Walk-ins Welcome? Is this a good Strategy?
Posted on September 11, 2009 with No Comments
For small, large, and boutique salons, it is rare to not see a sign that says “Walk-ins Welcome”. But is this a good tactic for increasing and traffic and revenue? Let’s take a couple of minutes to discuss.
“Walk ins Welcome“provides an opportunity for the salon owner or manager to communicate to the world that you don’t need an appointment. While this certainly doesn’t ring an “ha-ha” moment and seems pretty obvious, the strategy is to avoid the notion by many that appointments are required to get your hair styled or cut at a busy or upper-end salon.
While it is true getting into one of the better salons can be difficult, there are generally stations and stylists available whereby you can fit-in folks who walk-in. The benefit is you are able to avoid what is a deterent to many potential customers for coming into your shop – namely, the necessity and hassle required to stop-by or call to schedule an appointment.
Recently, as business continues to drop during this recession, I have increasingly seen higher-end salons letting folks know that appointments are not required, and in fact, new clients are welcome at the drop of a hat.
Can this hurt your reputation, though? We asked several owners what their opinions were and the responses are not all that surprising.
We discussed this with what I would consider an “average” large beauty shop owner. On Fridays and weekends, his station salon is generally full – of stylists. These are mostly independents who have “rented” stations. Give they only have 3-5 appointments per day, getting a walk-in 2 or 3 times a day can be a significant boost in traffic. Additionally, this salon has a large “beauty shop” inventory of supplies. So, getting a few new customers also brings the benefit of boosting sals of shampoos, brushes, dryers, falt irons, et al.
The second interview we had was with a partner/owner in a very upscale salon in the heart of a high-end outdoor shopping area. Her perspective was her clientele came from word of mouth recommendations by satisfied clients and that her and her staff’s days were filled. In fact, promoting “walk-ins welcome” would do very little good since their salon was located on a side street with little or no high-volume foot ot car traffic.
So, the debate seems to fall on the side of promoting “no appointment needed” if…
- You are in a highly trafficked area – either pedestrians or vehicles
- You have excess capacity and time
- Your price points are within the range of most reasonable consumers
- You can benefit from ancillary beauty supply sales – combs, brushes, hairsprays, shampoos, blow dryers, etc.
- You and your staff are well-trained in the art of customer service