Re-vamping a salon

[Shelley]

Have been in my current business for 2 1/2years, (hair and nail bar) we are looking to attract more custom. As local people still dont realise we are here. We are hoping to have a brand new shop front, with new signage and lighting. But i wanted to know if anyone has actually revamped there premises and noticed a significant increase in sales, and if so what they think it was that helped.
Am trying to re launch the salon in some kind of way. Any feedback would be great.

[cqueen]

I dont have any experience of this but I would imagine it would make a lot of difference, especially if you put the money in.

Make it look classy & expensive, try some of the sign makers like signsexpress.co.uk, or there maybe some UKBF members who do this sort of thing?

[Eagle]

Hi Shelley - You say you'd like to attract more custom by improving your brand image and premises. All well and good but you also say that people don't realise you're there!

I would think that all-new branding/signage etc wouldn't make a difference to sales at all - unless you were to put a solid marketing/advertising programme behind it too!

Keep us up to date!

Mark :)

[crus]

Hi,

I have seen this done successfully countless times.

Have a 'fizzy' relaunch!

Arrange an open day (affternoon evening or saturday) get some bubbly in and then invite people along to see the refit and maybe give a way a few treatments.

You should be able to fill appointments for a few weeks just of the back of this one day and then get some extra repeat custom.

D

[Shelley]

hi there, thanks for responses.
We are in small village but very near to a large town. We are set just back off the road, but we are visable. we have new clients who live in the village and come in for the first time(having lived round the corner for 5 years) and didnt even now it was a salon. So you maybe right. But i wouldnt have a clue where to start with something like that. Thats why we were thinking of brightening up premises to attract more attention.

[Shelley]

we actually had an open day, but didnt get much response. The paper we advertised with cocked up the advert with times and date. But we dont have much passing trade either.

[crus]

Hi Shelley,

hope they did not charge you for it, someone in the ads section running a salon as well?

Anyways, get a load of leaflets doen and hit the village hard, door to door promoting it, then on the day hand a load out in the town.

Think of it as a small party, its should be easy to do and cost no more than a couple of ton all in.

D

[Shelley]

you could be right actually. so get the salon jazzed up and then just go for it with advertising .

[Jayne]

We did the front of our shop up and got a few more customers. Most of them came in to ask if we would be putting our prices up now, to pay for the revamp :lol:

But I am from Yorkshire and that's how Yorkshire folk are, very cheeky :lol:

Jayne

[Claire B]

Shelley, dont sit there and wait for business to come to you, go get em! :D

how about organising pamper parties for girls birthdays etc, they will always go down well!

[WakingDragon]

Whoa there! You need to speak to your customers first and ask them what they would like to see and then take a realistic look at the returns from a revamp.

If you want to spread the word there are plenty of little bits and pieces that will help you drum up more custom and make your regulars more so. Most of them don't cost much at all. Some of the better things I have seen are...

- "Recommend someone new to the salon and we will give you one of a select list of treatments for free"

- Find out the birthdays of your customers, get their email addresses and/or mobile numbers and contact them shortly before for a birthday scrub-up

- Take a professional judgement about when they need their next appointment ("you'll need that perm redone in X weeks") and try to get them to book their next appointment before they leave

- Two people coming in for a perm get their cuticles done at the same time

Much of the best stuff you can do is about customer retention so quality of your work must be paramount. It is important to have a nice atmosphere, but often a lick of paint, decent fresh coffee and fresh flowers will do wonders.

[Shelley]

youre so right jayne, we asked customers what they would like to see in salon and the ideas were always good, but only if prices didnt increase.
Its strange because they dont complain in tescos when there fave products go up, different story for us.

waking dragon, have done most of youre suggestions, nice coffee flowers the place is always immaculate, have done the offers(although discounts dont always work)
We are retaining our clients, but just want to give it the final push.
Who knows maybe that will be as much as it will ever do........

