As a salon or barbershop owner, there are a million things you need to think about as you run your business. Not only do you have to be a master of your trade, but you also have to worry about marketing, social media, SEO, branding . . . the list goes on and on.
The last thing you need to be in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelmed and confused.
Here are four actionable strategies that you can implement today to increase your leads, conversions, and revenue.
1. Lead Generation From Your Website
In the world of clients, there are two types of people: people who are ready to buy right now and people who are just looking for information. Unfortunately, only 1% of people are “now” buyers. Doubly unfortunately, most businesses’ websites are set up to attract “now” buyers, which means they’re missing out on 99% of potential clients.
The key difference here is your offer. Many websites offer something like a phone number, a contact page, or a button to schedule an appointment. As I mentioned above, the vast majority of people are only looking for information, so they’re going to glance over your website and move on without contacting you.
Why is this a problem? Well, 80% of conversions occur between the 5th and 12th points of contact, and if a prospect visits your website and leaves without contacting you, you have no way to begin those 5-12 “touch points”.
What you need is some sort of informational offer that solves one of your potential client’s struggles. This could be an eBook, a video tutorial, an audio recording, or something else entirely. This does two things. First, it proves that you can actually help your prospective clients. Second, it gives you their contact information so you can begin your touch points.
2. Creating A Drip Campaign
Great – you have their contact information, but now what? These email addresses go into a drip campaign, which is an automated email sequence that provides value to your prospective clients and ends in a direction to schedule an appointment.
Each one of these emails is a touch point, so you want to have about a dozen emails in your sequence before you ask them to book an appointment. These emails contain information, not sales pitches, which means this is your opportunity to further prove your expertise to your prospective clients.
The great thing about drip campaigns is that about two people will pop out the end as clients every month that you stay in touch with them.
3. Down-Selling
When someone doesn’t book with you because of a price complaint, how do you respond? For many salon owners, they thank the prospective client and usher them out the door because they obviously don’t value the salon’s services enough.
While you absolutely want to work with clients that understand the value of the services you provide, let me suggest a different perspective. What I would do in these situations is offer a down-sell. A down-sell is an alternative offer at a lower price; this could be something like a shorter massage session or a bare-bones manicure for half the cost of the original service.
There are two benefits to down-selling. First, you realize some short-term financial benefit. Second, you now have the opportunity to do business again with this client in the future. It’s much easier to keep a client than to make a new one, and when this client sees how good you are at your job, they’ll want to come back for more.
4. Bundling
Most clients nowadays shop value, but unfortunately, most salons are not great at conveying their value. Therefore, the only thing clients have to consider when looking at different salons is price. The solution to this problem is to increase your value by bundling.
A bundle is simply a collection of products or services that you then offer as a package. Clients will pay twice the price if they’re getting four times the value, and bundling creates an “apples to oranges” comparison between you and other salons.
The bundle possibilities are endless, but to give you a few suggestions, you could create a full bridal bundle that includes a facial, hairstyling for her big day, and a mani-pedi. You could also create a Mother’s Day bundle that includes two sets of mani-pedis and two massages, specifically for a mother and her daughter.
These four strategies are a great jumping-off point for you as you continue to pivot your business in the face of a pandemic. Not only are they simple to implement, but they don’t require any additional advertising spend. Pick whichever one resonated with you the most and start working it into your business. The increased revenue will be worth the effort.
