4 Ways Pre-Appointment Salon Marketing Increases Average Ticket and Client Engagement

Increase Average Ticket and Client Engagement with this Pre-Appointment Salon Marketing Tactic

Make this one salon marketing tactic part of your strategy and watch your salon’s average ticket and guest engagement rise.

How many times have you begun to check in for a flight and been offered the chance to pay for upgrades ranging from more leg room to business or even first class? Or how many times have you made a purchase online and been given a chance to add accessories and related items onto your purchase before buying?

You can increase your average ticket by giving clients the option to upgrade the service or add additional services or products to the bill pre-appointment. Pre-purchase suggestive selling is a tactic regularly practiced in travel and hospitality because it works.

What’s more, it’s painless because when pre-appointment add-ons and offers are made via email or text automation, neither you nor your client needs to feel uncomfortable or pressured. Even if your client doesn’t take you up on a pre-appointment add-on or special offer, by the time they get to their appointment, the idea has been planted and they might decide to take you up on the offer after all.

Here’s how it might work.

4 Ways to Increase Salon Average Ticket with Pre-Appointment Offers

1. Increase Your Salon Client’s Average Ticket with a Pre-Appointment Add-On Offer

You’ve got a few holes in your schedule, so you send these clients a special offer for add-on color services. Not only can this help to bridge any gaps between bookings, it can also introduce clients to services they haven’t tried before, and which they might then try again.

2. Increase Average Ticket with Pre-Sold Salon Retail

You’ve told your color clients about salon professional retail they should use at home for better hair and scalp health as well as color longevity on more than one occasion. Since they hadn’t planned to spend an extra 40-50 dollars, it’s been hard to sell through during appointments.

So along with your client’s appointment reminder email, you extend a special offer (buy one, get one half off) for a retail shampoo and conditioner with a “Reserve Now” button in the email. When they click through to the website, they see that they’ve reserved the duo and that you’ll have it ready at their appointment. At the appointment, the duo is already bagged and sitting at your station.

Their action of clicking through creates a sort of emotional and intellection commitment. And since they know what to expect, they don’t have to think about the merits of purchasing the products at the end of their appointment.

3. Increase Average Ticket with Gift Card Offers

Twice each year, you allow your member, VIP or regular clients to buy gift cards at a significant discount, either to give away to others or to use themselves.

Or, beginning in early November, a few days before your client’s appointment you send an email in the form of a “Santa’s gift list” or similar holiday theme suggesting that they purchase a salon gift card for <insert specific here> such as teacher, coach, mom, grandma, dad, sister, daughter, and so on.

Selling salon gift cards can dramatically increase your salon’s revenues over time, for many reasons. When clients buy them to give to others, its client acquisition. When clients buy them at a discount to use at future appointments, they often spend more when redeeming the cards because it doesn’t feel like they’re spending money (because no money is coming out of their accounts at that time).  This often results in client willingness to spend more, to book more frequently or to take the plunge with add-ons and retail products.

4. Increase Average Ticket by Creating Intrigue and Engagement

One of the most exciting aspects of daily deal programs is the sense of anticipation they inspire. Subscribers want to click through to see what’s on sale. You, too, can create intrigue if you take advantage of appointment reminders in the same way – by sending a different type of special offer each time; which might include:

• Buy one-get one style offers
• Free-with-purchase promotions
• Percentage or dollar off codes (e.g., SUMMERSAVINGS)
• Add-ons
• Salon retail products
• Seasonal salon promotions (holiday, back to school, Valentines, wedding, homecoming, prom, etc.)
• Partner offers (you negotiate a special offer for your clients with another business – and vice versa)
• Gift card sales
• And so on

Remember that you can only sell your time once! Increasing your salon’s average ticket is a must and pre-appointment offers can help.  With offers going out via email and text reminders, it doesn’t constantly put you in the position of needing to be a salesperson; plus, it gives clients some time to think about (and want) what you’re trying to sell.

You might also like: The ABC’s of Salon Client Retention: Weave a Tangled Web