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How serving alcohol helps market your hair salon

I was in a London hair salon the other day, enjoying a frothy Cappuccino, when the owner asked what I thought about serving something a little more festive in December. Needless to say, I’m all for a chilled glass of bubbly or hot spiced mulled wine. It’s an inexpensive, simple way to inject some Christmas spirit into your customer service and enhance your client’s experience.

But fizz isn’t just for Christmas. Many salon clients appreciate the offer of an alcoholic drink especially on late opening nights.

Set a relaxed evening tone for clients who are looking forward to taking it easy after a hard day’s graft and create the perfect after-work sanctuary. Dim the lights a touch, light scented candles by the back-wash and play some soothing music. A chance for clients to unwind, relax and chill-out.

 

Put some fizz into your marketing

Salon owners are often put off serving alcohol by the ‘red tape’. So what are the legal regulations for serving alcohol in your salon?

The answer is straightforward: even if the alcoholic drink is not being charged for and is included as part of the hair service you still need a Licence under the Licensing Act.

But don’t let this put you off as its fairly inexpensive and simple to get a Licence to serve alcohol. And there three salon marketing slants:

1. Tell the media about your Licence to serve alcohol

Unless you’re in a big city centre the chances are you’ll be the only licensed salon in town. Use this angle to get some valuable publicity with a press release to your local media. You’ll find tips on writing a press release for your hair or beauty business here.

2. Team up with a local wine merchant

A License to serve alcohol is a superb opportunity to market your salon and form local business partnerships. Try approaching your local wine merchant to showcase ‘a wine of the month’ in return for a discount from them. Promote it on your salon website and social media. You’ll find more about the power of local business partnerships to promote your salon in this blog post.

3. A charitable cocktail

The perfect way to support charity. London salon, Taylor Taylor, created a pink Cosmopolitan cocktail in October in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Containing Vodka, Cointreau, lime, cranberries and a splash of rose-water the salon asked for a £1 donation to Breast Cancer Care for each drink ordered. Mmmmm…

See what I mean? Plenty of food (or drink!) for thought.

 

How do you get a Licence for your salon business?

Remember, if you just want to serve a complimentary glass of fizz for a one-off salon celebration or party then you don’t need a Licence (provided those attending aren’t there for a haircut).

Your Local Authority deals with all Licences and you can get application forms from them and advice on the simple steps needed.

Briefly, you need two licences to sell alcohol:

  • PERSONAL: for the salon owner/ manager authorising them to sell alcohol. Plus a National Certificate – various companies run inexpensive one day courses around the country which take you through what is required. Or you can do it online.
  • PREMISES: a Licence for the salon itself – these are inexpensive.

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas…

 

Useful? Read our quick easy tips on Christmas salon marketing

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