Connecting every client’s hairstyle with individuality and identity, at scale

From legislation that celebrates and protects against race-based hair discrimination to Black Olympians reclaiming their crowns, more people are embracing natural hair as a way to express their true selves.

Natural hair covers a lot of ground, though. There are locs, braids, curls, and even heat-free styles like twists, braid-outs, and wash-outs. These styles take a lot of long-term care and attention to maintain without damaging or causing clumps, tangles, or pulling hair out by the roots. And because each client’s hair is unique, natural hair salons must be able to create an individualized service menu that can also appeal to everyone. It’s no easy feat.

Here, we’ll help you figure out the best way to create a beauty salon services menu that covers a wide range of natural hair care options while keeping your bottom line intact.

Key takeaways

• Build your natural hair salon’s service menu with a top-down approach, starting broad and narrowing your focus the further down the list you go. 

• Avoid setting flat rates as much as possible, so that your stylists have flexibility to address tangled or damaged hair.

• Offer consultations to create individualized hair style and maintenance plans to build trust and create transparency around your pricing.

• Make add-ons part of a long-term care strategy to connect them to tangible benefits that actually matter to your clients.

• Lean on your software suite to help you book clients and manage your schedule.

Take a top-down approach

With the sheer variety of options natural hair provides, it’s easy to lose focus and try to do everything at once. If you’re struggling to organize your services or are building one from scratch, the best way to begin is to start from the top and work your way down.

Does your salon only work with locs or protective hairstyles, or does it handle a range of natural hair styles? Start grouping your offerings into different categories, then place specific options within each category underneath. The most basic and frequently requested services belong at the top, with more specialized offerings going at the bottom. 

For example, the Loc God’s services menu is deceptively extensive. You don’t get a sense of just how much is going on just by visiting their website, but everything is laid out in a logical way that reveals more information as the potential client dives deeper. They break down their loc hairstyles into just a few categories, like wash and retwists, starter locs, premium services, and repair and maintenance. When you click into one, you can instantly see pricing, parting styles, color options, and what to expect when you show up for an appointment. It’s a thoughtful way to keep information organized so that it’s easy to find for people who need it, but doesn’t overwhelm anyone who doesn’t.

Even if your offerings aren’t that extensive, as long as you maintain consistent top-down groupings, you’ll ensure that your natural hair salon’s service menu stays organized and easy to follow, no matter how much you add to it.

Flat rates may not be the way to go for your natural hair salon

You want clients to know how much your services cost before they book an appointment, but because everyone’s hair is different, even something as straightforward as a shampoo and hair dry on braided hairstyles can take hours if the hair is too damaged. 

Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for natural hair salon services, it’s best to avoid listing flat rates as much as possible. But how do you balance giving potential clients enough pricing information to decide if you fit their budget without boxing yourself into situations that can suck away at your salon’s earning potential? There are two easy ways to tackle this, and both have their place.

One way is to set “starting at” pricing. For example, a locs package could start at $250 with wiggle room to go higher depending on what the client wants. Setting a service cost floor gives clients an expectation of the base cost while allowing you flexibility to increase depending on the length or health of their hair. It also gives you opportunities to easily work in add-ons or other specials, depending on what you offer.

For more predictable service offerings, you could list a range of costs that list a lower and upper bound for what clients should be expected to pay. Anita Kurl’s natural hair salon menu combines both of these techniques into a single menu, offering curly cuts that cost between $115 and $160, while providing detangling services that start at $50 for every 30 minutes the stylist needs.

Of course, prices should reflect the cost of the products used and the time and labor your stylists need to do the job right. Keeping all that information in mind will help you price out a service menu that keeps both clients and your expense sheet happy.

Consult with your clients

With how complex menus can get and how personal natural hairstyles are, you need a way to help people before they drop a ton of money and end up paying too much for a style they’re not happy with. That’s where consultations come in. 

These one-on-one sessions are a great way to connect with your clients and discover what they want with their hair. They usually include an assessment that determines how much work needs to be done and if any repair or detangling work is needed, along with recommendations that include maintenance, styling, and product purchasing tips. Together, you’ll develop a plan to get their hair from where it is now to what they want to see a year from now. 

Consultation services allow you to develop trust and build transparency around your service menu and its pricing structure. They can also work as an entry point to get new clients in the door to help you book that first appointment. As a result, you can take a few different approaches toward pricing consultation services. 

If you’re just starting out, you might try to add free or low-cost consulting services to your menu to grow your client list. These consultations do take valuable time out of your day, though, so don’t be afraid to charge for them so they aren’t eating into your profits. One way to get around that is by rolling the consulting service fee into the deposit once your client decides to schedule their appointment. That way, clients get a deal on their first appointment, and you don’t end up sacrificing time out of your busy schedule. 

Connect add-ons with long-term relationships

Unlike many other hairstyles, natural hair takes more than a single visit to achieve the best results. These styles require long-term care and maintenance to prevent knots and stay looking their best. 

As a natural hair care salon owner, you need to connect the add-ons you provide with the relationships you’re cultivating. Don’t view extras and services like extensions, coloring, loc reattachment, and even seasonal specials as a quick way to pad your bottom line — your clients will clock that in an instant. Instead, view them as an opportunity for your clients to grow with your business over time. As you’re developing a long-term care plan, find ways to naturally recommend add-ons and products so clients get exactly what they need without feeling like they’re being sold to. 

By introducing add-ons as part of your relationship with your client over time, you build trust. Of course, you should include these add-on services on your menu so clients know exactly what you’re offering, but only mention them when they are relevant to a consultation plan or make sense as part of an ongoing conversation about hair care.

Lean on your salon software

All of this advice is a lot to keep track of, but you don’t have to juggle it all by yourself. Your salon software can do a lot of the heavy lifting, helping you customize booking flows to manage the range of natural hair services you offer and give your clients full control over selecting what they want. That process, combined with the information you gather from your consultation, will allow you to understand exactly what each appointment needs and how much time it will take, so you can find the perfect spot in your schedule.

Giving every client the natural hairstyles they deserve doesn’t have to be difficult. Building a solid foundation in your service menu will give you the tools you need to serve up incredible results in a way that’s sustainable for your stylists and your revenue.