For many customers, the nail salon is a place of relaxation where they want to find peace and feel safe, explains nail designer Stefanie. Accordingly, the ambience should be designed to be pleasant and, in addition to practical use, stylish comfort should not be neglected. Inviting color concepts, comfortable sofas and current magazines through magazine subscriptions delight the hearts of customers and help sweeten the waiting time. Small snacks and gifts such as sweets in summer or cookies at Christmas are just as welcome as free coffee, tea or water, explains our nail expert Stefanie.
Nail salon: Creating the right atmosphere
In order to satisfy your nail salon's customers, you should definitely use the right equipment, use high-quality products and pay attention to careful hygiene - this will make your studio appear professional and inspire trust among your customers. Of course, the quality of your work is top priority. The expert recommends only offering the techniques and materials that you are familiar with and with which you can achieve the best results - the rule here is: “Quality over quantity!” . If you do your job poorly, your customers will be dissatisfied and won't recommend you to others. For Stefanie it is also important that everything is as comfortable as possible for her customers, this includes chairs that are comfortable to sit on for long periods of time as well as comfortable places to rest their hands
- Proper equipment
- High quality product
- Careful hygiene
- High quality of work
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Convenience for customers
5 last-minute tips: What to do if there are waiting times at the nail salon?
To ensure that your appointments with your customers are as punctual and efficient as possible, our expert recommends good structuring: Always schedule appointments on a given day in one district so that you don't have to travel long distances and get caught up in time-consuming traffic jams. If you have a new customer, take a close look at the address beforehand and plan the route - if you are unsure, ask them, especially about parking options or public transport stops nearby. If you drive your own car, make sure that it is always running and fueled up. Of course, it is also important to correctly assess your own abilities and plan some time buffer, because it is not always clear in advance what the conditions on site will be.
- Estimate working hours realistically
- Good planning & appropriate appointments
- Offer seating
- Provide drinks & snacks
- Color palette enough to browse
Nail salon greeting: warm welcome & give attention 😊
A warm welcome lays the foundation for successful customer treatment, explains the expert. Anyone who feels comfortable will be happy to come back. For the nail designer, a friendly “Hello” that makes the customer feel really noticed is the first step in good customer treatment. Time pressure, stress and anger can have an emotional impact, but customers shouldn't notice it.
Nail salon: Conduct conversations with customers correctly - never gossip!
A nail designer and her regular customers spend a lot of time together. Close connections develop here, which also invite personal conversations. However, the nail expert Stefanie definitely recommends keeping a professional distance: “Of course, I also have private conversations with my customers and ask about their well-being or tell them something about my life. However, I never reveal too intimate details; I prefer to focus on current events, for example. A no-go is gossiping about other customers – it seems unprofessional!”. The expert also recommends paying attention to the needs of customers. If you've had a stressful day, you might prefer some peace and quiet, says nail designer Stefanie. Anyone who opens a book, listens to music on headphones or watches a film on a tablet clearly shows that he or she wants to use the time in the nail salon to relax without the need for conversation, explains Stefanie. On the other hand, if you like to talk and show interest, you'll probably enjoy a nice conversation while getting your nails done.
What to do when things go wrong: This is how you deal with customer anger 😡
In the nail salon, satisfied customers are the be-all and end-all - but there can always be situations in which a customer is dissatisfied. Nail designer Stefanie recommends taking time for the angry customer and listening to her concerns carefully until the end. In any case, the customer should have the opportunity to explain her problems without being interrupted. Accept the statement first and then try to find out by asking politely how this happened and whether this incident could have been avoided, says the expert. It is also important to determine for yourself whether the fault is at least partly yours - then you can be accommodating and approach the customer, for example to repair a broken nail free of charge. Of course, there are also situations in which you are not to blame, then it is up to you whether and how accommodating you want to be. Even if customers are very upset, you should never react aggressively or hurtfully, but rather try to maintain a professional and polite distance. Angry customers often calm down quite quickly and a constructive solution can be found together. If a customer violates all the rules of politeness and verbally attacks you directly, I ask her to leave the studio and of course I will not give this customer any further appointments, explains the nail designer.
Nail salon location & visibility: Make it easy for your customers
In order to retain and retain customers, location and visibility play an important role, explains nail designer Stefanie. Of course, the best thing is a customer-friendly location that is equally easy to reach by bus, train and car. Bus and train stops nearby as well as a customer parking space can be decisive factors here. Also make sure that you are easy to find on Google - no one wants to look for a needle in a haystack. Customers also expect that they can clearly see your nail salon when driving past or from a certain distance - for this reason you should work with appropriate marking, for example in the window.
⏰ Accessibility: Always update nail salon opening times!
It's not easy to always be available when you run a nail salon alone, says nail designer Stefanie. Answering phone calls, serving walk-in customers and at the same time doing high-quality work on a customer's nails requires organizational skills when there are no colleagues on site. Never let your stress show and work your way systematically through the tasks at hand, step by step. Make sure that your answering machine always offers an up-to-date announcement stating your opening times and possibly also holiday times. Incorrect or outdated opening times on Facebook, on the homepage, on the announcement or even on your studio door quickly lead to dissatisfied customers and negative feedback - so make sure it's up to date, advises nail expert Stefanie. If you are alone in the studio and have a busy day full of customers, you can also prepare an announcement in the morning stating that you are in a customer appointment and when you will get back to you.