When we get the go-ahead from the National Cabinet to reopen, it is almost certain to come with requirements to have social distancing practices in place. But this is not only sensible from a general safety standpoint, but also a good way to make your customers feel safe.
Here are a few pointers on social distancing.
1. Have Simple Rules
Rules make us feel safe, especially when our anxiety is heightened. Having sensible and easy to understand practices in place will help to reduce stress and demonstrate that you are taking your client’s safety seriously.
2. Make It Easy for Your Clients
You already know the ways you can reduce social interaction in your clinic. Staggered appointments, separated seats in the waiting area and mobile or online payment facilities can all reduce the amount of time clients have to be in the same space as each other.
3. Remove High-Risk Treatments
If you have treatments that come with an increased risk or can be perceived to have an increased risk, it may be wise to remove them as an offering for a while.
4. Longer Hours, Fewer Appointments
To reduce the risk of appointments running late and having clients waiting in the clinic, increase overrun times by 15 or 20 minutes. You could make up for this by extending your hours for the first few weeks – and remember to tell your clients the lengths you are going to in order to keep them safe.
5. Cleaning
Obviously, your hygiene practices will be up to the usual standard, but to make your clients feel secure, it may be wise to make those measures more visible. The regular cleaning of surfaces – both in the waiting area and treatment rooms – will be noticed and appreciated by nervous clients.
6. Communication
On that point, when your client enters a treatment room don’t just assume that they know it’s been thoroughly cleaned and sanitised. Explain to them the effort you have made to make sure that any surfaces they touch have been thoroughly treated, and that you are in compliance with all government regulations.
7. Education
Stress the importance of hygiene to your employees. It will be a, no doubt, patronising and tedious experience for them, but if they are making fun of you for reiterating necessary hygiene measures, then they will also be feeling safe and secure. Remember, if they are not concerned about the virus, then they will give better service to your clients and as a result, will make them feel safer.
The next few months will be very strange. We will have to rethink how we interact with clients, and what a successful beauty business looks like. The first step is working out what sensible measures you can put in place to make everyone who enters your clinic feel like it is a haven from a very uncertain world.
