RAISING PRICES WITHOUT LOSING TRADE! A Salon, Spa & Barbershop Owner’s Guide...
by Nergish Wadia-Austin.
Nergish Wadia-Austin is the CEO and founder of the PHAB Service Stars and a leading international business management trainer and on-line coach. She has for the last 22+ years been training salon owners and managers in how to upgrade their knowledge and skills in growing their business and making money! She believes that many salon owners struggle unnecessarily because they lack the skills and knowledge in business that makes it harder for them to run their salon’s, spa’s and barbershop’s profitably. Once they’re taught those skills in a simple, practical and easy to implement way, their revenues grow steadily, allowing them to then grow their business. Details of what she teaches are on her website below and she also tailor makes courses to suit the business’ or the manager’s needs via a free consultation www.hairandbeautyexpert.com I have been approached many, many times in the past 4 months about price increases. The question on everybody’s lips is ‘Should I increase my prices or shouldn’t I? My response never changes: there is no one correct answer BUT there are a set of rules that my experience helped me to design, which, when applied, makes a great
3 BASIC PRINCIPALS can guide you very simply when answering your question ‘Is it time to raise my prices?’
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guide to use when you are considering a price hike. Once you’ve considered everything on this list you will arrive at the correct decision for your business. Hope it helps! The same rules apply when you decide to increase prices for time in a professional’s column. If you’ve answered YES to all of the above then go ahead and raise your prices without fear of losing loyal customers! If, however you have answered NO to any of the considerations above then only raise prices of your most sought after/ booked up services/treatments or the most busy and booked up professionals using the same consideration guide above. Now to answer the ‘but my cost of buying PPE and my reduced time slots due to disinfection times between customers has reduced my ability to earn’ is very valid point. And if you are continuing to maintain the higher standards of hygiene and routine then it is worth considering a (at cost) price increase (which you will have the data to work out how much more it has cost you per client to provide each service now as compared to pre- covid extra precautions). That is a justifiable increase because you are choosing to continue your new higher standards of cleanliness. As a business coach I recommend this because the statistic that 67% of all customers still remain worried about Covid spread, so aren’t returning as often to businesses providing close contact services as readily as they used to.
1. Ask yourself are my business’ foundations strong? If the answer is an emphatic YES! Please continue. 2. Is your business booked up 6 weeks in advance? If yes, please proceed to the next consideration. 3. Are you turning away business regularly or do you have a waiting list of customers, wanting an appointment?