[creative-keyrings]

Hey Shelley,

I have an idea to keep customers to make sure they dont loose your contact details.

After every appointment give the customer a keyring with your logo and details on so they have your number handy!

Saves them having to come all the way down to book an appointment and least it means you will get repeat custom?

Regards,

Callum

[fastfences]

Get a celeb for the re-launch. Is Jade Goody available? she knows the trade :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

[clairemackaness]

My salon has a stamp card and once you have got 6 stamps you get a free manicure, 10 stamps a pedicure 15 stamps a facial 20 stamps a massage etc. It's a great idea and makes me keep spending!!

[WakingDragon]

waking dragon, have done most of youre suggestions, nice coffee flowers the place is always immaculate, have done the offers(although discounts dont always work)
We are retaining our clients, but just want to give it the final push.
Who knows maybe that will be as much as it will ever do........

OK - sorry to repeat them. You can't tell how much people have tried without knowing and I always think its better to start with the simple stuff that costs the least.

I don't know what your salon looks like, or who your typical customers are, so it is difficult to express an opinion. But any revamp should not be considered a strictly "marketing" activity. Activities like the pampering parties, recommend a friend schemes, mailshots and advertising are all things you can use to drum up business. You need to decide which one will reach your target market the best.

This is probably something else you have done, but you have definitely put a sign up in the main street haven't you? You say your premises are a little out of the way - a decent sign on the street will do wonders and they can be very cheap. However, it does require passing trade to justify it.

[Dave Teece]

Hi shelley

My wife and I have a hair and beauty salon just outside of Beverley East Yorkshire.
We have had the salon now for 18 months and have been gradually improving it over that period. Our customers have appreciated the additional comforts we have provided and eventually it does pay off. We have ' recommend a friend ' leaflets and my daughter who is the beautician gives complementary manicures to clients having their hair done - general pampering really. If the customer is comfortable in nice surroundings and most importantly a nice friendly atmosphere they will recommend you and your reputation will grow.
Have fun.

Dave

[Shelley]

think you are very right dave, its definetly the friendly surroundings and such like. It has made a huge difference. Maybe im expecting to much but i have to make sure i have put my all into it.
Good luck with your venture too, it sure is a learning curve.

And sorry waking dragon, yep we have the board. thank you for all your input though, like i said before maybe what we turnover now is it limit..........

[Dave Teece]

Hi Shelley

The trouble is we have increased the turnover withall our efforts and unfortunately we have had to register for VAT - not very good for hairdressers!!!! So we have had to put our prices up, the odd one or two have commented but the rest have understood our position.
Take care.

Dave

[Shelley]

we trying to keep ours below vat. (at mo).....but well done, sounds like you really turned it around.
Dont talk about prices going up, we have just done ours and i cant believe it, one lady basically said she wouldnt come as often as she wouldnt be funding my holidays..... What holidays???? But youre right most quite understand.

[directmarketingadvice]

As WD says, it's hard to know what marketing you've done and you've not said how close the salon is to capacity.

However, if I was working with a salon, the first thing I'd do is the high-probability, low-cost stuff.

(1) What up-selling can you do? What services can you package together to increase the average spend of a client while she's in the salon?

(2) Put into place systems to make sure clients come back more frequently.

(3) Implement one or more referral systems as referrals will be the cheapest source of clients.

After that, if that's not enough to create the levels of business you want, I'd:

(4) Look for businesses in the area that have a close client match and suggest cross-promotion.

(5) Put together a direct mail campaign consisting of a series of letters (3 or 4) to a selection (200-300) of prospects.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[mark_hadfield]

(have only speed-read above suggestions)

You need to determine the type of clientele you want to attract... but there are so many ways you can offer a USP.

Outside a large city? In a village? Speak to other shops in the area... restaurants etc - offer 'get out of the city' days... a scrub up and a meal for one price...

