5 effective tips to maintain and improve customer relationship at salons

Maintaining a courteous relationship with every client means a lot. Especially in an industry like us – it’s importance increases manifolds. Staggering customer relationship of a salon is sure to earn praises and revenues alike.

Permanent Make-up expert and Executive Director of ALPS Beauty Clinics, Gunjan Gaur has pen-down some tips backed with logics for the aspiring or existing salon owners to improve footfall in their salons.

Effects of etiquettes
You need to imbibe required etiquettes in yourself and your staff if you wish that your client should re-visit your salon often. Train your reception staff specially to meet and greet all the clients by exhibiting polite etiquettes and mannerisms. For instance, they should always address the client by her name in order to make her feel important and special. This will also circulate a strong notion that – when their welcome is so specialized – the services will definitely be accustomed as per her taste and preferences. Also, make sure the services you recommend is absolutely as the client’s requirements and past experiences, instead of forcing any kind of beauty, make-up or hair service adamantly to her which might not compliment her mood, skin, taste or even budget.

Privacy is primary
Perhaps, your customer would not want to share all her details in the presence of entire salon staff or other clients. Thus, give her adequate dose of privacy by taking her in a close door cabin and talk to her to discuss all the services she would optin one go. For this, make sure, you have a separate consultation room designed specially in your new salon. If you are already running a salon, you may talk to the client in the therapy room or facial area, separated from the main area of the salon. This concealed cabin shall take your customer in comfort zone– so that she openly answer queries about her skin type, allergic to ingredients (if any) or other dilemmas. This practice would her you offer her the right services which will satisfy herand bring her back to your salon often. The availability of a skin-expert would be an added perk to thoroughly solve the skin and hair issues of the client, besides giving your salon an edge over others.

Don’t barge beyond that comfort zone
Start you conversation with your client by asking open-ended questions that purely bring her to a  comfort-zone. Questions like what’s your name, skin type or issues facing, will only add to the time she will take to get familiar with you. Thereby, avoid such questions and ask anything, only after telling her about you, your salon and services in demand as per the running season, to keep the conversation mutual and flowing towards both sides. For instance, always tell your name first and then start with crisp brief about your salon, so that she feels like a acquaintance rather than a consumer.  Besides, be a very good listener to analyse her nature during the meet. This will help you understand her preferences well and made her beautysession an impressive one.

Directly proportional
If you may listen to your client well, then only, she would listen to you – happens to be the universal rule of ‘client-ing’. So, be sure to give enough respect to her opinions and mark every word she is sayings about the services she wants or past experiences and accordingly respond aptly. Moreover, before trying this suggestion, try to read her personality type to act and train your service staff in accordance to her likes or dislikes.Must check whether she is an introvert or extrovert to act in the similar manner and keep her mentally satisfied. For example, a highly talkative person won’t like if the staff performs all the services silently! So, it’s important to train your staff accordingly.

Ask her priorities
While she is heading towards the bill counter and you had suggested her some products to use regularly as per her hair or skin type while performing the services, ask her if she would like to buy them, without forcing her to purchase them. Advice her as and when required or if she may ask about the productyou’ve applied on her skin to give her glowing look. This will go as a soft-push without proving you a desperate seller. Give her due concession on her services, whether you’ve promisedit before or not as women love discounts.  Also, ask her if she liked her services and take her feedback to know about her mental status. And, be polite to her until it leaves a mark on her mind, while leave the rest would be done by the quality andimpact of your services.

So, performing all this will make sure a happy-ending of services for her along with brining her back regularly! After all it’s allabout pampering and beauty!

This article is written by Gunjan Gaur, Permanent Make-up Expert & Executive Director, ALPS Beauty Clinics, New Delhi, as per her personal views and experiences.