14 January 2019

How to ace customer experience and customer service in the beauty industry

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Creating the right customer experience for your brand is vital to make your hair & beauty salon or business stand out. Try these tips to make your service unforgettable for all the right reasons.

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Creating the perfect customer experience for your brand should be a key goal for your business. But what does customer experience actually mean?

Your customer experience boils down to how clients see your business, based on directly using your hair & beauty services, but also every marketing email you’ve sent them, every interaction they’ve had on the phone with you, plus every press or online advert they’ve read.

Remember that your customer experience should be consistent – providing high standards from the minute the client arrives until they walk out the door. Here are some steps to consider.

Sparkle Ponyis renowned for her colourful braids.

Think about your brand image

Your branding is a large part of your customer experience – it’s who you are as a business. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been running your salon or mobile business for a while, ask yourself:

Who is your main client? You can’t appeal to every market so identifying your target audience is key. Is your business attractive to them?
What gender and age range are they? What are their interests, what type of income level might they have? Are you pitching your services and pricing right?
How can you communicate with them? Are they online – which social media channels might target them best?

Thinking about your client will then help you identify your brand personality, which is made up of your values and the reason for your business, what makes you stand out and how your business expresses itself.

“Visiting other hair & beauty businesses is a great way to pick up new ideas”

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes

If you’ve been running your hair & beauty business for a while you may have stopped scrutinizing it or asking yourself whether your services and facilities are up to scratch. Start seeing it through your customers’ eyes.

Ask for feedback through a mini survey, or conversationally for their views on how you could improve salon décor, for example, or whether there are any hair and beauty servicesthey’d like that you don’t provide.

Also find out what they love about your salon or business. For example, do you provide a wide range of nail treatments, are your hair products vegan & cruelty free?Capitalise on this as your unique selling point (USP) that makes you stand out from your competition.

The branding for NAF Salon in Glasgow run’s through everything they do.

Take inspiration from others

Visiting other hair & beauty businesses is a great way to pick up new ideas – and also to find out what the turn-offs are. Think of yourself as a ‘mystery shopper’. Also, don’t just stick to your own industry but take inspiration from others, such as restaurants and shops.

Look on sites like TripAdvisor to find out which are most-loved and why. Do they offer a good booking experience? What is it about the service that makes them stand out? How are they promoting themselves on social media? Which ideas can you adapt and apply to your own salon or mobile business?

Keep your clientele in mind, or the type of client you want to attract i.e. there’s no point in offering high-end services if your customers won’t be interested.

Mike Taylor’squirky style is consistent throughout his brand.

Create the right customer environment

If you’ve got a salon or barber shop, how you present it does more than reflect your own tastes, it has a direct effect on your brand’s customer experience. Everything from the chairs and magazines you leave in your waiting area, to the music you play should be considered.

Also think about the mood created in your salon – is it noisy and hectic, meaning any conversation between staff and clients will be difficult (and therefore affecting valuable client bonding time)?

Are you cramming your clients into seats next to each other rather than spacing them out, or placing them by the receptionist so they have to listen to the phone ringing? All these things affect client experience.

Communicate with customers the right way

A pleasant manner is so important when providing a service to your hair & beauty clients.

From the way your answer the phone to how you greet customers in your salon or when you enter their home, make sure you’re presenting a warm and friendly persona. And this must be continued until the service or treatment is finished.

Keeping your standards consistent in your hair & beauty business is easier if you work alone. But if you have staff make sure they take a personal interest in improving the level of service clients are receiving, and training, too – particularly receptionists, who are usually the first point of contact.

Remember to review other types of communication with customers, including customer emails, how you present your brand on social media and the content on your website. Before you send or post anything think about how it will sound to a customer and make sure it’s in keeping with how you would communicate face to face.

Importantly, keep your business social media accounts separate from your personal accounts and make sure you don’t get them mixed up! Your clients won’t be impressed to see 50 pictures of you on a night out popping up on their feeds...