Why beauty therapists need customer service skills
Beauty therapy is a popular career choice for many young women. This is often a dream job for those who, as little girls, loved dress-up and playing with mom’s makeup or forcing their dads to sit through a pedicure.
While many young women aspire to this career or want to own their own salon one day, they forget that a large part of being a successful beauty therapist is how well they handle their clients. In fact, this particular industry can be extremely stressful because it’s so focused on the customer and client-interfacing happens continuously throughout the day. What’s more, the setting is rather intimate. Many customers need their therapist to do a little extra in order for them to feel comfortable.
In the beauty industry everyday is customer-centric. Every interaction and touch point experienced by the customer must leave them feeling satisfied, safe and sufficiently pampered. And, after a long day of massaging, nail treatments, waxing and facials it can be difficult to make sure that even the very last client walks away feeling relaxed and peaceful. Afterall, treatments at a beauty salon don’t come cheap.
As a beauty therapist or salon owner you need to create the perfect experience for your customers
This means more than just relaxing music and nice smelling diffusers. Your customers need to trust you. They need to be made to feel that they’re in good hands and that the treatment they’ve booked will be performed in a safe and hygienic manner that’ll also relax them. These are the key ingredients to creating a happy space, retaining loyal customers and attracting new customers.
A lack of cleanliness will drive customers away immediately
The items you use for the treatments you offer must, at all times, be clean and sterilised. Because beauty salons are popular and almost every woman you meet has visited one, you cannot get away with untidy treatment stations, messy equipment or dirty tools. Your customer will know. The entire environment must be orderly, everything must have a place and your cleaning regime should be extremely strict and take place regularly after every treatment. Also, make sure to create a quiet environment. Your treatment rooms and stations must be situated to ensure that other clients in conversation don’t disturb your current client and vice versa.
Learn the specifics about quality customer service
Excellent customer service is not simply service with a smile. While the smile helps, customer service is about attending to your customers’ needs. This means listening and delivering on what they ask of you and attending to the needs they don’t vocalise.
Whether you’re a brand new beauty therapist or seasoned owner of a beauty salon, making an effort to attend customer service management courses will positively affect your customer retention. And, this naturally boosts your back pocket. These types of courses help you effectively handle those difficult clients, or those who’ve had a negative experience with you. They’ll feel more comfortable chatting about their concerns rather than simply not returning.