HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL CLIENT EVENING AT YOUR SALON

11 Sep 2015

Written by Alice Smithson

Organising a salon event is a challenging yet rewarding experience. A successful client evening will:

  • Boost retail revenue
  • Win new salon clients
  • Improve customer loyalty
  • Create local networking opportunities.

Select a theme for your salon client evening

Give your evening a theme. It’s more fun for your team and clients, and gives you a hook.

Here are just a few ideas:

  • Date related: Halloween, Valentine’s Day or Christmas.
  • Seasonal: New Year New You, the latest A/W or S/S trends.
  • Hollywood glamour, retro or vintage themes.
  • Global events: the Oscars or sporting events.
  • Or why not celebrate your salon’s anniversary?

Just ensure the theme reflects your hair or beauty business and target audience.

Use your salon software to select the right guests

Client evenings take time and investment so it’s important to invite the right guests. Your salon management software will quickly and easily identify who your salon or spa top spenders are.

Email invites out to these VIP clients using your salon software, then follow up by phone, text message or in-person when the client is next in. Make life easier for yourself by recording on your software who has replied and who you need to chase up.

Encourage guests to bring a friend

This widens your pool of potential new clients and is the perfect opportunity to collect new email addresses. Plus, many people dislike attending events on their own and are less likely to cancel last minute if they’ve made an arrangement with a friend.

Don’t forget to have your ‘Recommend a Friend’ cards to hand on the night and appropriate RAF discounts set up on your till.

Involve local businesses in your hair or beauty event

Give your guests more reasons to attend your client evening by approaching local businesses with similar target audiences to join your event. Fashion boutiques, luxury high-end restaurants and bars, florists, jewellers and gyms are all ideal partners.

Invite them to give short talks, step-by-step demonstrations, offer exclusive event offers or provide nibbles and drinks.

Ask them to promote your salon or spa evening to their VIP clients and spread the marketing net.

Should you charge for your salon evening?

Only you know your clients and how they will react to being charged. However, making a small charge for tickets will:

  1. Swell attendance as clients are more likely to attend on the night if they have paid for a ticket in advance.
  2. Boost your brand recognition in the local community by giving a proportion of the ticket revenue (or its entirety) to charity.
  3. Recoup some of the event costs.

If you decide to charge why not make the ticket price redeemable against hair and beauty products/services purchased on the night? If your salon software allows (iSalon software does), assign a barcode to the event or set up a specific discount voucher which expires shortly after.

Salon exclusives and spa giveaways

Tempt your hair and beauty clients to attend with generous giveaways and exclusive event offers. Don’t just dig deep in your own pockets, ask:

  1. Local business partners: to donate samples, promotional vouchers and mini-gifts to pop into your event goody bags.
  2. Hair and beauty suppliers: are a valuable source of free products, raffle prizes and event-specific retail discounts.
  3. Your gift cards: don’t forget to pop these and other salon or spa offers into the goody bags too.

Remember when giving offers and discounts to restrict them to your quieter periods and to those team members who need help filling their columns.

After your client evening…

Text your guests post-event with a personal thank you and a reminder of your exclusive hair and beauty offers.

Include a round-up of the evening on your salon or spa website with photos of the event, then link to it from your e-newsletter and social media.

Measure success with your salon management software

Review the success of your client evening using your salon management software. Track your clients’ spending both on the night and for any event offers.

Finally, measure how many new email addresses and mobile numbers you collected and consider a first visit offer, by text, to this group of potential new clients.

Thinking of changing your salon management software? Learn more about iSalon software for hair and beauty businesses here or request a demo here.