Three common challenges for Beauty Salon owners
While working with and speaking to beauty salon owners, I came across three common business challenges. Perhaps one or more of these resonate with you.
1. Loosing bookings due to being understaffed.
2. Incessant ringing is disturbing the ambiance.
3. The stylists own the clients.
Let’s address these challenges, one by one.
Challenge: Loosing bookings due to being understaffed.
As most salon owners will admit, having a receptionist seems like a big overhead; however, if the demand is there, they will easily pay for themselves, as well as save your therapists a lot of time that could be better utilized elsewhere. The question is, how do you know when to hire someone as a dedicated receptionist, versus having your existing staff answer the phones?
Solution: In order to effectively manage your call answering staff, you first need to measure your call volume. With SimiPlex Cloud Based Communications, you can run analytics reports on your incoming calls. The metrics produced by these reports will show you, not only how many calls you received, but also WHEN you received them. You can then determine your peak call volume time period for the week. Then, apply some formulas to the data to determine whether or not to hire a full time receptionist. For example, let’s assume that 25% of callers will book an appointment. Let’s also assume, you’re loosing 25 calls on your busy hour (reports will show you that). Suppose a booking is $75. 25% of 25 is 6 (rounding it down to the nearest whole number). Multiply 6*75 = $450. This is how much business you’re loosing due to not having a full time receptionist. Assuming a receptionist gets paid $15/hour for 8 hours, your cost is $120 a day. Utilizing these reports will empower you to make decisions such as which days of the week to hire additional staff.
This is also very helpful the other way around. If you’re looking to cut costs, but don’t know if you can eliminate the receptionist, the call volume reports can also help you make that determination.
Challenge: Incessant ringing is disturbing the ambiance.
We get it. At times it gets really busy. The receptionist is performing double duty by simultaneously checking in onsite clients, as well as booking phone appointments. While all this is happening, the phones continue ringing incessantly. All that noise is very disturbing to clients who are paying a premium for what they expect to be exceptional service. In the long run, this can hurt your business. However, if the phones don’t ring, you won’t book enough appointments to remain profitable. What can you do about this?
Solution: With SimiPlex Cloud Based Communications, you can setup an automated queue so that while the phones do ring, they only ring one at a time. If the receptionist, or front desk, is on the phone, the calls will queue until she becomes available again. This way, while the calls are still coming in, your environment remains calm and inviting, enabling you to deliver to your clients that world class service they deserve. As a bonus, with the touch of a single button, you can forward all calls to voicemail. This is very useful on days when you are hosting special events, such as classes.
Challenge: The stylists own the clients.
This challenge is a real big one for salon owners. When a stylist outshines her peers, there is always a risk that she will leave and go work for a competitor, or open her own business, and take her clients with her. According to Camille Albane, “In the chair-rental model, a salon owner is a landlord whose tenants are actively undermining his or her business. The owner has a following thanks to his or her own skills, but doesn’t know most of the salon’s other customers well. That’s especially true of hair coloring, where 80 percent of clients retain their colorist year over year.” What are some simple steps a salon owner can take in order to secure the investment she’s made in her business with her heart and soul?
Solution: With SimiPlex Cloud Based Communications, you can integrate your phones to most cloud based CRM Packages and Calendars. This means that every time a client calls in, her favorite cut and color preferences, along with preferred products, and next appointment, pop up on your computer screen. We also offer SMS reminders for appointment confirmation. If a stylist leaves, the owner has a better chance of retaining that customer because she wouldn’t want to give up that awesome world class experience! If your salon is not using a CRM package, you can also integrate your phones to Microsoft Outlook and Google contacts.
A little bit about SimiPlex. We create simple solutions for all your telephony problems. Our goal is to ensure you have the best experience possible, while ensuring security, reliability, and excellent customer service. Above all, we work hard for you as well as providing affordable solutions. Check us out today! http://www.simiplex.com.
