Salon services: time is money?

Author: Elena Moskvicheva – beauty industry analyst (Russia, Moscow).

Let's figure out why the profit of an enterprise does not always depend on the amount of time a client spends in the salon? In economy class, the master himself puts everything on stream and quickly “drives” clients through the seat. For him, everything depends on production, the markup on the service is small, and he has to take money in the most literal sense by numbers, not by skill. Time here is really measured in money, without any tricks.

In the luxury segment the situation is the opposite: there a lot depends on whether the master guessed the client’s mood. A VIP guest will not be bothered to demonstrate his desires to the staff. The specialist needs to understand for himself whether the visitor is in a hurry or inclined to take a break and relax. Here, the service time can be extended or shortened, and it depends only on the client’s wishes. Sometimes it can be expressed like this: I pay a lot of money to kill time!

Business class is a special category. Clients visiting this group of beauty salons equally know how to value time, money, and results. Their daily prayer: “I subjugate time to myself!”

For such clients, it is important to be able not only to receive a service in a beauty salon, but to receive it quickly, at a strictly defined time.

Here we come to a separate category of services – express procedures.

Express procedures in a beauty salon

This type of service is characterized by the following features:

• are performed as a single service and are not included in the package or program;

• can be carried out either by one specialist or by a team of specialists, but each provides a single service. This is, for example, simultaneous hair styling, manicure and pedicure;

• the shortest possible time is spent on performing express services, materials are used that allow achieving quick results;

• these services provide not only fast, but also visible results (not necessarily long-term).

In different branches of the beauty industry, one can distinguish a set of services that are listed under the “express” register.

There are express procedures for facial and body care - this is a comprehensive express care, including simultaneously a manicure, pedicure, an express facial mask or haircut, as well as an express massage.

Express procedures in cosmetology differ from classic care procedures in that they have a short time frame (the duration of the procedure is up to 30 minutes) and instant results, which fits into the modern pace of life in a metropolis. Express procedures are usually aimed at hydration, intensive lifting, nutrition and provide visible results.

Express hair care procedures can also be divided into a separate category - washing your hair with shampoo and conditioner, styling. These services assume that the client finds time for basic procedures (haircut, coloring, hair treatment) or is interested in products that will help hide existing signs of unkemptness (for example, tinted shampoos and balms). By the way, many salons do not purchase these products, considering them intended for home care. In general, yes. But, firstly, who is stopping them from actually being sold for home care? And secondly, they are the ones who have proven themselves well in express procedures.

Express massage is also becoming popular in the programs of various kinds of conferences. After sitting in the hall for several hours, the meeting participants go out into the hall, where special massage booths await them. Five minutes - and the tone is restored!

Express services in a manicure and pedicure salon usually include nail correction, nail polish removal and coating. An express procedure can also include a light tonic hand massage, which significantly improves the client’s well-being. This service sells well in shopping centers.

Components of express procedures

Despite the fact that the express service takes less time and brings in less money than a regular procedure or program, it requires special and thorough preparation from the specialist.

To carry out an express procedure, it is necessary to have care products and medications designed for quick results, as well as equipment to speed up the procedure.

For proper organization of the service it is important:

• identify groups of clients using express services;

• find out at what time services are most in demand;

• highlight it on a special price list sheet indicating the time of the event;

• provide a bonus to a client who knows how to value time.

Let's look at express service management in more detail.

Potential clients

What is the group of beauty salon clients who use express services? Experts define it as follows: age – 30–40 years, businessmen, office workers.

These could be your regular clients who needed urgent help (an unexpected date is a common reason, but it could also be a broken nail!), or business travelers who were brought to you by chance or acute lack of time. The latter, quite possibly, will never use the services of your beauty salon again, but, on the other hand, if you helped clients solve the problem, they will not forget you. And a good business reputation never hurts a beauty salon.

So, in one of the small towns, to which residents of the capital often go on business trips, there is a beauty salon that is open from eight in the morning. The hairdresser on duty will wash the client's hair, style it, and serve the latest business newspapers and a cup of coffee. As the advertisement says, “a great start to the day.” Now tell me, what time does your salon open? Simultaneously with nearby offices? If so, then your potential clients receive morning express services somewhere else.

Time factor

Thus, we smoothly moved on to determining the time at which express services are most in demand - this is the early morning (before the start of the working day) and the period from four to seven in the evening, since many people go to theaters, cinemas, and restaurants immediately after work and to parties. They need to refresh their hair, makeup, and manicure. And quickly!

In the evening, there are no problems with this in beauty salons, but the morning hours are usually devoted to a long mood for the working day: the administrator arrives at nine, the specialists arrive at half past ten, drink tea in the relaxation room, retell yesterday’s TV series to each other, send SMS... Indeed, what's the hurry? After all, the client will “fall” closer to eleven... Yes, but this will be the second wave of clients, and the first, alas, passed by your salon and, therefore, past your cash register. Your salon business didn't even notice it!

Special approach

It is recommended to allocate express procedures in a special section of the price list. Why?

First, you need to notify the client that you can help efficiently and quickly. Therefore, even in the design of this sheet or folder, it is useful to use the image of a clock - as an image of organized time. In this section, in addition to the traditional name of the procedures and price, the duration of the procedure must be indicated - we remember that the client is under time stress.

Secondly, there is a special category of clients who tend not to immediately trust a beauty salon. They are the ones who “enter” gradually.

And an express procedure can serve as a test of the quality of a salon.

Such a client flips through the price list and thinks: “I’ll try to do hair styling with them. Quickly, inexpensively, and then we’ll see if this master (or the salon as a whole) meets my requirements.”

Thirdly, express services can be a “specialty” of a beauty salon, which is located in a shopping and entertainment center or office building. Everyone around is in a hurry, everyone’s time is scheduled in minutes, so you offer services, the duration of which is calculated with mathematical precision, for example:

• 34 min. – express manicure;
• 21 min. – express styling;
• 6 min. – express facial skin cleansing.

Service as a gift

And finally, about bonuses for a client in a hurry. We have already talked about a cup of coffee and a newspaper as a gift. But there are other ways to please him:

• If the client is in a hurry, call a taxi for him; Help the business traveler clarify the schedule of trains, planes, movies in the cinema, and so on. He will remember you and choose your salon on his next visit.
• If a client comes to you because he got caught in the rain and his hairstyle was ruined before his eyes, ask him if maybe he also needs to put his clothes in order? Wipe off the stain, iron it?

You can already see the indignation on the faces of the beauty salon workers - what do we have to do with this? But, for example, in many high-class hotels the question of whether it is worth sewing a button on a guest’s jacket is not raised at all. The employee rules state that any assistance that a guest requires will be provided by any of the employees. But not in the same way as they did recently in one salon - they gave a suffering client a pill and a glass of water and, under the euphonious “special service”... included this “service” in the bill.

According to the cosmetics exhibition www.cosmo-expo.ru, express services today account for up to 30–40% of the total. This figure is valid for beauty salons located near business centers, shopping malls, hotels, airports and train stations (or inside these establishments). Proper organization will allow you to increase the number of services, especially in the morning, when beauty salons are less busy. And every entrepreneur knows that a day started with energy will bring more profit and satisfaction.

Source: KOSMETIK international journal, No. 4 (46), 2011, pp. 32-34