7 Quick Tips for an Effective Salon Reopening

The dire human and humanitarian challenges precipitated by the pandemic continue to plague beauty businesses. The good news is that with continued vaccination worldwide, it is now relatively safe to reopen your salon. You, however, must remember that not everyone is vaccinated, nobody seems to be truly sure that vaccines are foolproof, and the virus keeps mutating. You still have to be mindful of the health and safety of your staff and clients. That is why we have put together 7 quick tips to help you keep your salon healthy, safe, and profitable when you reopen.

1. Enable pre-booking

At the risk of stating the obvious, salon software is a must-have in the “new normal”. The beauty industry embraced automation long before COVID, thanks to the advancement of salon software programs, so you are late to the party if you are still stuck with old-school management styles.

Salon software bring endless automation opportunities to salon businesses. But because we are discussing business reopening in the new normal, let’s focus on the pre-booking feature.

CDC’s safety guidelines dictate that salons should only allow a limited number of customers at any given time. You, therefore, should discourage unexpected walk-ins and queues at your salon by requiring advance appointment booking. Your software will help you set up an online booking page on your website. It will even allow you to add “book now” buttons on your social media profiles both to notify social media users that your doors are open and to encourage pre-booking.

Pre-booking is beneficial in so many ways. For example:

• It provides an accurate prediction of your daily traffic, which helps you stock the right amount of hygiene supplies.
• It will help you schedule shifts in advance, so workers don’t leave home unless they have to.
• Create enough time to sanitize your salon in between appointments and to prevent customer overlaps.
• When booking online, clients share their contact details and home addresses. This info is priceless when it comes to contact tracing.

2. Assure clients of their safety

This comes down to proper communication. You obviously need to send communication to your clientele informing them that you are reopening soon, be it via email, SMS, mail, phone call, Facebook DMs, or word of mouth. What is not obvious is how you structure your messages. Apart from the reopening date, your message should have information regarding:

i. How do you intend to keep your salon safe?

Which disinfectants will you be using and how effective are they? How regularly do you disinfect? How do you ensure social distancing? For when you cannot limit interpersonal contact, which PPEs will your staff be using? Have you enabled cashless payments? Have you installed enough hand-washing stations?

ii. What do you require of clients?

Do you allow walk-ins or must they book online in advance? What happens if a client refuses to wear a face mask? Do you admit clients with high fever or other known COVID symptoms? If someone wants to bring company for their visit, what must they do? If a client falls ill and has to cancel or reschedule their appointment, what is your refund policy?

iii. What about the germs in your retail section?

Clients are worried about everything that can bring the virus to their homes. Explain to them how you plan on ensuring that products from your retail section aren’t contaminated.

3. Prepare your website for increased traffic

It is unfortunate that some of your competitors may never reopen. But then, business in the “new normal” is a civilized version of war. All’s fair in love and war. You have to prepare your business for the possible surge of new clients coming from your fallen battlefield rivals.

Which is a better place to start than preparing your website for increased traffic? Some of your new clients will find you on Google upon searching for “open salons in *your location*” or “best hairstylist near me”. You know, such local keywords. Other clients will find you on social media, but most of them will visit your website first before they decide to try out your services. You, therefore, should:

• Update your salon’s Google My Business account to ensure that the location, phone number, business hours, and link to your website are all accurate.
• Optimize your website for local SEO. It is best to hire an SEO company for this.
• Optimize your checkout process to ensure that new clients pay for your services and buy your products without a hitch. Make the process simple and intuitive.
• Optimize your website for mobile users. Make sure mobile users can easily navigate the website, read your content, and book appointments without a hitch.
• Find a reliable hosting provider to help you accommodate the increasing traffic.
• Review your social plugins to make it easy for visitors to share all the exciting content you have on the website (you have amazing content, right?).

4. Prepare your staff for the reopening

Your salon is as ready to reopen as your employees are ready to come back to work. Remember that the pandemic has taken a huge toll on your employees’ mental health. They are probably unsure if returning to work is the best idea right now, especially those who have had a close interaction with the virus. Others are anxious, but they’re hiding it because they desperately need a paycheck. It is your job to prepare these two groups mentally for the reopening.

i. Explain to the employees how social distancing will work in the salon, how flexible their schedules will be, and how you will keep them safe from stubborn anti-vaxxers.

ii. Start holding regular virtual meetings to help your team reconnect. That’s one way of getting your team excited for the reopening.

iii. Train your staff to answer COVID-related Frequently Asked Questions from clients.

iv. Train them to clean their workstations and maintain hygiene in the salon.

v. Provide them with proper PPEs and train them on how to take care of themselves.

5. Rethink pricing and revenue

Appointments in the new normal are longer than normal because of the cleaning breaks you have to include in your schedule. Besides, you need more time and products to service clients who are going to the salon for the first time in months.

It’s obvious that you will struggle to turn the same profit as before. You, therefore, have to reimagine your pricing and revenue. But then, you must be mindful of your client’s financial constraints as well. How then do you get your pricing and revenue right?

• Give different quotes to different clients. If you know a client’s income has been affected by the lockdown, give them a discount. If a client is financially resilient, charge them higher and be sure to explain in advance the rationale behind it.
• If someone is going to the salon once in two months, for example, factor in the additional hours and product you will use when treating her. Price accordingly.
• Create additional revenue streams. You can, for example, start creating and selling at-home beauty tips. These can include video tutorials or eBooks. You can also revamp your eCommerce store, start a dropshipping business, or offer premium online consultations.

6. Rethink communication

You will need to communicate with clients with more regularity than before. You have to consistently remind them that your salon is open and safe. That’s why you need to rethink your communication strategies. You should, for example:

• Face time more with clients. Seeing your smile can be quite assuring to skeptical clients.
• Share as many videos on social media as possible. Take your followers “behind the scenes”. Let them see you cleaning the salon and workers wearing gloves and masks. Let them see how you are maintaining social distances and how clients are maintaining your set hygiene standards.
• Substitute physical staff meetings with virtual meetings.
• Install signage on the front door outlining all the safety protocols in place.
• Redesign appointment confirmation and reminder texts to include safety protocols.

7. Prepare the salon

Start with the waiting area. Remove all chairs to discourage queuing. If a client comes early for an appointment, let them wait outside or in their car. Only keep chairs if your salon is spacious enough to allow 6-feet distancing. And even then, ensure that there are no magazines, brochures, or menus close by.

Secondly, install washing stations all around the salon and place sanitizers at every styling station. If clients have to open a door, place a sanitizer at the door. Still on hygiene, buy more linens, mocks, towels, capes, and other washables. And if you don’t have a washing machine, invest in one or find a way of washing linen at high temperatures. You have to ensure that everything is thoroughly washed and dried before storing them in a cupboard. That means you need a cupboard if you don’t have one already. You will also need a container with a lid for keeping used washable items.

Thirdly, there is the issue of social distancing. Workstations and chairs in the waiting lounge have to be at least 6 feet apart. That you knew already. What you probably don’t know is that you need to mark these distances on the floor. Indicate clearly where people are free to sit/stand/touch and where they shouldn’t. You may also need to separate different workstations using sneeze guards or divider shields.

Final word

Safe reopening! Just one bonus tip: Remember to take care of your mental health. Don’t be too mindful of your clients’ and employees’ health and forget that your business needs you healthy.

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