Using the soft-selling approach to market your salon and services

Increasing profits and developing a client base doesn’t have to be about the hard sell. Charles Dodds, co-owner of Cutting Room Creative in Leeds, looks at the softly, softly approach to selling that has proved successful for his business. Wear your brand Stylists are the greatest representation of the salon’s ethos and image. If they use the products and services offered by the salon and look amazing, they are corroborating the fact that the brands you want your clients to buy into are of a high standard. For example, we recently introduced Sleek Hair into our salon as a professional hair extension service and we promoted it to our clients by getting our receptionist to wear it. Clients asked the receptionist about her new look, and we made four bookings for Sleek Hair extensions within one day. Wearing the brand is a great way to communicate to your clients without the need to hard sell. Consultation is key Consultations are crucial, as they represent one-on-one time with your client where you and your team can directly upsell. They introduce clients to add-on services that will benefit them and add to the salon’s bottom line. Clients often only book in for a haircut. However, we use the consultation to discuss colour (almost always), hair extensions, where we feel it would be beneficial, or sometimes a smoothing or straightening service, again where beneficial. Consultations are also useful to discuss the products the client is currently using on their hair, often suggesting an alternative. During the consultation we frequently use the salon iPad to show images to the client that we feel will work for them. Often these are photos of celebrities that clients always love. Consultations are what I refer to as ‘emotive’ selling. You are able to use the consultation time to not only listen to your client, but to advise and recommend, and potentially ‘soft sell’ or add on a service they didn’t ask for, but one that they need to give them the best hair experience possible. Make marketing mobile-friendly Marketing techniques have changed considerably over the past few years because of social media. Social media means more people are using their phones for everything but making calls; making the mobile one of the most accessible ways to reach your clientele. At Cutting Room Creative, we use Mail Chimp and push notifications to inform clients about our new services, promotions and offers. Weekly newsletters sent via Mail Chimp are delivered to our database, and we use our Cutting Room Creative app to send weekly push notifications to our clients. We use these media platforms as devices to communicate to our clients our exclusive promotions, client evenings and product discounts. On our quietest days, we send out a push notification letting our clients know that if they pop in on that day, they will get a discount off the normal price of any service. Partner with local press We work consistently with our local press to provide quotes, tips, offer exclusive promotions, reviews, hair makeover competitions and photo shoots. By having a regular presence in the local press we are subliminally telling potential clients that we are endorsed and recommended by the local media, which holds an authoritative voice within the community.