The younger generation will judge a salon first and foremost on its digital presence, and even without a lot of time or budget, there are simple ways to boost yours, writes HELLEN WARD

Ward’s World

There’s no getting away from it, generation Z has a completely different approach to life than gen X, or even millennials. Understanding them can be quite a challenge. At times, working with them or parenting them can seem alien to people my age.

My daughter has understandably come to very much appreciate the fact that she can get her hair, beauty and nails done on tap. Whenever she’s home, the first thing she does is head to SW3 for a pamper – and who could blame her? The debate is whether or not she’s allowed to book (I say no, she has to go standby, she argues that she can’t plan her day unless she knows what she’s doing).

But when she does want to book in, she does it online via our app. She fails to comprehend that we can’t take all our bookings this way because clients have complicated services that require different book-back times and are often (hopefully) seeing multiple operators. What never ceases to amaze me is that (like my son and all their friends) it simply doesn’t occur to her to pick up the phone to schedule a booking – they’d rather spend hours faffing around online than call.

Team effort

Her generation has grown up with the internet. They’ve only known a life in which you can avoid all human contact if you choose. I’m sure I’m not the only boss who could scream at her younger employees whose constant excuse is “I emailed them but they didn’t get back to me”. Or worse, they try to report sickness by text. Isn’t it a cop out?

There are lots of good things about the online world. Brilliant things, in fact. But in our industry, we’ve struggled to embrace it to the extent that many other sectors have. Look at the average salon’s social channels; they’re often just a stream of pretty hair or nail art pictures. This is great, but aren’t we missing an opportunity here? Shouldn’t we also be showcasing our service offering, interiors and experience? And, even better, featuring our team members?

The vital call to action, and the personal connection that is our currency, are often overlooked

Personal connection

I demonstrate this when I talk and teach about brand presence. I ask delegates to look at their websites with a fresh pair of eyes. Bearing in mind the average consumer spends just six seconds looking at a new website before they leave, the homepage is critical, but often that very first impression is merely an advert for the products used or sold in the salon.

The vital call to action, and the personal connection that is our currency, are overlooked in favour of a banner promoting another brand and therefore someone else’s products – usually free of charge. Can you think of another sector where this would happen? When I point this out, it usually resonates with the salon owners once they realise what an opportunity they’re missing. The brands we stock are a vital part of our professional positioning and offering, but they should never be the first thing a potential customer sees. It should be our brand, our story and our team. Because for Generation Z, this is too important to get wrong.