Why listing exactly what your clients are being charged for works. And why they’ll thank you.
There are so many ways salons can price their services, but one thing is for sure – clients like to understand what they are being charged for.
Stylists often feel guilty charging for extra bowls of colorcolour used, or are too shy to ask for what they deserve for the service they completed, leaving salons and stylists unfairly absorbing extra costs. What’s even more frustrating is that clients wouldn’t resist if they knew the explanation and it was plainly outlined.
“Initially we thought we’d see pushback from clients, but once they understand that they are being charged only for product used on their head, and not what the average person uses, they were happy to pay the difference,” says Bruce Brothers from Goldie X Bob Hair Salon in Denver.
Having the Right Pricing Structure in Place
Charging the client for exactly what is used during their service is hard to do without the right tools in place. Even with those tools, if the team isn’t coached on the policy of fair pricing it can fall down and create distress within the salon ranks. Communication and transparency are essential to creating a fair pricing policy, and it’s a lot easier when you have the precise amounts used for their service.
When a salon uses an all-inclusive pricing strategy, which is the traditional method, they charge the same price regardless of how much colorcolour[/geo_filter] is used. Sometimes they have a healthy profit, others they have less. There is little control over what is left on the bottom-line. This also leads to escalating prices as salons need to increase their charges across the board to remain ahead. Most would argue this is unfair to at least one party when the scales are tipped in one way or the other.
With the introduction of technology and the thinning margins due to labor costs and market pressures, two new pricing strategies are becoming the favored method of fair pricing.
#1 – Separating product and laborlabour.
#2 – Setting a threshold of product allowed per service, and charging for any additional product used.
