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A new client finds your salon online and wants to book a colour. She's deaf. Your site lists a phone number and little else, so she can't just ring to ask whether you've worked with her hair type, or whether there's a quiet slot midweek. She looks for a way to message you, doesn't find one, and books with a salon two streets over that lets her do the whole thing by text.
That client wasn't put off by your prices or your reviews. She was put off by the only door you left open. For a lot of salons the phone is still the main way in, and that quietly shuts out clients who can't, or would rather not, make a call.
More than you might think, and the share climbs with the age of your client book. The US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that around 15% of American adults, about 37.5 million people, have some trouble hearing, and the Hearing Loss Association of America puts it at roughly one in seven. In the UK the numbers run higher: RNID estimates that one in three adults, more than 18 million people, are deaf or have hearing loss or tinnitus, rising above 40% of people over 50.
Hearing loss is only part of it. Plenty of clients have a speech difference, an auditory processing condition, or simply find phone calls stressful and avoid them. Add those to the count and a real slice of the people who would happily sit in your chair struggle with the one channel many salons lean on most.
This isn't only good manners. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act treats salons as businesses that serve the public, and the Department of Justice's guidance on effective communication says they have to communicate as clearly with people who have a communication disability as with everyone else, and can't charge them for the help that takes. The exact method is up to you, so a salon isn't expected to hire an interpreter for a booking call, but it is expected to leave a workable way in.
In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 asks service providers to make reasonable adjustments so a disabled customer isn't put at a substantial disadvantage, and the duty is anticipatory, which means you're meant to plan for it rather than scramble when someone asks. The charity Scope has a plain-English summary if you want to check where your salon stands. For a small salon a reasonable adjustment usually costs very little. Often it's just letting people book and ask questions by text.
The single biggest fix is to stop making the phone the only option. Put a text number and an online booking link everywhere your phone number already appears: your website, your Google listing, your Instagram bio. A client who can tap out "can I book a cut and colour on Saturday?" doesn't need the call to work at all, and plenty of hearing clients will use it too.
It also helps to know how deaf and hard-of-hearing people reach a phone line when they do call, so your team doesn't hang up on them by mistake. In the US, dialling 711 connects to a free relay service where an operator or live captioning sits between you and the caller, so there may be a short pause or a second voice on the line. The UK has the same thing through Relay UK. A relay call is a real client trying to book. Brief your team to wait through the pause and carry on as they would with any caller.
When a deaf or hard-of-hearing client is in the salon, a few habits make the visit easier, and none of them need a training budget. Face the client when you speak, keep your hands and tools away from your mouth, and make sure the light is on your face rather than behind you, so they can lip-read if that's how they communicate. Turn the noise down where you can, because the salon playlist and three dryers going at once make a quiet word at the mirror almost impossible. RNID has a short set of communication tips worth sharing with the team, and the simplest one is to ask the client how they'd prefer to communicate rather than guess.
Put the details that matter in writing, too. Confirm the appointment, the price and the stylist by text, and note anything important from the consultation on paper or screen rather than trusting a client to catch it over the noise. That's good service for everyone, not only clients with hearing loss.
CallPad answers your salon's calls, and it also replies to texts and WhatsApp messages and can book straight from them, so a client who can't or won't use a voice call still gets booked without waiting for the front desk to be free. It confirms the appointment by text, which hands every client the details in writing instead of relying on what they heard over the noise. When a caller does need a person, it can pass them to your team with a note on what they wanted. None of this replaces a warm welcome in the salon. It just makes sure the way a client reaches you is never the reason they book somewhere else. Talk to CallPad to hear how it would answer your salon.
Common, and more so among older clients. The NIDCD estimates around 15% of American adults, about 37.5 million people, have some trouble hearing, and RNID puts the UK figure at one in three adults, rising above 40% of people over 50. Most salons serve plenty of clients who find a phone call hard.
In most places, yes. In the US the Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses that serve the public to communicate effectively with people who have a communication disability, and in the UK the Equality Act 2010 asks for reasonable adjustments. For a small salon that usually means offering a way to book and ask questions that doesn't depend on a voice call.
Offer text and online booking alongside the phone, and show those options everywhere your phone number appears. It's low cost, it helps deaf and hard-of-hearing clients, and plenty of hearing clients prefer it too.
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