COVID-19: Don’t Panic, Get Strategic!
In times of crisis, it’s easy to lose perspective and let ourselves be affected by the spread of anxiety and worry.
We want to help, so, together with GoBeauty, we reached out and asked for the best advice and strategies from the top leaders and the beauty industry experts that can help support your salon. Here they are:
1. Communicate transparently with your clients
Take control of the situation by confidently communicating with your clients on what you have implemented to keep your business going in a safe and efficient way.
Your clients will understand and feel that you are prepared for the pandemic and that they can still trust you with making use of your services.
2. Be openly and visibly obsessive about hygiene
- Assure that therapists wear gloves and face masks at all times when performing treatments.
- Disinfect and sanitise the door handles, workstations, reception areas, credit card machine, keypads and all other commonly touched areas and items after every guest.
- Clean regularly and thoroughly throughout the day, waiting rooms and high traffic areas.
- Consider asking every client who enters the salon to sanitise their hands on entering.
- Commit all your therapists and staff that if they show any signs or symptoms of illness, that they will not come to work.
- Ask your clients who are unwell or those who have travelled internationally in the last 2 weeks, to please postpone their treatments.
- Make sure you have notices available both on social media and in the salon, explaining what is being done and how you are keeping clients safe.
3. Enable your clients to support your business
• Email or SMS your entire database the information that shows that you are implementing rigorous and visible hygiene protocol in the salon.
• Look for ways that your clients can support your business – ask clients to purchase a voucher if they prefer not to come into the salon, and you need the support to help your staff and business stay afloat. This can be done online through SalonBridge so customers never have to leave their homes.
• Rearrange your salon to provide more space between stations so that the 1-metre rule can be complied with and this will put clients at ease.
• If you are able to stagger appointments and offer clients more flexible opening hours this may also be a solution for you to continue helping clients who now have healthcare concerns or are under pressure of time with children to look after.
4. Shift your sales strategy to online
Enable your clients to keep up with their skincare and beauty routine by purchasing their products from you directly online, and have them delivered to their home or office, currently offered to all free of charge by GoBeauty.
Enable your clients to enquire and ask questions online before they come to your salon, keeping in touch with your services on offer through your page on SalonBridge and GoBeauty.
Communicate any special deals to clients and help them come and enjoy their treatments in the safety of your salon. Don’t forget they are also experiencing high degrees of anxiety and worry now. SalonBridge lets you send out bulk SMS messages to your clients to make them aware of this.
5. Support your staff
With schools closed, give your staff more flexibility in their hours as the idea is that children should not mingle but should stay in relative isolation. It may, therefore, be necessary for some staff to take time off.
Set your employees’ mind at ease, let them know that their jobs are safe and that your company will combat these challenges. They need to be confident and relaxed as they are the ambassadors of your business and will set the tone going forward.
The more your staff are equipped to efficiently communicate with customers and set customers at ease about internal protocols to protect them, the more customers will continue making use of your services.
6. Above all STAY POSITIVE!
Uncertainty can make people feel isolated and helpless, you do not want to create this impression with your customers. The best thing you can do is get out of your own head and focus on helping your clients and staff transform their worry and anxiety into positives, give them solutions and guide them to making use of your services effectively and safely. The more you do this the less you’ll worry about your own situation. Just like panic, confidence is also catchy. The more confident you are the safer they will feel in entrusting your business with their need to look after themselves.
After all, what is better to get over anxiety or worry is a good ol’ massage, manicure or a haircut to make us feel better instantly.
We are here to help as always, so feel free to contact us if you have any questions :).
*This article was provided by the awesome team at GoBeauty
