Salon Buyers Group

Salon Professionalism and Customer Service

Successful salons are run by managers that consistently project and demand professionalism in every aspect of salon operations.

No matter what type of salon you own or operate; your business is driven by your repeat customers and the relationship you develop with your customers.

Salons that provide great results also need to strive for excellence in professionalism and customer service.

To provide the customer with great results is no longer enough. Todays growth comes from a multi-faceted approach that starts even before the customer walks in your salon.

Marketing - Professionalism in marketing of your salon and salon services is your front-line projection of your business and your business identity. Advertising is expensive. Make sure your advertisements project your business in the manner you need. Some owners feel it is something they can do themselves. It is very inexpensive to have very high quality artwork done for your campaign. Keep your campaign simple. Complicated campaigns are not as successful. 20% off! Now that is pretty easy to understand, and communicate in an ad, think in this manner.

Salon Appearance Exterior - Your salon gives a first impression before the customer has stepped inside. Your window display and exterior sign say a lot about what to expect when you enter a business. Take a look at some of the large chains like Gap, Pottery Barn, etc... These companies have wonderful high-end looking stores that make you want to go inside. Salon operators need to consider themselves equally high-end and have their exterior marketing to match that theme. Visiting a salon is a luxury item not a required service. Even if you inheritted a bad exterior sign you can easily and inexpensively improve your curb appeal by uncluttering and freshening your window displays. It also takes very little time and effort to replace or rotate your entire window display every few months with seasons or just to keep it fresh. Even rotating poster displays if that is all your space allows.

Salon Appearance Interior Customer Service - Once inside the customer will have their first experience with the staff. It is essential that every customer is greeted in a proper manner with whatever is comfortable to the greeter. You may develop a script that everyone says in person or on the phone or you may simply demand the employees act professionally. The absolute basics would be saying hello and welcome to "x salon" and perhaps your name. From there the conversation would flow off the customers need. Every employee should be held accountable for the way they communicate with the customers. Unprofessional behavior should never be allowed in a salon EVEN if the people involved are best friends. Presumably other folks are in your salon and they are all watching what happens in your store while they are there. They have nothing better to do but watch you. They are a captive audience their perceptions should never be forgotten.

Salon Appearance Interior Physical Plant - Customers also see your salon while they are inside. Your salon should be clean, neat and organized at all times. Constantly maintaining and cleaning your salon is an essential part of success. Often it helps to ask your customers what they think and would like to see happen at your salon. More often that not the customer can open your eyes to issues you never thought about. Front lobby areas should remain uncluttered and clean with fresh current topic relevant magazines and literature for customer to browse should they be waiting. Every employee must be held accountable for their station and for helping maintain the salon throughout the day prior to the overnight cleaning.

Customer Service and Qualiy Assurance - Your salon is in competition with other similar businesses. To stand out your salon employees and management should follow a quality regimen with every customer.

1) Greet your customer and get them confortable at your salon

2) Have a manager/customer service person consult with the customer prior to every departure to ensure satisfaction. Ever been to Appleby's? Their manager gets reprimanded if a person leaves without a manager visit.

3) Manager/customer service immediate problem resolution

Far too often salons take the customer for granted. Every customer could easily be lost over the smallest mistake. For that reason salons should have a customer exit strategy that ensures that the customer is leaving happy. A great way to do this is to have another person be it a manager or customer service person touch base with the customer prior to their departure. A common and easy way to gather information is to simply ask the customer how things went and if there is anything more that can be done to better satisfy them. This should be done while the staff member that actually serviced that customer is off doing a little "project" to allow for some space for the customers comfort.

Treated respectfully and professionally customers are less likely to stray from your salon.