When you’ve been working in the same place for so long, change can be daunting. But every stylist knows when it is time to make a move and start their own venture.
If you’re thinking about moving to a new salon – or starting your own salon – you should always think about how you will take your trusted clients with you.
This is standard practice in the salon business, as customers will typically be loyal to a stylist and not to a salon. If you want to give your new business a jump-start, you need to start thinking about transitioning your clients well in advance. Consider the following steps as you make a move to a new salon:
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Your clients will want to know that you’re moving on, so don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation while they’re in the chair. If most clients rebook every 2-3 months, then you’ll need to start letting clients know around 2-3 months before your move. This will ensure you have business coming in from the start of your new venture.
If you wait until right before you move, you could potentially miss a lot of your customers. If they call the salon after you’ve left, the salon will likely try to match them with a new stylist rather than send business your way.
Don’t wait until you’ve started your new business to start your mailing list. Email is, without a doubt, the best way to connect with your audience. You’ll have a direct line into their world without having to compete for their attention on social media.
Salon software will make it easier to build and grow your list. You can also make your customer’s preferences, so you always know exactly what they love. This will help to make the transition to the new salon seamless.
There’s no denying the potential for social media to transform your business. When you’re launching your own business, you need to be more active than ever before. Start documenting your transformations for social media so potential customers know exactly what you can do.
You should also remind customers to follow you on your favourite social media platform. This will make it easier to get the word out when you finally make a move. You could post the following:
Launching a new business is exciting, and you want to be able to share this excitement with your customers. Offer discounts, freebies and promotions in the first month of opening to help generate some buzz about your salon.
You can spread the word on social media and to your email list to help attract customers who already know about your work and those you have yet to impress.
On launch day, you need all traffic to direct customers to your new site. This means updating things like your Google My Business profile, any directory listings and also your social media address.
Updating your address on social media will also make it easier for customers to check in to your new location. If you’re unsure if you’ve updated your address everywhere, try using this Google search operator:
“Your business name” “Your old postcode”
This will help you to identify which sites need to be updated.
Reviews are the lifeblood of the salon industry. Don’t wait for customers to offer reviews; start requesting them from day one. You could either ask customers to leave a review after their appointment or send a follow-up email with a link to your preferred platform.
You should also keep a close eye on your reviews to make sure you spot any negative feedback. It’s normal to have teething problems in those first few days. Don’t stress this; just make sure you respond to bad reviews with a note about what you’re doing to improve. This will help potential customers to understand the context of the review (you had just opened your salon) and show that you take feedback very seriously.
Like reviews, you won’t get referrals unless you ask for them. Consider sending an email to your list asking them to refer your new salon to a friend for an offer on their next treatment. For example, you could offer an existing customer half off their next haircut for a referral. Ask customers to confirm who referred them, and you’ll know who to offer the discount to. You can use unique codes if you want to keep track of this easier.
