HOW TO INCREASE YOUR

WORDS HELEN BIRD

HOW TO... THE INSPIRATION

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SET A £1 MINIMUM

Calculate how much your salon needs to be generating per minute to cover costs and deliver profit. You’ll ideally be charging a lot more than that, as you deliver an amazing experience and transformations that truly improves clients’ lives, whether your salon sits at the higher or lower end of the market. Some services might need bigger price rises than others, but don’t leave any price untouched: I would add £1 to everything else.

4 Time It Right

A good approach is to bring price increases in line with your marketing calendar. In my own salon, one of our price reviews always lands in September. That’s because we run a ‘recommend a friend’ campaign through August, which means lots of people have vouchers to spend in September – it takes a bit of the sting out.

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Review Regularly

The days of annual price increases are gone. I recommend to my coaching clients that they review their prices at least twice a year. That means increases tend to be less dramatic, and with the economic picture and costs shifting so quickly, it means there is less guesswork involved in setting out prices.

6

Keep Clients In The Loop

It’s good practice to give clients notice when increasing prices. That said, social media is for good news and price increases don’t make for good content. If you have a high number of online bookings, your announcements can be more low-key, as customers will see the new prices when they book.

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REMEMBER TO...

● Communicate price increases with customers in advance, but don’t make a big fuss.

● Make friends with your salon software and get to know your numbers – this is part of your job.

● Be brave with your pricing – it’s easier to discount if you’ve gone too far too quickly than it is to increase prices again.

● Ditch physical price cards so you can adapt quickly.

Focus On New Opportunities

You might lose a few customers when you increase prices, but probably fewer than you think – and some will be back once they have tried another salon or seen what everyone else is charging. But remember that even though some of your existing clients would never pay, say, £50 for a haircut, there are plenty of people who don’t think you can get a decent haircut for less than £50. Every time you price yourself out of one market, you price yourself into a new, more profitable one.

WHAT THE NHBF SAYS...

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

RICHARD LAMBERT ADVISES:

It’s important to be confident and to value the service you’re giving. And if the clients value that, they’ll want to stay with you and will understand that prices go up. People’s disposable incomes might be squeezed, but salon owners are also seeing costs going up and profit margins shrink, so there comes a point where you have to raise your prices –otherwise you won’t have a business.

In the end, are you looking to have clients who are buying at a low price or buying at a high value? And what will you do to retain those who are buying the value they see, and are prepared to pay for it?

Resources

● NHBF blog – Prices, retail and profits in your salon or barbershop: nhbf.co.uk/ prices-profits

● NHBF blog – Grow your salon or barbershop profits and business: nhbf.co.uk/ salon-profitable