No matter the size of your establishment, hair and beauty businesses are still asking many of the same questions, such as:
If you can relate to these questions, then launching a membership program could be a great move for your business.
In addition to helping you get more bookings and build a more consistent revenue stream, memberships can help you foster lasting relationships with your clients on a year-round basis.
However, memberships do have a few pitfalls and may do your establishment more harm than good if your program isn’t implemented correctly. That’s why we created this step-by-step guide on how you can plan and launch a successful salon, spa, or barbershop membership program.
Let’s get started!
A salon or spa membership is a type of program where clients pay a fixed fee on a monthly or annual basis. This differs from the more common “stamp and save” loyalty program, where clients accrue points that they can later redeem for products and services.
Usually, spa or hair salon membership programs offer clients access to certain products and services at a more favorable rate to entice them to commit, rather just than paying as they go. Members may also be eligible for other exclusive benefits not available to other clients, such as promotions, giveaways, and events.
Why service providers should consider implementing a salon, spa, or barbershop membership
Now that we’ve covered the basics of salon, spa, or barbershop membership, let’s take a look at the benefits you can expect from these programs.
One of the disadvantages of appointment-based businesses is that revenue can fluctuate, either between seasons or at different times of the week or day.
Unreliable cash flow is the enemy of any small business, and a spa or beauty salon membership program is a fantastic way to combat this.
Because clients pay upfront when they join, this guarantees you a fixed source of revenue that isn’t greatly affected by seasonal fluctuations. This also helps you to handle any unexpected maintenance or product costs that might come up, providing greater stability for your business.
Having gaps in your schedule is a pretty undesirable outcome. Why? It means that your staff’s time isn’t being utilized as effectively as it could be.
If your stylists or technicians are paid per hour (regardless of how many clients are booked in) this can result in a less than optimal ROI. Plus, an empty salon is hardly going to fill your clients with confidence.
A membership program helps to alleviate this issue by boosting the average number of bookings being made. You could consider offering additional benefits to members who book appointments at off-peak times, which decreases idle time for your staff.
Keeping your clients coming back time and again can feel harder than acquiring them in the first place, but it’s much more favorable for your business in the long run. In fact, 61% of SMBs say that they generate over half of their revenue from repeat clients.
Your retention efforts are supported by a salon or spa membership because it segments your highest-value clients, helping you to maximize revenue opportunities. In addition, more time with loyal clients means a higher likelihood of referrals, meaning more appointments for your business.
Because members incentivize clients to spend more time in the salon or spa, this creates more opportunities for your staff to upsell products and services to those loyal clients who are most receptive to your efforts.
As well as boosting your average order values through add-ons, quality recommendations also help to build trust in your business by showcasing your staff’s knowledge and understanding of your clients. This means stronger client relationships — and higher revenues.
Your spa, salon, or barbershop membership program can take a number of forms, including:
A package membership offers clients a predefined set of services. This is usually done by combining together a group of services that match common appointment bundles, such as pedicures and manicures.
Package discounts are a particularly compelling offering because they offer clients more flexibility, especially if you offer multiple package discounts, as shown here by Le Reve Salon:
It’s important to bear in mind that bundling services in this way can put more pressure on your staff, and may require you to adjust schedules in order to meet client demand.
This type of membership program gives clients access to a discount on all or certain products and services in your catalog.
A good example comes from Sugar Cove, an establishment that offers tanning and hair removal. Sugar Cove has a program called COVE Club, in which members enjoy 10% of all full priced products and services, along with a complimentary service per month.
While this sounds straightforward in theory, discount memberships are one of the trickiest to get right. It tends to be cost-effective for only a small number of your most frequent clients, as casual clients are unlikely to spend enough to perceive the offering as good value.
An unlimited membership gives clients an uncapped number of appointments for a specific service, such as “unlimited manicures per month for $60”.
This model has the bonus of giving your staff ample opportunity to foster relationships with your most loyal patrons. Furthermore, it’s one of the easiest memberships from an admin standpoint, since it doesn’t require you to track how many services have been used (though this is a good idea for measuring the program’s cost).
