further. This goes hand in hand with reactive content and keepin on top of what’s going viral in your industry. We can’t guarantee you’ll go viral after one video, but you will sure land on the FYP of potential customers.
13. Add value to your service
As we mentioned before, the hair and beauty industry is saturated with lots of brilliant artists and stylists. If you’re looking to stay on top of your game and get more clients, you need to add value to your service to make it worthwhile coming back.
Clients want to feel like they’re welcomed and wanted when coming to you for a treatment, whether that be through making their favourite drink, grabbing them a pillow for the chairs, popping on some music, or even just chatting as friends throughout the appointment. As this is primarily standard throughout the industry, why don’t you go one step further and provide a handout with aftercare advice and small products to use? You could even check in a couple of days after their appointment and ask them if they were happy with your service, see if there was anything you could have improved on! These small gestures can make the world of difference – try it!!
14. Silent appointments
In contrast to the above point, there are some clients who don’t enjoy that side of the getting treatments and that’s totally okay! Offering silent appointments to your service might be more suitable for them, so why not add this to your profile for those who don’t feel as comfortable? You’re allowing them to come and get a treatment without the pressure of having to engage in conversation! This is a fantastic way to improve clientele in the salon and attract more customers.
15. Payment schemes
Today, payment schemes have become the norm for most large businesses. It gives customers the flexibility, for instance if they haven’t been paid, or it’s a large chunk of money they’re paying for a service. If you can, why not set up your own finance options on higher values services? We have seen it done by salon professionals for treatments such as laser hair removal, hair extensions, chemical treatments etc. It might just attract those customers who’re hesitant because of money issues.
That’s a wrap! We hope you’ve taken some inspiration from this lengthy blog and worked out how you can start getting new clients to your salon.
