Business
Are You Recession Proof? – Tips to Survive a Possible Recession
Sep
Let’s face it; costs are rising. As tariffs begin to further impact the costs of imported goods and influence consumer spending, salon owners may face rising operational expenses and reduced income from cost-conscious clientele. The important thing to consider isn’t whether such things will impact your business but rather how to weather the storm. Let’s look at some of the signs to watch for and tips for how to handle them.
LESS DEMAND FOR LUXURY SERVICES
If you see a decrease in sales of luxury services and products this could be a sign that your clientele is becoming a bit more wary about spending money on themselves. If they are still booking appointments but skimp on their normal services or treatments, you might consider offering special bundles on services they’d normally receive. Working out a discount of some kind (without breaking your own bank) could show them that you still value their patronage and want to work with them to find a balance that helps give you both peace of mind.
INCREASING CANCELLATIONS
If you start seeing a rash of cancellations and no-shows, it may be time to do a bit of digging into the reasons. Look into what services are being the most impacted and the frequency of those cancellations. This could help you to figure out what specials you might want to offer to encourage your clients to keep their appointments. If your salon lacks a cancellation and/or no-show policy, this would be a good time to create one.
SPECIALS ARE WORKING TOO WELL
While specials and deals can be a great way to drum up more business and promote your salon, if you’re seeing a rise in activity surrounding promotions but a drop in other services or appointments then it may be time to re-evaluate those promotions. Finding a balance and offering your clients savings on some of those other services while easing up on others could encourage clients to utilize more of what you have to offer. It could be worth checking your click-through rates of promotional emails or sales numbers for deals and specials to see what opportunities exist.
All these problems along with increasing costs can hurt your salon’s business and bottom line. There are potential solutions, however, that could help to make your salon recession-proof:
OFFER AFFORDABLE, LONGER-LASTING TREATMENTS
Recession blonde and recession brunette are terms being thrown around and for good reason. Some clients may be looking for longer-lasting treatments that won’t break the bank and require less maintenance. Offering services such as root touch-ups, lower maintenance colors or styles, and partial highlights could be a great way to keep clients coming back but also help them keep their own finances in order.
PROMOTE HOME-CARE PRODUCTS
If your clients are trying to save money, then offering retail products that help their hair color treatments last longer or products that help them better care for their hair could be a good way to show them that you care about them. Creating deals and incentives around these products could encourage clients to take the plunge as well. Do some research into what products may or may not be affected by tariffs to help decide what to stock and promote so that you spend less and can benefit more from the sales.
DEVELOP PRICING TIERS
Bundling certain services into tiered pricing groups can be a great way to allow clients to see the bigger picture and see a full price for a certain service up-front and give them a chance to evaluate what would work best for them. A three-tiered system for color treatments, for instance, can see more extensive high-dollar treatments in the top tier along with take-home products like color safe shampoos, while lower tiers can offer the treatment and drying or something simple so that they can still receive treatment but save by skipping the extras.
