The Top 6 Tips to Make Your Salon Stand Out
From the Crowd in 2020
These days, it seems like there’s a salon on every street corner. And hey, we’re not knocking that—as people who are deeply invested in the good of the beauty industry, we love to see beauty businesses out there thriving and serving customers.
But as salon owner or manager yourself, you’re probably seeing all of these salons and shops out there and thinking to yourself, “Great—another salon down the street. How the heck am I supposed to stand out now?”
It’s no secret that more salons in your corner of the world means more competition. But that doesn’t mean you need to be intimidated (a little healthy competition never hurt anyone, right?). There are plenty of ways that you can help your salon to stand out and remain the no. 1 choice for customers in your area and beyond.
How? We’re glad you asked.
As always, we encourage you to brainstorm and get creative to figure out ways that your unique salon can implement new strategies, but as always, we’re happy to provide a little pre-brainstorming inspo to get your creative juices flowing.Customer Experience Above Everything
The easiest way you can stand out as a salon is to put customer experience over everything. Yes, that means putting customer experience above the art of styling. Yes, that means putting customer experience above your curated aesthetic. And, yes, before you ask, that means putting customer experience above your ego (even if you’re right, and honestly, you probably are).
Why so much emphasis on this point? Because at the end of the day, you’re running a customer service business.
Yes, you’re an artist and you’re a creative and this is your passion—and all of those things are good and valid. But if you’re running a salon that caters to customers (which, you know, is kind of what salons do), your top priority is their experience.
Salons that know this and focus on this whole-heartedly always stand-out. Why? Because customers recognize when their experience is elevated—and they love it.
People don’t just go to a salon for great hair, they go for the experience of it, too, and if you’re able to take that experience and improve it on so many different levels, you can bet they’re going to notice. We can’ think of a more poignant way for a salon to stand out.
Make Sure Your Social Media is Top-Notch
For most people in today’s modern, Instagram-run world, what they see on social media will be a determining factor on whether or not a salon or shop is worthy of their business (harsh, but true).Do More With your Salon Reviews
In the same way that your social media feeds are going to speak to your image and show people that you’re a cut above the competition, your reviews are going to do so, too. If you already have fantastic reviews, you should focus on optimizing those reviews this year so that your 2020 salon game can start off with a serious bang.
There’s a ton of easy, direct ways to use your positive reviews wisely—on your website, in email campaigns, on your social media, etc. We wrote up an entire post (right here!) about how you can optimize your reviews!
Create an In-Salon Aesthetic That’s Undeniably Awesome
We won’t spend a ton of time on this, but we do think it’s important. Your physical salon should say something about you, so take time to curate, design, and express yourself in a way that’s appealing to your customers.Find Your Why—Then Express It
This is deeper than just figuring out your niche (though, you should do that, too). Finding your why is a big process, so you might feel a little intimidated by it, but once you figure out your personal why behind everything you do for your salon (or why you have a salon in general), it will be a lot easier to find tangible ways to express that.
And you know what? Customers love being able to feel the palpable passion a business owner has. That in itself is something that will make you stand out.
Be Environmentally Friendly (to the Best of Your Ability)
Sure, maybe this is a trendy thing right now, but it’s also an inherently good, necessary thing, too. Going green in the beauty biz might seem overwhelming, but there are plenty of small changes you can make to get yourself started—recycling, watching your water use, purchasing sustainable products, nixing paperwork, etc.
With the current focus on being environmentally friendly and conscientious, owning and running a salon that puts as much effort as possible into this movement will certainly ensure that you stand out.
If you’re ready to get crackin’ on your environmentally-friendly salon, check out our post here with a few suggestions to get you rollin’ down the conservation road.
See? There are tons of easy, affordable, and direct ways that you can bring your salon to the forefront of competition.
Stand out this year by making some small changes, and above all, make sure you’re focusing on what matters—your salon, your customers, and your growth!
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