Price increases?

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Sequins4

Well-Known Member
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Aug 14, 2014
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Location
Cardiff
Hi everyone.....We've increased our prices due to extra costs of ppe etc but also all our appointments are now one to one, so we don't have a client in between colour clients (so profits are way down but we're not charging for that missing client, we've increased prices by about 10%) most of the clients have been really understanding about it but I've had the odd few who have been really funny about it and I've had two cancellations...
Anyone else experienced this since opening again?
I'm trying not to let it get to me and I've checked other salons and were not the most expensive in the area.

Has everyone else increased their prices? And have you found a difference in numbers you can do in a day?
I used to do 8 cut clients a day or 5 colours a day but now I'm down to 3-4 colours a day or about 5 cut and finish clients a day.
 
I’ve slashed the numbers of treatments I’m doing. Ouch it’s painful financially. I’ve advertised that I’m increasing my prices by 10% but in fact I’ve only increased a few of my most popular treatments that people tend to book in for and left the add ins the same (I’m a beauty therapist). As a beauty therapist charges for time, we can absorb some of the cost by revising our protocols and delivering shorter services, or there are other cost cutting measures we can adopt. My pedis are much quicker and there’s no tea and biscuits. The biggie for me is a minimum charge which means kicking out some of my most loyal clients.

I can hear my voice high and tight with anxiety on the phone as I explain this - it’s so much easier to answer an email, but I have a script. ”We have made a few changes to keep everyone safe and this has increased our overheads significantly“. Actually I have found clients are amazingly understanding, some say that doesn’t work for them - but by each of us stating our position it doesn’t get personal.
 
I’ve slashed the numbers of treatments I’m doing. Ouch it’s painful financially. I’ve advertised that I’m increasing my prices by 10% but in fact I’ve only increased a few of my most popular treatments that people tend to book in for and left the add ins the same (I’m a beauty therapist). As a beauty therapist charges for time, we can absorb some of the cost by revising our protocols and delivering shorter services, or there are other cost cutting measures we can adopt. My pedis are much quicker and there’s no tea and biscuits. The biggie for me is a minimum charge which means kicking out some of my most loyal clients.

I can hear my voice high and tight with anxiety on the phone as I explain this - it’s so much easier to answer an email, but I have a script. ”We have made a few changes to keep everyone safe and this has increased our overheads significantly“. Actually I have found clients are amazingly understanding, some say that doesn’t work for them - but by each of us stating our position it doesn’t get personal.
Sorry for crashing the thread, but could I ask what your minimum treatment charge is please?
I am mobile & used to pop in & do an eyebrow wax or remove gels if I was in the clients area but i’m not going to be able to do that now just wanted to word it a little better rather than saying I’m not doing these treatments.
 
Folk will NEVER like a price increase
I have a salon, and have always only offered appointment only and a one to one service......
It doesn’t enter their heads that they are having a privileged service.
They expect it.
I haven’t increased my prices and I’m not charging for the extra ppe....
I am however STRICTLY adhering to my price list - no favours/specials/deals/concessions......
We are unfortunately up against those who work under the radar - cash only - no appointment necessary....... who will always under cut a ‘Professional’
We will just have to try and weather yet another storm ⛈
 
Thanks for the replies, I know it's natural to loose a few clients when you do a price increase, the thing is it's only our colours that have really gone up, some only by about £4 altogether....I suppose I just can't believe someone cancelling due to it being a couple of pounds extra, even though their roots are three times as big!
I am really happy to be back and doing hair but then when dealing with these clients it just feels like it's not worth the hassle and I take it all personally, I try and look at it from a business point of view and wish I could explain to the clients that if I still worked at previous prices I would be working for less than minimum wage....... But I can't really say all that to them lol.
 
Thanks for the replies, I know it's natural to loose a few clients when you do a price increase, the thing is it's only our colours that have really gone up, some only by about £4 altogether....I suppose I just can't believe someone cancelling due to it being a couple of pounds extra, even though their roots are three times as big!
I am really happy to be back and doing hair but then when dealing with these clients it just feels like it's not worth the hassle and I take it all personally, I try and look at it from a business point of view and wish I could explain to the clients that if I still worked at previous prices I would be working for less than minimum wage....... But I can't really say all that to them lol.
Completely agree.
They want it all - with no regard for us earning a living.
As has been said on here many times over.....
Do not mistake your clients for friends.
It is a business we are running and ultimately we need to make a profit.
Let those who do not respect this - go elsewhere
 
Last edited:
Completely agree.
They want it all - with no regard for us earning a living.
As has been said on here many times over.....
Do not mistake your clients for friends.
It is a business we are running and ultimately we need to make a profit.
Let those who do not respect this - can go elsewhere

Yeh I'm trying to think that, plus the one client that moaned and cancelled takes me ages and I do think that maybe it wasn't cost effective anyway, thanks for all the reassurance, I do feel a bit lonely in hairdressing sometimes so it's good to read on here and get some input from everyone. Really appreciate it ☺️
 
I try to weed out the ‘needy’ - time consuming - non profit making ones now......
Back in the day I would enjoy taking on the colour corrections, or those who started the conversation with ‘ No one ever does my hair the way I like it...’
I don’t now!
There’s simply not enough money in these clients.
 
