UNLOCKING YOUR SALON’S POTENTIAL

A salon consultant plays a pivotal role in optimising the performance and success of a business. Dr Vijaya Salunkhe, Beauty Business Consultant, explains her profile and how salons benefit from her expertise

Asalon consultant serves as a trusted advisor to salon owners, offering expert guidance and support to help them overcome challenges, capitalise on opportunities and achieve their business objectives. In her interview, Dr Vijaya Salunkhe, who has provided her expertise as a Beauty Business Consultant to salon, spas and clinics across India, like of Envi salon, Juice Salon, Niks International Salon and Fitternity, discusses how she helps businesses.

MARKETING AND BRANDING

“Professionals with technical knowledge of hair and beauty are the ones who tend to open salons.They are good at their craft but lack marketing and branding skills.That’s where a business consultant steps in.

A decade ago, we only had offline marketing, which has its fair share of challenges.Today, however, with the advent of social media and digitalisation, marketing has reached a different level.

A consultant not only helps a salon or brand in marketing but also in analysing the data generated such as how many existing or new customers have visited the salon.They will also help the salons understand what is driving traffic to their doors - is it Google searches, their own website, Instagram, etc. My work involves understanding these trends and the avenues the salons need to explore. By understanding this matrix, I devise a marketing and branding strategy for the salons.”

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ENHANCEMENT

“All the salons work towards the common aim of making the customer feel ‘wow’ and happy.What a consultant does is educate the owners on the different ways of doing the same thing.

These days all salons work with software that allow them access to a customer’s data such as anniversaries, birthdays and other special occasions. But a personalised touch with client-specific videos or messages or sending flowers or offering some discounted services on their special day works better than just doing a generic email or WhatsApp blast.”

CASE STUDY

The case in point is a Pune-based salon that was experiencing depleting customer footfall. It was surprising as the salon had recorded consistent growth of 30 per cent in revenue in a year, including weak performance months like February and September.

For the last six years, the salon was clocking a double digit footfall per day. However, after we put together a new marketing strategy for it, the salon reached maximum capacity in terms of chairs and staff schedule. As a marketing and branding consultant, it was a successful project for me as I was able to achieve what I set out to do - help the salon gain full working capacity.

MUST-HAVE QUALITIES OF A CONSULTANT

A business consultant for salons should have an in-depth knowledge about the following:

+ The hair and beauty industry

+ Business and strategy planning

+ Operations management

+ Staff training and development

+ Financial management

+ Industry trends and how to adapt them .