If you are a single shop and in a village/ small town - play on that. Don't try and make yourself look like a large brand - they're faceless. Play on the fact that you are unique.

Remember that channel4 programme years ago? Desmonds? About a barbers shop? Make your shop the hubbub of the village! Get the movers and the shakers of the village going in there. Make it the place to swap gossip etc. Find out who the people are in the vilalge who set the trends - get them in there...

[Real World Hypnotherapy]

This is all great advice from people here. I spent a while talking to Shelley the other night and I was suggesting a lit of simila things to the above.

What I find with a lot of companies is that they only do marketing when they need to. I suggest to market as often as you do any other important task. I would do something every week at least to ensure you stay ahead of the competition.

One thing I bang on about is customer loyality and using customer cards etc etc. Gordon Ramsey did this last night on Kitchen Knightmares too.

You have to be different and you have to be better than your competitor in at least 3 ways. For example I class my own company better than other because we are faster, higher quality and offer free marketing advice. Having 3 USP's makes a more solid base in which you build your business.

Matt, MK Printing

p.s. spelling is rubbish today!

[Jayne]

Well here's a bit of advice for you Matt! Why not download Google spell check, then it doesn't matter if you have a bad spell day :D

Jayne

[Shelley]

hi all, thank you for all your responses. I never thought there was actually so much to marketing. Not my forte. Have taken loads on board and have started my plan of action. Really liked your idea mark. Think that could be one of the way forwards. Although still think the location is against us. But im sure i can still turn it around.

[Shelley]

Also thanks matt,
have emailed you a thank you, i found it al very helpful.

Cheers

[fridayteam]

Shelley - if you have not already done so (and apologies if you have) get in some stock of hair care products, shampoo etc, but keep it reasonably priced and if you are doing the flyers, add it as a feature.

I love the fact that my hairdresser has lovely products, but I am always put off by the prices.

Only you can decide that bit, you know what clientel you have.

Perhaps then, customers will buy from you when you have finished with their hair and nails, or they might just pop in for a bottle of whatever, because they know you have it.

It is a bit like putting all the sweets at the counter in the supermarket. Impulse buying. Sometimes helps.

Oh and a lick of paint and new signboard always works well. People have to come in to see if they have missed anything!

Good luck.

[mark_hadfield]

Shelley,

Let us all know how it goes! On this forum you have links for nearly everything you'll need... and competitively priced...

I'd love to know your plan of action - so let us know what you're planning/ what the results are.

Mark

[Real World Hypnotherapy]

Shelley

How are things going now then?

Matt, MK Printing

[Shelley]

hi all, very slow at mo,(just had a weekend break away) But all in place ready to go. My lease is up so waiting for the say so from solicitor. (im staying but want all paperwork in place before i start spending).

My action plan starts with the salon window, its old fashioned (small square windows) so you cant see in very well.Looks too village like. Thats being replaced with one massive window.Then new shop sign, but awaiting my new logo before i start that.( see what the design company come up with) But amongst all this have started training my staff with help from Loreal !!! Its so easy to let your business become stale, and i think that is what happened.
And after this is all done, am just going to go mad with advertising. And then begin my next action plan. I know what im aiming for, so thats a head start already. But will keep you posted.

[Real World Hypnotherapy]

Shelley

All goods good!

Just be careful with the advertising, it is better to have slow controlled growth than having 100 people call you the next day who you just can't serve.

Also track your figures, work out where the work is coming and what advertising is working. remember that press releases are free to do, advertising normally, costs money.

I would make a big song and dance about the staff being trained by Loreal! That is a lot of press releases in itself.

Matt

[Shelley]

hi matt, what did you mean about loreal, because to me thats just run of the mill in this industry( what i mean is am i missing something) . Most staff have had some kind of training by some company or other.

[Real World Hypnotherapy]

What is run of the mill for you, may not be for people who don't know about your industry.

I have no idea about hairdressing, this is why educating people in your products and service is important.

Matt