I try to weed out the ‘needy’ - time consuming - non profit making ones now......
Back in the day I would enjoy taking on the colour corrections, or those who started the conversation with ‘ No one ever does my hair the way I like it...’
I don’t now!
There’s simply not enough money in these clients.
Yeh you're completely right, they're mentally draining too lol
 
I think it really helps if you are very clear in your mind about why you need to charge more. You might want to consider doing a zoom consultation to look at your clients hair before you book, and then you can quote, based on that client’s requirements. You can also offer tiered pricing 1st appointment X followed by 2 appointments at a little less, and then reducing to Y as long as you return within 8 weeks. You could do your zoom consultations whilst you’ve got a colour developing.

I’ve been doing something called dynamic availability long before Covid. Dynamic availability is where not everything is available all of the time. I worked out that short and long appointments at peak time (lunch hour and after work) often left me with unfilled gaps - so effectively “cost” me unbooked peak time. I started to think about what treatments I had most demand for at certain times of the day and I prioritised the bookings that worked best for me.

Leaving gaps between treatments means the more people I see, the more unbooked gaps I have. The shorter the treatment the more expensive for me. Basically a 15 minute treatment now needs 30 minutes so becomes 100% longer, a 30 minute treatment becomes 45 minutes so is 50% longer and a 60 minute treatment is now 75 minutes so is 25% longer. If I increase my charges by 10% and limit my appointments to 60 minute bookings only then I’ve basically absorbed 15% of the additional cost to me and passed on 10% of the cost of the client. This feels fair.

I set my minimum charge to be greater than the cost of a 30 minute treatment, to discourage all the 20-25 minute treatments unless as part of a longer appointment. I also put my charges up for my 30 minute appointments.

if you’re mobile, instead of a minimum booking value, you might want to book a minimum time slot -or at least think in those terms. I split my minimum between family members that come in back to back.

I’m simply explaining to clients, calmly, that I am only accepting a much smaller number of bookings at presen for safety reasons and that the best way to handle this is to set a minimum booking value of X. (£40 in my case). I state the cost of the requested treatment and then name a couple of additional treatments that make up the value or complement the booking . Its a relaxed conversation, I ask what they want to book in for before I get into the when they want to come, so I’m not poised over my appointment book, looking at gaps. There’s no “you can have the 4pm on Wednesday space only if you add another treatment”. The enquiry understands what I’m offering before I look at availability.

hope this is helpful
 
I think it really helps if you are very clear in your mind about why you need to charge more. You might want to consider doing a zoom consultation to look at your clients hair before you book, and then you can quote, based on that client’s requirements. You can also offer tiered pricing 1st appointment X followed by 2 appointments at a little less, and then reducing to Y as long as you return within 8 weeks. You could do your zoom consultations whilst you’ve got a colour developing.

I’ve been doing something called dynamic availability long before Covid. Dynamic availability is where not everything is available all of the time. I worked out that short and long appointments at peak time (lunch hour and after work) often left me with unfilled gaps - so effectively “cost” me unbooked peak time. I started to think about what treatments I had most demand for at certain times of the day and I prioritised the bookings that worked best for me.

Leaving gaps between treatments means the more people I see, the more unbooked gaps I have. The shorter the treatment the more expensive for me. Basically a 15 minute treatment now needs 30 minutes so becomes 100% longer, a 30 minute treatment becomes 45 minutes so is 50% longer and a 60 minute treatment is now 75 minutes so is 25% longer. If I increase my charges by 10% and limit my appointments to 60 minute bookings only then I’ve basically absorbed 15% of the additional cost to me and passed on 10% of the cost of the client. This feels fair.

I set my minimum charge to be greater than the cost of a 30 minute treatment, to discourage all the 20-25 minute treatments unless as part of a longer appointment. I also put my charges up for my 30 minute appointments.

if you’re mobile, instead of a minimum booking value, you might want to book a minimum time slot -or at least think in those terms. I split my minimum between family members that come in back to back.

I’m simply explaining to clients, calmly, that I am only accepting a much smaller number of bookings at presen for safety reasons and that the best way to handle this is to set a minimum booking value of X. (£40 in my case). I state the cost of the requested treatment and then name a couple of additional treatments that make up the value or complement the booking . Its a relaxed conversation, I ask what they want to book in for before I get into the when they want to come, so I’m not poised over my appointment book, looking at gaps. There’s no “you can have the 4pm on Wednesday space only if you add another treatment”. The enquiry understands what I’m offering before I look at availability.

hope this is helpful

That is really helpful, thank you, makes sense, we've been doing skin tests on every colour client again so that's allowed us to see everyone first and have a chat with them about what they're having done. I'll definitely take on board your points, were going to sit down this weekend and work out whether the business is still viable, we went through it all before we started and put our prices up but now we're actually working we need to keep a check on if it's all worthwhile, I think the minimum spend you've set in place is a great idea, thank you for your help ☺️
 

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