The hair salon Society is a great example of a business running an unlimited membership program. Society offers a number of membership tiers that allow members to get an unlimited amount of services per month. There’s “The Social” membership, which comes with unlimited blowouts for $200 a month. Meanwhile, “The Sophisticate” tier costs $120 per month and lets members enjoy unlimited barbered haircuts.
Launching and maintaining a membership program can take work, and there are a number of factors to consider that can help you decide whether a membership is a good way to go.
It’s important to note that membership programs won’t normally appeal to clients that you’ve only recently acquired. On average, it takes people around five purchases to consider themselves loyal to a brand.
It’s a good idea to take a look at your client list to determine what proportion are likely to be interested in your offering. This will help to determine whether it’s worth the effort and expense to set up a program now, or if it’s better to wait until you have a more established client base.
In the best-case scenario, a membership program means more appointments. In turn, this means your technicians and stylists are going to be busier.
So, it’s important to estimate how many extra services are likely to be performed as a result of your membership (this will vary depending on whether you’re using a package, discount, or unlimited offering). This will help identify whether you need to offer certain staff more hours, or look at hiring more technicians.
Running any form of loyalty program requires a fair bit of admin for your establishment. You’ll need to consider how to manage the following:
This is pretty time-consuming to coordinate, especially if you prefer to focus on your craft rather than admin work. If you aren’t the best person to take charge, consider who else you could allocate this responsibility to.
If you think a membership model is a good fit for your business and clients, here are some of the steps you should take to successfully set up a program for your salon, spa, or barbershop.
Before you select your membership model, you need some solid business insights on what offerings are going to appeal to them. This means gathering data on the following:
This research will help you understand the key points that your salon or spa membership will need to address. For example, if blowouts are a particularly popular repeat service, this could warrant its own program focused on offering value and convenience.
As mentioned earlier, different membership models come with their own pros and cons, so they won’t all be a good fit for your spa or salon.
A discount membership, for example, doesn’t provide you with a good estimate of how often your members will be booking appointments. This makes it difficult to know what kind of staff availability you’ll need to plan for, which may be challenging for smaller establishments.
If your membership program is going to boost your revenue, you need to get your pricing right. Otherwise, your model could end up with very low (or even non-existent) product margins.
You can avoid this by doing the following:
While it’s tempting to drive a hefty profit, competitive pricing for your programme may help to bring in clients from rival salons, meaning this is also an important consideration in your pricing.
Once you’ve settled on your membership model, you need to decide what you’re offering clients and how often.
For clarity, it’s best to base your spa or salon membership on monthly entitlements. This is easier for both you and your clients to keep track of, and can help to create a higher perception of value.
There’s little point in charging clients for products and services they can’t reasonably use in a monthly period. You also need to consider how many extra appointments your staff can support. A good rule of thumb is to plan for each member to visit your establishment once a week, which is realistic both for staff and clients.
If you’re using a discount or unlimited membership program this isn’t such a big issue. However, it is extra important that you get your pricing right.
No matter what program or promotion you’re offering, the fine print always matters. Why? Because if you don’t adequately state the terms of your membership, clients may feel misled.
As with any membership program, it’s a good idea for new members to sign a contract that covers the following areas:
Introducing something as large as a membership program can be a big change for your staff. You need make sure they are up to date on what changes/additions this will make to salon or spa processes, which will help to prevent friction in the client experience.
To get everyone on the same page, it’s a good idea to host a staff meeting or seminar outside work hours where you can explain the program in-depth. This helps prevent confusion or policies being enforced incorrectly.
If your spa, salon, or barbershop membership is going to gain traction, you need to promote it.
To encourage a greater number of initial sign-ups, you could consider offering a limited-time discount off the monthly fee. Another option is to give new members some value-added extras in exchange for getting a friend to sign up with them.
Here are a few ways you could market these promotions (and your membership program):
Last, but certainly not least, is making those first sign-ups. To make sure you can track the appointments of your members, your sign-up process should ask for the following:
In such an overcrowded marketplace, it isn’t easy to find a strong value proposition. When so many salons and spas are offering the same services, it takes some out of the box thinking to really wow your current clients and win over new patrons.
A salon, spa, or barbershop membership is a unique offering that could drive growth for your business.
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