Pricing Tips for Salons and Beauty Professionals

Should I raise my prices? Am I charging enough? Here are some pricing tips for salons and beauty professionals like you.

As a hairstylist, nail tech, makeup artists, or beauty professional it’s important to evaluate your prices routinely. Learning how to set your prices is one of the most important elements of your beauty business.

Raising your rates can be difficult and even scary. What if people don’t pay? What if they say I’m too expensive?

I’m sure the founders of Louis Vuitton and Burberry asked the same thing in the beginning.

NOT! You cannot be afraid or insecure about raising your rates if you know your value.

Before considering raising your rates, first, you must determine what will make a client invests more money into you.

Value

Clients pay for value first, service second. Your clients have to feel like they’ve received more than what they’ve paid for. Even after the service is complete, they have to feel like you’ve exceeded their expectations. If you can make a client feel like this, they will think you’re worth every penny.

How do you exceed a clients expectations? You do this by providing an experience. It’s not just about selling a blowdry, manicure, or bridal makeup. It’s not about the service at all actually.

Truth be told, your client can go to another service provider just like you and get the same service. This is why you must focus on providing a tailored experience. Once you master this, you will be able to charge whatever you want.

Evaluating your Clientele

One of my bookkeeping clients who’s a hairstylist, had a client, Abby, who would come in at least once a month for a touch up and style. Abby was amazing. She loved girl talk, always had funny stories, and was a long time client of hers. The only issue was that Abby always came in late and requested discounts from time to time.

Whenever she came in late, that would push back the hair stylist’s schedule for the day which would piss off her other customers that came in on time.

My client, the hair stylist, allowed it because she didn’t want to lose Abby as a client.

Beauty professionals tend to evaluate and update their kit when needed, but do not do the same for their client list. It’s important to make sure your clients respect your policies and pay you what you’re worth. If not, you need to let them go.

It can be as easy as saying, “sorry I am not available this month” or saying “these are my prices, and they’re firm”. When you do this, you’re not missing out on money. Instead, you’re opening your books up for more high paying clients that appreciate your work and what you have to offer.

Offer Tiers of Pricing

Mcdonalds does a great job at offering different tiers of pricing. By offering a small, medium, and large they allow their customers to feel like they have more control of the sale. Customers like to feel like they have a choice and control over their buying decisions.

When was the last time you were excited to pay your utility bill? People love having their lights on but typically hate paying the bill because they don’t have a much of a choice or control over the matter. You never want your client to feel like this.

The same great pricing tier model McDonalds uses, can be used for beauty professionals.

For example, if you’re a nail artist and you want to increase your rates, I’d recommend offering three pricing models on your most popular service. If your most popular service is a manicure then offer 3 different manicure packages. Be sure the two most expensive packages are the most attractive and provide the most value. By doing this you allow your clients options and the choice to decide which package is best for them, thus making them feel in control of the sale.

Determining your prices for your salon or solo beauty business is only as hard as you make it. Just remember that you are worth every penny you are asking for and you will attract the right clients that will pay you for it.

If you need help determining your prices, bookkeeping, and understanding the financial side of your beauty business let Centure Financial help you. We provide bookkeeping and financial services to salon owners, beauty professionals, and brands.

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