Keeping your customers satisfied and returning for more is an essential part of any salon business. Without satisfied customers you simply don’t have a business. But how do you know that you have satisfied customers?
Certainly if they re-book then they have a degree of satisfaction. However, how certain are you that they are really totally satisfied? Are there any, however minor, areas that you could potentially improve upon? And if there are how do you go around finding this out?
How do you know what your salon customers think?
One salon owner I spoke to recently said that they had done a customer satisfaction survey. They’d agonised long and hard over the questions they were going to ask their clients. They’d given their questionnaire structure. Had them nicely printed. All very well and good.
They’d used a satisfaction rating. 1 being dissatisfied and 5 being totally satisfied. Nothing wrong in that. The salon owner’s chest swelled with pride when they told me that they’d scored ‘5’s for everything. Fantastic!
Learned Anything?
But what had that unfortunate soul, after all their efforts, actually learned? That their client base was totally satisfied? Perhaps. But what, armed with this vital information that had cost them so much, were they going to change in their business? Nothing!
Now, I’m not saying that the exercise was totally worthless. What I am saying is that if they had done the exercise in another way they’d have gleaned far more useful, actionable information. This is how I would recommend you carry out your customer satisfaction surveys:
How to Do Your Salon Customer Satisfaction Survey
Firstly you print out your questionnaires. To avoid the issue of what to ask, you keep it simple. Ask just two questions:
1. Name 5 things that you love about my salon.
2. Name 5 things that you dislike about my salon.
Then, at the bottom of the questionnaire, there is a tear off strip which reads something like: “Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Please accept this as a £5 voucher off your next treatment.”
You then get, say, 50 of your clients to complete their questionnaires. The timing of which is really up to you, before or after the treatment or by post, etc.
If each of your 50 clients respond you’ll have 50×5 = 250 each of good and bad comments. (Actually, typically, most clients will be able to name 5 things they like and will probably only be able to name 2 or 3 things they dislike)
Type each of these answers into ‘Word’ as a paragraph for each answer. Then print them out. Next cut each paragraph or answer into a strip of paper. So, you have a strip of paper per answer.
The good bit
Now, here comes the good bit. Clear a large space (Personally I always use the floor) and start to group your answers. (Believe me they will actually group) So, for example:
“I always like the fact that there is water constantly available”
And
“Your refreshments are great”
Would go together under “Drinks”. Keep doing this. A natural pattern will start to develop before your very eyes. These groups are what is called your Critical to Quality factors. You can now see exactly what people like about you AND the things that they think you can improve upon.
Simple. Easy. And, possibly, illuminating!
This approach works if you run a multimillion pound/dollar salon, or your business is just you. It is great because you don’t have to think long and hard about questionnaire structure. It is quick, easy and you can get it done tomorrow.
Related posts:
