What Haircut Discounts Should You Offer at Your Hair Salon?

What if the biggest secret to your salon’s success was right in front of you all along? Nothing motivates return customers quite as much as haircut discounts. However, not all discounts are created equal. For your business to reach its full potential, you need to know which discounts to offer.

Want to know which discounts are best? Keep reading to discover the answer!

Extra Services
Calculating how much of a discount to offer customers is always difficult. You need to discount enough to bring in customers without cutting too far into your profit margin.

One way to solve this problem is to not offer a straight-up discount. Instead, consider offering extra services to your existing prices as part of your special promotions.

Maybe the first 10 customers of the day get a free massage. Or you can offer them a free shampoo service. These are cheap “add-ons” that customers will still appreciate as luxury “freebies.”

And you can experiment with which extra services to offer until you find what your customers like best.

Multiple Appointments
The goal of most haircut discounts is to drive return customers. So, why not build the “return” directly into the discount?

For example, consider offering a discount to customers who are willing to schedule 3 (or more) sessions ahead of time. As a store, it’s better to lock down those extra sessions with a small discount than simply hoping they come back.

Customers, meanwhile, understand that they will need regular haircuts and maintenance. To them, this is another kind of discount for doing what they were going to be doing anyway: getting more haircuts in the future.

Bring Your Buddy
Many of the best promotional discount ideas are not limited to the world of salons. For example, the “bring a friend” discount has been a cornerstone of retail for many years!

The idea is simple: if a new customer mentions someone that referred them to your salon, you offer that other person a discount on a haircut. Alternatively, you can offer something like a free service or a small gift package.

Such an approach works well because loyal customers will feel like they are getting something for nothing. Meanwhile, your salon benefits from powerful word-of-mouth advertising that helps bring in new customers to your store.

hair salon discounts

Back To Those Books
You shouldn’t offer all of your discounts throughout the year. In fact, certain promotional discounts work best if you tie them to particular events throughout the year.

Maybe the best example of this is the “back to school” discount. Parents of younger children are always eager to get their kid a new haircut before they begin the new year. And older kids (especially college students) will want to get the new semester started off right.

By offering a back to school haircut promotion, you can really drum up a lot of business in the fall. And if you get lucky, this will create customers who return throughout the year.

Haircut Discounts For Two
Your salon most likely offers a number of different services to clients. One popular promotion you should consider is the “3 for 2” discount.

The idea is simple: customers can get 3 services for the price of 2. Obviously, this has the direct benefit of encouraging more customers to try more of your services.

To save money, you can follow the classic trick of making the “free” service whatever is cheaper. That way, this discount doesn’t end up breaking the bank for you and your business.

New Customer Discount
This next one is an oldie but a goodie. If you aren’t already doing this, it’s important that you offer a nice discount to new customers.

Some salons go so far as to make the first haircut free. That is a great promotional tool, especially for a salon that has recently opened at a new location.

If free doesn’t work, you can settle for a nice discount. Once the customer is happy with your work, they should be happy to come back and pay the full price next time.

new customer discount

Reviews and Discounts
Ever wonder how new customers discover your salon? Some of them respond to traditional marketing while others may hear about you from friends and family. Increasingly, though, customers find out about you from an online search.

Such searches can be a double-edged sword. It helps new customers find your store. At the same time, your online presence comes with customer reviews that will either bring new clients in or drive them away.

Because of that, one sneaky tactic is to offer discounts to customers who leave a review for your store on places like Yelp and Google Reviews.

Obviously, you shouldn’t ask them to only post a positive review. But if you’re offering a discount, the reviews are likely to be positive anyway.

Birthday Haircut Discounts
Everyone likes to feel special on their birthday. So why not offer customers a special discount on their special day?

Birthday discounts are easy to verify and always popular with customers. And it’s also easy for your salon to leave a positive impression on someone who is already in a good mood.

And who knows? The customer who comes in for a birthday deal may become a lifelong customer.

salon marketing
Loyalty Points
You want to reward your most loyal customers. And by setting up a rewards system, you can do this very easily!

Some salons use a robust CRM to help track loyalty points and message customers. But you can achieve a more basic effect with an old school punch card.

The most basic reward system offers customers a free haircut after enough previous visits. More complicated systems let customers trade accumulated points for various products and services.

Either way, the result is the same: more customers coming in more often!

loyalty points
Haircut Discounts: A New Look for Your Business
Now you know which haircut discounts to offer. But do you know how to truly create the salon of the future?

We create software solutions that can revolutionize your salon. To see what we can do for your own salon, request more info today!