How to elevate your beauty business by seeing it through clients’ eyes

Session nail stylist, salon owner & educator, Marie-Louise Coster, discusses the importance of understanding clients’ perspective…

When was the last time you walked through your business as if you were an existing or new client? We all need to walk through our businesses, whether physically or virtually, on a regular basis and see them through clients’ eyes.

It may have never occurred to you to do so, but I encourage you to look at your business through fresh eyes. It is easy to be bogged down with the day-to-day running of your business, and fall into a trap of doing the same thing over and over. But things change and new businesses appear, so you need to stay ahead of the game.

It is important to look at all aspects of your business as though you are a customer, especially a new one. You have an established relationship with your current clients, but new clients don’t know you – so that first impression, online and physical, is key.

I’d also ask someone, who isn’t in the nail industry, to walk through your business. While you are familiar with sector-specific terminology, clients may not know what you mean. Choose someone who will be honest: not someone who will dress up the truth.

I can’t be the only one who has looked for a business on Google, clicked on a website and quickly found the experience frustrating. Maybe information isn’t easy to find, the colour scheme makes text impossible to read, or contact details aren’t sitting in plain sight. In your sheer frustration, you google another business and if its website is more user-friendly, you opt to use its services. You could be missing out on business because your website is tricky to navigate. People want an easy life, and if they can’t find what they are looking for quickly enough, they will go elsewhere.

When it comes to your website, ensure it is up-to-date. Your website is your shop window, so make it stand out. Ideally, you want a website that you can maintain yourself, perhaps keeping it up-to-date with a news page or blog. The more you update your website, the higher it will rank within search engines. If you are considering introducing a blog or news page but don’t have time to update it regularly, make sure your website has links to your social media accounts and invest time in keeping these up-to-date. Because, from a client’s point of view, if your blog hasn’t been updated in years, would you not make the assumption that the business is no longer running?

I appreciate it is a herculean task to keep on top of all the various social media platforms, but I advise choosing two to update daily. Do some research with your clients and see which platforms they use regularly, as well as what potential clients use. As with a website, if you aren’t posting regularly, your audience are going to forget about you and think you have gone out of business.

Besides your website and social media, you need to walk through all other aspects of the client experience:

• Making a booking: is this straightforward and is all information clear? I personally like to speak to clients when I book them in, to ensure they are booking the right treatment for their needs, it is safe for them and to make the experience less daunting.
• If you have a premises, take a physical walk through, just as a client would. Walk to the door, into the reception, to the treatment area, and to the toilet. Look at it as though it is new to you. How does it smell? What is the temperature like? What can you hear? What do you like? What needs removing or changing? If you ask someone else to do the same, compare your findings.
• If you are a mobile tech, your surroundings are out of your control. But what you set up, like your nail desk, is. Take music with you, and make your nail desk look professional and inviting. Ensure your towels are clean, fresh and smell nice, and include touches such as decorative flowers, a spritz of aromatherapy oil or diffuser. Perhaps even take some refreshments, for example a collagen shot for after a facial or a mocktail for during a manicure service.

When you walk through your business, ask yourself these questions: ‘would you buy from you?’ and ‘would you want to be your client?’. If the answer is no, make the changes required to ensure you are the best business choice in your area. 

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