There’s no denying that this COVID-19 hit the health and wellness industry hard. Salon and spa owners were forced to close at a moment’s notice while rushing to figure out how to adapt their business in the interim to keep them afloat until they could open again. 

Thankfully, salon owners had options when it came to being forced to close their doors so that some could survive the hiatus. It’s important to learn from those opportunities so if a shutdown happens again, more salon owners can be prepared to generate that extra revenue.

The keys are to lower your costs, increase your offerings, and build a solid business strategy that doesn’t rely solely on your doors being open. 

Add virtual services & products. Even though you may be back open for at least limited hours or for limited capacity, building an online store can be the difference between “sink or sail.” In times like these, people are not only looking for quality hair care products, but they are also looking to de-stress at home. Build your e-commerce store with items to accommodate those needs: 

• Include mani/pedi packages, spa in a box kits, and facial kits
• Put together special packages for birthdays or upcoming holidays
• Offer curbside pickup or quick home delivery for personalized service

Another great way to stay in touch with your customers is to bring online workshops and clinics to them! Things like a manicure bootcamp, a DIY video on summer makeup trends, or a webinar on the benefits of aromatherapy can help your customers feel connected to you and will allow you to share your expertise and entice them to purchase items from your online store to increase your revenues. 

Offer memberships. Develop a program to entice your customers to purchase memberships now to look forward to using once your establishment re-opens to full capacity. Since they may not want to use them yet because of social distancing, consider some incentives such as offering it as a limited-time discounted rate, offering free products to show clients you care or creating package deals for guests to use at your salon or spa. 

Extend a rewards program. If you don’t already have a loyalty rewards program, now’s a perfect time to launch one. Promotional points will motivate your clients to start spending on products offered on your e-commerce store to earn rewards. If you already had a program, make sure you let everyone know about it and make the incentives even more attractive by offering triple bonus points, bonus draws, and freebies. It will help to motivate your clients to invest in your products and your services. 

Now that you may be back open, you need to plan for the future. Who knows if a second wave will hit and closures will be forced on us again? Look ahead by using the following tactics to give you an advantage should this happen again. 

Nurture affiliate relationships with product lines. Make sure to have some solid relationships with your suppliers. Build your e-commerce shop by arranging to sell their products both at your location and online. Some professional suppliers prefer to ship directly and that’s okay. You are saved the hassle of packaging and shipping while still making a profit and keeping your clients happy. It’s not only a great way to help you now but also a great long-term solution to bring in extra revenue. 

Grow your social media. With social distancing, people are relying on social media more and more. Post regular content, share appropriate useful information, and like, follow, and interact with your client base. Engage your followers with polls, contests, and anything to get the conversation started – but keep to positive topics! Build your community now to be able to welcome even more clients into your salon and to be able to cultivate loyalty to your salon.

Don’t slow marketing efforts. In fact, you should be ramping up your marketing to get attention to your e-commerce store and online sales for long-term revenue:

• Use your mobile app for notifications about your products, offers, and reward point deals.\
• Automate your marketing with email campaigns to reach all your customers.
• Use social media to increase awareness and for ads to targeted markets.
• Revamp past marketing efforts that were successes and be ready to launch those in the future. 
• Partner with other businesses around you to share content with each other’s communities.
• Get testimonials from your valued clients and share them on your e-commerce store as well as social media to boost your online profit. 

Update your website. If you have the time, update your website with a modern makeover. Audit your site to ensure it’s mobile-friendly, is up-to-date with all your services offered, and is fully functional. It’s a great time to add eCommerce options, enhance your client access, add widgets, and create a blog with relevant information your readers will appreciate. When potential customers are searching online, you want your site to be the best, more user-friendly website in town. 

Staying in touch with your clients has never been more important than now. Notify them of safety precautions you are practicing in the salon, new merchandise offerings, and promos, and talk about how you can help them, whether they are in the salon or just need to purchase products from your online store. 

Being a successful salon is making sure you are covering all aspects of how to make your business better. If you don’t know where to start, need help with digital marketing, or need to content written and graphics developed, give SalonCloudsPlus a call today at (866) 654 -8009, email us at app@webappclouds.com, or connect with us using our online form.  SalonCloudsPlus can help jumpstart your business through innovative solutions.