It is doesn’t matter that beauty treatments are high in demand or that there are more job opportunities in this industry than ever before -competition still and will always remain fierce between businesses. There will always be other salons trying to poach your territory. There will always be Beauty Therapists trying to entice your clients away.
Competition is real,it is natural and sadly unavoidable.
So what can you do? How can you help your business to stand out from the crowd and beat back these odds?
1. Identify your Unique Selling Point
What makes you different from the other salons/mobile beauty therapists in your area
What do you offer, that they don’t?
These are genuine questions. Questions that you need to ask yourself if you seriously wantto succeed in this industry. Sure, you could simply keep up with the trends, and offer what all the other top salons provide. However, if you genuinely want to get noticed, the truth is – it actually pays to be different. It pays to play on your strengths and highlight your differences to other salons. It pays to be unique.
For this reason, take a moment to examine your strengths. Where do you excel? Similarly, be brave and ask your customers why they love using you. Why do they keep coming back for more? Review these answers and then use this information to find your unique selling point. If you offer something different – sell the idea.
2. Where do you Excel? Who is your ideal Client?
Carrying on from the point above, it is important that you quickly identify where you excel and the type of client you want to attract. This will allow you to create a brand and business ethos upon which you can structure your marketing and advertising campaigns.
Another useful tip is adding a business statement to your website that clearly highlights your business values. This will further help to influence potential clients into using you, as they will be able to see your passion and commitment towards customers.
3. Diversity of Treatments
You have to be careful here, as whilst it is true that having a broader/bigger portfolio of treatments can attract a wider audience; there is also a risk of stretching yourself too thin.
So instead of trying to be ‘someone for everyone’,why not look at your team and review their existing specialities. Are there any new treatments – within their specialist fields – that they can train in or learn more about? If so, go for it.
By focusing on your teams existing strengths, you can confidently bring new beauty treatments to the table that will keep your business fresh and exciting. More importantly, by allowing them to expand on their current foundation of knowledge, you can ensure that they never feel overextended or strained.
Another advantage to taking this type of approach is that your team can easily complete this training in their own time. By registering onto any of the large number of specialist beauty therapy courses that are currently available online, they can undertake this training from the comfort of their own home, and do so without having to sacrifice their job. Instead, they can complete them side-by-side, allowing your business to keep functioning and growing in experience.
4. Prove your Worth
Do not be afraid to brag about your qualifications or the breadth of beauty treatments that you offer. Similarly, always display your awards with pride, as all of these prove that you have got the skill, the knowledge and the experience to perform these treatments to highest level of professionalism.
5. Keep Training
Do not let yourself get stuck in a rut – where you only ever offer the same treatments day in, day out. Instead, consider trying something new, or broadening your repertoire or expanding your range of treatments. In other word – keep your training relevant and up-to-date.
6. Offer Deals
Even if your business is small, introduce a fewthemed/pre-packaged treatmentdeals that allow customers to get multiple treatments at a discounted price.
Another trick you can try is offering a discount to any clients who are willing to test out new treatments and leave a review. This will have a dual benefit of boosting your reputation, as well as allowing your team to see how responsive clients are to the new treatments.
7. Marketing
Do not simply rely on word of mouth to get your business noticed. Instead, harness social media to help promote your business. From using Twitter and Facebook to advertise deals/post reviews, to using Instagram to show off pictures of your latest treatments (with client consent) – all of these can help to entice new customers. Similarly, press releases and blogs (containing advice), can all help to increase your reputation and audience reach.
So if you are determined to beat the competition and help your salon to stand out from the crowd, why not keep the above tips in mind? Strive to be the best you can be and you WILL be remembered, you WILL be noticed, and you WILL keep customers coming back for more.
