Several countries have relaxed lockdown rules for hairdressers. However, South Africa’s Hair & Beauty Industry is still fighting the good fight to move up to Level 3.
Should Government heed our plea, you need to be ready to open your doors, ready to welcome an influx of clients. All of whom have been desperate to return to the salon.
Life will soon be a lot busier once we get the go ahead to return to our craft. We expect an avalanche of colour corrections and cuts coming our way! The truth is your clients really miss you.
In fact, a recent survey revealed that since the beginning of lockdown, 60% of clients miss hairdressing the most out of any other beauty service, while 90% said they will book a visit to the salon within the first month of reopening. 85% said they would need a colour service as a priority, with a further 50% claiming that getting their hair done boosts their confidence.
And just look at Facebook and Instagram for more proof. Endless stories are all saying the same thing: Sure, people want to see their family and friends again… But first, hair. Your job is to make sure that, when they do come back, you’re providing the safest space possible for you and your clients.
On the 19 May Modern Hair & Beauty had a Webinar with all our Partnership Salons, and we shared our Re-open With Excellence Plan.
Subsequently, we’ve put together seven tips to help you re-open your own salon with excellence.
Tip 1. Safety first
Modern Hair & Beauty have compiled a summary of best practices of salon operations reopening worldwide and in many cases the regulations countries have put in place will meet or exceed the regulations in South Africa. There may be more exceptional regulations that will be expected for South Africa and once this is announced we will adjust our documents accordingly. In the meantime, we have valuable guidance on Clean Salon Protocols. *
Please note that these are only guidelines at this stage and that South Africa’s Health Authority still need to confirm the protocols for our local reopening.
Tip 2. Inform and engage your team
Each of your team members should be aware about the new salon protocol and sanitary measures before the re-opening of our Industry. It is important for every employee to feel safe in their work environment and to act in the right way with clients.
Be in contact with them
Re-ensure them
Have fun together
Tip 3. Couch consultations
Couch consultations can help you maintain relationships with your clients. You can also use this as a chance to make advance bookings, this could help with your income as you could offer priority appointments to those who pre-pay. We all know time is money and getting timings right by seeing your client’s hair ahead of their appointments will allow you to judge what kind of service they need. This will make it easier for you to calculate how much time you will spend on their hair.
3 Ways to successful couch consultations:
Schedule Consultations
Use Video Calling
Open your Inbox
If you are not sure what to ask, you can kick off with these questions:
How do you feel about your hair?
Can you show me you colour in natural light?
What products are you using to look after your hair?
How do you want your hair to look and feel?
Tip 4. Manage appointment avalanche
Couch consultations will help with booking appointments, but you might still find yourself overwhelmed by the volume of bookings. You don’t want to be turning them away at such a crucial time but, more importantly, you don’t want to overburden your staff or compromise the safety of the salon environment. Modern Hair & Beauty recommends that you do a survey with your clients on your salons opening hours. This will help you decide if shift work is your salons way forward by having your salon open for longer. This way you can spread appointments out and reduce your salon headcount, while fitting more into a day and ensuring staff are only working a few hours at a time.
Tip 5. Sign up for our salon finder
A listing on Salon Near Me (the Modern Hair & Beauty Salon Finder) is a benefit to our partnership salons. It’s one of our most searched-for pages, so you’re going to want to be on there. Not yet listed? Then contact us to become a Wella or Kadus partnership salon. There are many additional benefits we would like to tell you about, such as earning commission on sales from our online shop, top quality education, preferential pricing, and a host of other support measures.
Tip 6. Tips to prepare your salon order
Sanitary Products: Make sure you have enough. Refer to our Clean Salon Protocol Documents*. These documents only offer guidance at this stage and cannot replace legal guidance. Just about everything you need to know about reopening is covered, even a list of suppliers of products we cannot supply ourselves. Hair Products: Colour will be a priority to your clients, be sure to have a large shade assortment. You will be faced with Colour corrections. Be sure to have some key technical products like Blondor, Color Renew and WellaPlex. Be inspired by our Post Covid-19 Recommended Services* to get the right products for re-opening and avoid out of stock on your retail shelves.
Tip 7. Market Your Salon
In the weeks leading up to reopening, get the word out that your salon or freelance business is back. Updating your Instagram is one easy way, so make an announcement on both your stories and grid. If you’re already a partnership salon, make sure you head to Modern Hair & Beauty Marketing Tools*, where you’ll find a huge selection of social media content to use, so your salon stands out.
*Certain content is available exclusively to Modern Hair & Beauty Partnership Salons. But we don’t mind sharing all of our Clean Salon Protocol Documents with you. It’s important that our industry opens up responsibly and quickly. Contact your MHB sales representative, or send an email to education@modernhairbeauty.com.
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