Are You Ready To Think Like A Salon OWNER?
“How To Grow Your Clientele and Fill Your Salon Chair By Marketing Your Services.” – Part 2
Successful beauty salon owners know they are in TWO BUSINESSES, the business of PROVIDING their services, and the business of MARKETING their services. They know what marketing steps to take and which ones to avoid. They grow their clientele by spending their time, energy and money WISELY.
What’s their secret?
Effective marketing requires a little planning and smart use of your resources. For your marketing to WORK, answer these 3 basic questions:
1. Market: Who are your most likely clients?
2. Message: What can you say to make them choose YOU?
3. Media: How will you get your message to your market?
In Part 1, we Defined Your MARKET – your most likely customers. Now, let’s Develop Your MESSAGE.
There’s a lot of competition out there. With many beauty salons for your best customers to choose between, how can you become the salon of choice? You must develop and communicate your unique identity in a way that speaks to your target market.
Communicate Your Unique Difference:
- Ask Yourself: What Am I Selling? As a beauty professional, you may not think of yourself as “selling anything.” Another way to ask this is, what are you giving in exchange for their dollars? Always remember, you are in the business of “providing results”. You are selling how your customer is going to look and feel after sitting in your salon chair. Promote the end result of what you offer. What problems do you solve? What solutions do you provide?
- Develop A Unique Selling Proposition (USP): What is the one quality that sets you apart from all other beauty professionals? This is why your customers chose to sit in your salon chair and do business with you over any other salon they could choose. For example, a USP can be on skills, price, convenience, guarantee, quality or service. One way to determine the USP for your salon business is to ask your clients what is most important to them when they visit your salon. What do they like best? What complements do they give you most often?
- Develop An “Elevator Speech”: This 30-second self-introduction captures your ideal future clients’ interest in what you do. Instead of introducing yourself simply by your name and salon service, such as “I’m Sue Smith, I cut hair”, say something that hints at the benefits of your service. For example, an esthetician might say, “I take away years of care from my client’s face.” A nail tech might introduce herself with “I help my clients get ready for special moments, planned and unplanned!” What you want them to ask you is – “How do you do that?” Longer than your USP, your Elevator Speech will give you a starting point for an engaging introduction.
- Use Email Signatures: Create signatures for your products, services, offers, promotions or anything else you want to let potential clients know about. Use one of your signatures at the bottom of each email correspondence. Be sure to include at least your name, salon name, USP, and how they can contact you along with links to your website and social media.
- Put An Informative Message on Your Voicemail: Use your Elevator Speech to introduce yourself on your voicemail. This is an excellent opportunity to communicate your benefits and build value with your callers.
- Use Business Cards: Think of these as inexpensive billboards for your company. Of course, your business cards should have your name, salon name and contact information, including your email and website on them. Make sure to include your USP, your unique benefits in the eyes of your target market. An often overlooked bonus about business cards—they are two sided. Use the reverse side to print your Elevator Speech or an irresistible offer. For 9 great tips on how to design business cards that separate you from all others, visit Salon Business Card Design.
Following these essential steps will transform your marketing forever and help you keep your salon chair full. Don’t delay… good is good enough – you will only reap the rewards when you take action. Make no excuses, instead…
Just Do It!
If you’re ready to get serious about developing your Market, Message, and Media – and grow your clientele – check out Salon Plaza’s FREE Ultimate Salon Marketing System – 52 Keys To Success:
