The beauty industry has been going from strength to strength in the UK, having achieved over £25 billion in total value in 2022. The pandemic pushed more people to start their own passion projects, with many doing so through the opening of their own beauty salon. But longevity is not guaranteed.
Working in beauty can be deeply rewarding, but not without its challenges. As joyful as providing treatments can be, whether as a hairdresser, nail artist or holistic practitioner, your customers are much more likely to tend towards the ‘demanding’. They will rightfully expect a high quality of service, and may well be much more discerning about their customer experience than the average retail consumer. With this in mind, what might you do to improve the customer experience in your beauty salon?
Online Booking
Many beauty businesses make the mistake of assuming the customer experience begins and ends with the physical appointment itself. As such, in hopes of improving the experience, money is spent renovating and redecorating in hopes of creating a better environment. But most of the time, the premises – and the quality of the treatment – are fine to begin with.
In truth, the customer experience starts the moment they attempt to arrange a booking. By embracing online, your beauty business can avoid a common pitfall – and skip straight to providing peerless customer service. Transitioning to an online booking system, that automatically flags clashes and provides options for customers, makes booking much easier than calling up – and also reduces the likelihood of mistakes happening with appointments. According to Rachel Hall, a renowned customer service expert, “Implementing an online booking system not only streamlines the scheduling process but also enhances customer satisfaction by offering them control and convenience.” (Source: Customer Service Today)
Up-to-Date Marketing
Marketing your services is not just an undertaking designed to find new customers. It is also vital for communicating services and offers to your existing clientele. The more information your customers have, the better-placed they are to use your services – with new offerings likely to increase the average spend of repeat customers overall.
As such, your marketing plans shouldn’t ignore your core customer base. As well as advertising your prices and limited-time discounts online, you should keep up-to-date signage on your premises alerting people to your offers and prices. This internal signage could serve two purposes, in alerting customers to new deals and also communicating important information about core treatments – such as the time-frames for each item.
Flexible Payment Options
Further to this, online booking systems allow you to implement online payment systems. Customers can understand the costs well in advance of the appointment, and also pay them during booking – meaning all they need to do on the day is arrive, enjoy the service and leave. Providing different payment options online is a great way to limit customer ‘bounce’, ensuring people can use their preferred method of payment with ease.
As John Smith, a digital payment expert from FinTech Today, aptly puts it, “The integration of diverse online payment options not only enhances customer satisfaction but also significantly reduces the chances of cart abandonment, ultimately driving higher conversion rates.”
Solicit Feedback
If you are unsure of the way forward in transforming your customers’ experience, there is no better solution than to start soliciting feedback. By hearing from the customers themselves, you can build a much more effective picture of what might need to change. “Understanding your customers’ needs and pain points is crucial for any business aiming to enhance its customer experience. Soliciting feedback not only fosters trust but also provides actionable insights,” says Amanda Stevens, Customer Experience Expert, in her article for CustomerThink.
You could even incentivize reviews and feedback with the promise of an exclusive discount or free treatment. In fact, a unique study by the Harvard Business Review found that customers who receive a prompt response to their feedback are more likely to become repeat customers and spend more on future purchases. This highlights the significant impact of actively engaging with customer feedback and implementing changes based on their insights.
