Moving is never easy, whether you’re moving house or moving jobs. Any time you’re relocating your private living space or your professional life, there’s so much to be done, and it can be extremely stressful, time-consuming, and expensive. It also can be unavoidable. These days, health and beauty professionals change jobs and/or locations every few years. Sometimes it’s for better pay. Sometimes it’s because a better location opens up, with a better clientele. Sometimes you just need a fresh start due to poor management or a rent increase. And sometimes it’s because you’re ready to make the jump from salon employee to salon business owner at your own mini salon suite in Lawton.
Whatever your reason for moving, moves happen, and you’re not the first health or beauty professional to do so! When you choose to move, you’ll want to do everything you can to make sure the move doesn’t negatively affect your business. There’s no way to eliminate the stress of actually picking up and moving, but with a little foresight and planning you can move without the stress of worrying you’ll see a downturn in your income.
Maintaining Your Business During a Move
We’ve all lost things during a move (and we’ve also “lost” things, like those ugly curtain rods you got three Christmases ago from your aunt). While (sometimes) it’s regrettable when an item goes missing, things are easily replaced.
But when you work in the health and beauty industry, your business is about people, not things. You can’t pack your clients into a box like you can your hair dryers, shears, razors, massage lotions, or samples of great beauty products. Customers are hard to replace, but the thing is… you’re a rock star. You give great cuts, massages, or facials. You’re on time, personally motivated, and you’re fun and engaging and talented. Along with great service you give great advice for all the weird life problems your clients tell you about. People love you and your treasure trove of hair color and styling products. Your clients will stick with you—well, most of them will. But you’ll have to work for it.
It’s said by salon industry experts that you can expect to lose twenty to thirty percent of your clients when you shift locations. Some loss is inevitable, but you’re more likely to keep that number on the low side if you manage your move well.
Give Verbal Notice. Like, a LOT of Notice.
While it’s understandable to want to keep a move quiet while you’re still in the planning stages, you will have to give your clients quite a bit of notice if you want to retain them as you move. Did you know that salespeople say you have to tell a person something three times to get it to sink in? Whether or not you can see your clients three times before you move, telling them as early and as often as possible that you’re relocating will help as many of your customers make the jump with you. Drop them a line on social media as well as telling them in person. And when it’s really happening, try to get them to pre-book at your new location. That way, they’ll be in the door almost as quickly as you’ll be! People need the services you provide, so the sooner you’re up and running and getting them in the chair, the better.
Flood Them with Notifications…
Telling your clients in person is great, but you also have other options—especially if you’re in a difficult situation leaving your old location and starting at a new one, and you don’t want to advertise your move until it’s time to make it. Try some of the following…
- The US Mail: Send cards or letters to their home addresses, if you have them.
- Social Media Updates: If your clients follow you on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you can lock down your profiles so that only certain people can see them. Then you’re free to post alerts to your clients.
- Emails: A targeted email blast can do wonders for your client retention rate when you move.
- Text/Phone Call/Voice Mail: You have their phone numbers. Use them!
Maybe this seems like a lot of work, but it’s more work to build a new clientele from nothing. Every client you have is probably worth $1,500 or thereabouts in annual revenue (a number we based on a client getting a cut and color ten times a year). Add to that the occasional $25 bottle of shampoo, conditioner, or other styling products and the value goes up. And this number might be even higher once you start running your own mini salon suite in Lawton and can retain more of your money and keep more of the markup on product sales. When you add in 20% in tips, your hard work will pay off in the end.
It might help to offer a discount to clients who follow you to your new place, and it’s often worth it to ask your existing clients to tell their friends. But don’t overdo it! Not all of your clients will follow you, and you’ll have to let them go or risk seeming obnoxious or spammy.
Host a New Salon Launch Event
Launch parties are fun—and hosting one can generate some additional buzz for your new location. You can hand out gift certificates for discounts and show off your killer décor. Most of all, it’ll show them all where you are. Get a few snacks and a few drinks and people will come.
And Maybe Don’t Talk About the Old Salon
Your clients will ask what happened. While it’s acceptable to cite differences of opinion or a rent increase, it’s important not to badmouth your old location and more importantly, the people there. The salon industry is a tightly-knit group; word gets around. Stay positive, talk about how much you’re loving your new space or business, and leave out any bad feelings you might have.
You Know You’re Going to Make the Move…
The only constant in the universe is change. You have to be prepared! You’ll move, for better or for worse. Why not be proactive about your dreams? Make lemonade out of the lemons of life! As painful as it might be to cut ties or as inconvenient as moving might be, you’ll love working for yourself in your own mini salon suite in Lawton!
Salons de Beauté in Lawton is leasing mini salon suites to stylists looking to move into a great, upscale location where they can be their own bosses. Contact us today and find out about our reasonable rates and great location!