The Case of "Covid Caution" in Your Salon - and How to Solve It
As salons reopen - they face an influx of customers that have been waiting for months to book their appointment. With full bookings you might not even begin to worry about the inevitable ebbing away of clients and the spaces between clients - but thinking ahead will help you secure clients that have “Covid Caution”.
So what is “Covid Caution” really?
Clients are aware that covid is still very much a part of our reality. With new variants popping up and cases still being reported (albeit currently at a far lower percentage), clients are avoiding unnecessary risk and being careful in their every day behavior. This means that clients steer away from unnecessary appointments - for example, they may not go out to get their nails done as often as in the past as despite the beauty industry being one of the safest industries thanks to its hygiene and safety precautions - this is not always perceived this way by clients, simply due to how close contact the services are.
In fact, according to Treatwell’s recent survey of 500 general hair & beauty consumers, nearly all Londoners 96% have concerns about going back to the salon. The majority of these consumers (61%) are particularly worried about safety and hygiene.
What’s the solution?
The key is to make clients aware that their treatments are necessary and they’re safe to attend. It’s also possible to offer creative alternatives to ease their worries and address their problem.
Showing your clients your salon or clinic is safe
Be transparent with your customers, show them your PPE equipment and what you do to adhere to government guidelines ans safety measures. Pop them an email asking if they have any worries you can address or share a post on instagram detailing your cleaning process step by step. This will help them get over any fears they have about visitng the salon.
Remind them how much they may want a treatment
Nearly all consumers (91%) have started doing at least 1 of their usual professional treatments at home, due to the pandemic according to Treatwell’s survey. Even if clients can carry out a facial at home or do their nails - their work will be effective but won’t match up to your years of training. In this case, you want to show your clients the effects of a fantastic treatment or facial you offer, remind them of other professional salon treatments in store and show them nail designs that they would not have the skills to carry out. Other than this, you can market a visit in your salon as positive for their mental health - while they may enjoy a treatment at home, they will not achieve the same level of relaxation as in your space.
Offer creative solutions to their problem
Try to get deeper insights into what your customers are worried about to be able to address their problem best. If they’re worried about being around too many people at one time - you can try to offer them a more expensive service option to book out the whole salon for a couple of hours for a private visit. Alternatively, you can follow in the footsteps of Gielly Green who has launched a mobile beauty van to visit their clients away from the salon so that they can avoid transporation and other clients.