You’re Doing it Wrong! 6 Tiny Details That Keep Customers From Coming Back to Your Salon

Running a salon or spa is both a satisfying and challenging endeavor. While it’s great to make guests feel and look their best, the ups and downs of the economy and the competition that seems to spring up overnight can make gaining new customers and keeping a hold of old ones seem like a never-ending task.

While you work hard to ensure you offer great services and attractive packages, there may be a handful of smaller details that rub potential guests the wrong way. If you’re struggling to get clients to commit to more than a single spin through your spa or salon, the devil may be in the details. Here are six small but significant reasons your clientele might be seeking their services elsewhere.

Cell Phone Use

While there are now almost as many in-service cell phones on the planet as there are people, their presence still isn’t welcome in quite a few environments. From movie theaters to any situation that involves customer service, cell phones have the potential to ruin someone’s otherwise excellent experience. If you don’t have a zero-tolerance policy in regards to cell phone use while on the job, it’s time to institute one with your staff. Anytime a guest feels disregarded or passed over, she will look elsewhere for services, and a staff member on a cell phone will create that kind of atmosphere.

No Follow-up

If a guest visits your salon for the first time, do you send a follow-up email, note, or phone call with an offer for further services, coupons, and the like? First-time guests can often be on the fence about whether or not a regular massage, facial, or hair color treatment is really something they can or should afford. When you follow-up with an offer that pulls that guest back in with a deal of some kind, you’re more likely to build the case in his mind that this luxury experience is something he’d rather not live without.

Stained Towels

The products and chemicals you use in your spa or salon can wreak havoc on your towels and surfaces, and you’d better believe that your guests notice. Bleach-stained towels and discolored surfaces and floors make guests feel as though they’ve set foot in a sub-standard business, and because spas and salons offer luxury services, a sub-standard atmosphere will rarely be tolerated. Invest in color-safe towels like those at BluSand Salon Products, and be sure to use products on your floors, tables, and counters that won’t cause any discoloration. If any discoloration already exists, it’s time to remodel.

Impatient or Hurried Atmosphere

People step into your salon from a hectic and hurried world, and while they may need to stick to a schedule, they’re expecting an environment that is peaceful, relaxing, and hurry-free. If you have massage therapists or stylists who routinely run behind, or if you pack too many clients into too short a time span to make sure you earn as much as you can each and every day, the resulting atmosphere will hamper your business. Model excellent time management for your staff, and oversee the scheduling so that it’s efficient without becoming harried. Your guests expect their experience to function like a mini vacation, and it’s your job to provide that for them.

Trying Too Hard to Up-sell

It’s true that the 90-minute massage is a better deal per minute, but trying to force it on a guest who only wants a 60-minute massage has the potential to ensure she never returns. Up-selling is a natural part of any business environment, but if you or your staff go after those extra dollars too aggressively, your clients will feel like you’re treating them like a meal ticket instead of a guest. Discern clients’ needs instead of trying to pummel them into giving into your own.

Commercials in the Music

Whether you listen to traditional radio or free streaming Pandora, commercials permeate your space, which short-changes your guests’ experience, and many of them will go elsewhere because of it. Few things are as annoying as being jarred out of a relaxing experience by a DJ or automobile advertisement. Pay the extra money to Pandora for commercial-free listening, or invest in some CDs, so your guests won’t have to be sold to while they’re enjoying the services you provide.

From dirty towels to commercials, the details that keep guests from becoming regular customers can seem insignificant. However, in the world of salons and spas there is no insignificant detail, as every aspect of a guest’s visit affects her overall experience.