Owning a salon can be extremely stressful as it means that you will often have a million things on the go. Firstly, you have to make sure that all your staff are well-trained and looking after your customers at all times, and then you need to make sure that your paperwork and finances are in order. After all this you may find it difficult to find the time to sit down and think about how to improve your business by attracting new customers, however it’s actually easier than you think…

Talk to your Current Customers

The best way to find out how to attract new customers is to talk to your current ones and find out what they like about your salon and what they think you could improve. If something is wrong customers usually speak up pretty quickly, however it’s very rare that a customer says something if everything is running smoothly. Some customers may feel uncomfortable at being honest about your business or feel that they don’t have the time, which is why many businesses invest in comment cards. These mini-surveys allow customers to rate your business anonymously, and if you add in an incentive such as a free hair cut or beauty treatment you will probably find more people will be inclined to fill them in!

Check out the Competition

It’s an old practice, but checking out your competition can provide you with some useful information and even ideas on how to improve your own salon. However, just make sure you don’t become overly sneaky or underhanded as you could tarnish your own reputation! The best thing to do is just try and keep up to date with the type of promotions, treatments and services that your competitors offer to make sure that you aren’t falling behind. Coming up with new ideas can sometimes be difficult, which is why looking at other companies in the same sector as you can provide inspiration. Don’t forget you can also look at companies in other areas or that offer other services just to see what’s happening in your sector in general – you never know what you could find!

Include your Staff

Your staff are the closest people to your clients which means that they know them the best. This is why it is essential that you include them when you’re coming up with new ways to attract clients as they can provide valuable advice. You could even create an incentive programme that rewards employees that come up with new ways to improve the business, such as offering them a small bonus or some extra time off. Even if you come up with your own ideas you should always run them past your staff in order to find out how feasible they are as essentially they are the ones that will be carrying out the new services. The old saying ‘two heads are better than one’ really applies here, so get as many heads together as often as you can!

Hire Professionals

If you are really struggling to come up with ideas or your previous strategies have not been as successful as you would like it may be time to call in the professionals. There are a number of companies that offer marketing, advertising and PR services that can really help boost your company in a number of ways. Before you decide to do this though it is essential that you check your finances as you will need to make sure that you have enough money left over after paying your staff, salon insurance, licence and rent. Even if you have a small budget many companies offer one-off services so you can give them a try and see if it’s a good return on investment.

If your business is doing well it may be tempting to relax and not think about ways to attract new customers, however constantly striving to better your company will ensure its success in the future. Even the smallest changes can make a big difference so why not think of some new plans today and see how they can benefit you?