Salon Memberships: 5 reasons WHY!
Phil Jackson 
Salon memberships are on the UP! But why should you be putting your own programme in place? Here are my 5 reasons why salon memberships ROCK!
My FAVOURITE topic! Salon memberships were what got me into coaching in the first place, what I'm best known for and something I truly believe should be a feature of every salon business, whether you're a hairdresser, barber, beauty therapist or aesthetician. But why am I so passionate about them?
Here are my five reasons why you should have a salon membership programme and I hope by the end of this blog I have convinced you too!
1. Salon memberships mean predictable monthly income
Battling the peaks and troughs in salon turnover is really hard work. Using memberships to smooth your income a little makes managing your salon much, much easier.
We can plan for big expenditures, we know when it's a good time to invest in training and we can see when might be a good time to refurb your salon. We can even see the best time to take some profits out of the salon.
Can you imagine how great it feels on the first of the month - before we've even unlocked the doors of my salon - to know that all of my fixed costs are completely covered by membership subscriptions?
Even if you don't want memberships for a large proportion of your clientele, moving just some of your big-spenders onto a programme can make a massive difference to long-term predictability.
2. FINALLY a way to increase retail and upsells!
Whenever I have introduced a membership scheme into a salon we've seen an increase in retail and upsells. Why would that be?
I think it's because there's a psychological phenomenum at play called the 'law of reciprocity'. Essentially, if I give you something you have a subconscious sense of obligation to return the favour. Otherwise, you feel slightly uncomfortable.
We're finding that people who pay their salon membership fees by direct debit or recurring card transaction don't actually feel like they're paying at all. So they tend to be first in line for extra services and salon retail products.
Does your team need convincing? We also find members are most likely to tip generously too!
3. Salon memberships increase customer loyalty
We see an increase in client loyalty but not for the reasons you might think. It's not just because your customers are tied into a contract.
The real wins come if you lose a team member. We find that customers are less likely to follow if they are part of a membership programme - they tend to wait until their membership has expired. So you've got time to convince the customer that actually they are in the best place for their salon services. If you can deliver those services to an excellent standard you can hopefully retain their long term custom.
4. A great way to stand out from the crowd
Salon memberships are, for now at least, an exception. I think that gives you a competitive edge. Your customers will see it as something innovative, something you just can't get from the salon down the road.
That said, I think in a year or two we're going to see a lot more of these membership programmes popping up. But if you get yours out there now you will always be the first in your town! And everybody else is going to look like a copy-cat.
5. Salon memberships improve cashflow
You want to make a profit, right? Assuming you do you also want to make a profit quickly. In fact, the point at which you break-even is an important indicator of a successful salon. If you don't break even until late in the month, well, you're going to be making friends with your overdraft very regularly.
By moving a portion of your takings onto salon memberships you can break even much sooner in the month and who knows? Maybe avoid that overdraft altogether!
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