In today’s competitive salon industry, exceptional service is no longer enough—what sets businesses apart is their Customer Experience (CX). CX is the overall perception a guest has of your salon, shaped by every interaction they have with your brand. From the first click on your website to their time in the chair and even post-appointment follow-ups, CX is the thread that ties every aspect of your business together.

Why does CX matter? According to Forbes, 66% of guests prioritize time as the most critical aspect of their experience, and 90% read reviews before booking their next visit. These numbers show just how much each touchpoint impacts your salon’s reputation and growth. With thoughtful attention to elements like personalization, consistency, and journey mapping, you can elevate your salon’s CX to not only meet but exceed guest expectations.

This blog dives into the key components of creating a standout customer experience, offering actionable strategies to review and enhance your service standards. Whether it’s redefining your greeting, refining your consultation process, or ensuring consistent excellence across every touchpoint, this guide is your roadmap to delivering a market-leading guest experience.

If you haven’t evaluated your CX standards recently, now is the time.

Key elements of CX include:

1. Timing: Salon guests expect respect for their time. Are you ready for their visit? Do you respect the time allotted for services versus the time available? Per Forbes, 66% of guests said that time is the most critical aspect of their experience.
2. Customer Journey Mapping: Understanding and designing the various stages a customer goes through when interacting with your salon company helps identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
3. Touchpoints: Each instance where a customer interacts with your website, inbound calls, in-salon visits, social media interactions, and email communications.
4. Customer Feedback: Forbes reports that 90% of your guests read your reviews before each visit. You collect and analyze customer feedback to understand their needs, preferences, and satisfaction levels. Beyond reviews, this can be done through surveys, social media, and direct interactions.
5. Personalization: Tailoring experiences and communications to meet a guest's individual needs and preferences can enhance satisfaction and loyalty. Vish is an excellent example of using technology to curate a personal and technically superior service. Salon Interactive is another example of using tech to enhance the guest experience.
6. Consistency: Ensuring a consistent experience across all channels and touchpoints. This includes maintaining a uniform brand message (the 4-step check-in and check-out), quality of service – standard consultations, and customer support.

If it has been a minute since you reviewed your service standards, ala "customer experience," it is time. Consider surveying your salon team to review what is essential to the experience so you can deliver a consistent market-leader experience to your guests.

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Here is an example:

1. Describe a proper guest greeting:
2. Describe a beverage offering:
3. List the top 4 items to address during the consultation:
4. Scalp Massage: Knowing the shampoo service hugely influences the guest experience – what is the proper standard? How long should the massage be, and when is the best time to do it? Shampoo or condition or both?
5. Service Provider Image: How do you ensure you look like you've earned the right to give beauty advice? What do you do to make this easy? e.g., pre-planned outfits? Hair routine?
6. Why do you think coming to work on time is important? If your first guest is at 8:30 a.m., what time do you arrive?

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Remember to implement the Summit 6-Month Rule. This principle ensures that critical elements within your company are reviewed and re-evaluated every six months. This practice promotes consistency and secures employee engagement and commitment.