While you can work and work at advertising and promoting to gain new business, the reality of the matter is that, just like any salon, yours too relies on client referrals as well as clients rebooking. Make sure to invest in letting your existing clients know how valued they are.
Your clients want to feel valued and special, and making them feel like this can help you get repeat business, time and time again. Depending on your set up, this might come naturally, and your clients may have become friends over the years. However, it never hurts to remind your new and long-term clients that they matter.
A Personal Experience for All
From the minute your client walks through the door, make them feel valued and welcome. Don’t get complacent. Even if they are a regular who comes weekly, be sure to treat every client like a dear friend each and every time they visit. When you fail to recognise your clients in this way, they begin to sense the disinterest and this is when clients might start to look elsewhere. You have the potential to create a safe place in which your clients can relax, feel comfortable and start conversations with both your team and other clients.
Let’s face it, we’ve all been to a salon at some point in our lives that just seems a bit cold, empty and uninviting. These types of salons tend to have no pizzazz and poor customer service. That is NOT your salon, but there are some steps you can take in ensuring your clients continue to come back to you. Let’s take a look at these…
A Few Key Areas
- Always provide a warm welcome – a friendly smile, eye contact and the offer of a drink or some magazines to read can go a long way in making your client feel comfortable and valued.
- Be attentive to their needs – does your client need a top up of coffee? No problem! Would they like to discuss another treatment that you offer? Great, tell them about it. By being friendly and helpful, they’re more likely to return to you.
- Remember personal facts – this can be tricky as no doubt you’ll have many clients through the door each day. But try and remember key facts about your clients whether it be as simple as their name (but this will be in the appointment information), children’s names or any holidays they’ve been on since they last visited. They’ll appreciate the personal touch. Keep notes if you need to and refer back to them before your client comes in.
- Don’t make assumptions – often, salon owners can fall into the trap of not upselling or promoting products or treatments because they’ve known certain clients for a long time and assume they aren’t interested in trying something new. But you may be surprised, plus it’s nice to be informed, so get out of that rut and tell your clients about what you have to offer.
- A warm farewell – a lot of the time we focus on making a big impression when a client enters our salon. Of course, it’s great customer service, but it’s also important to make sure they don’t feel hurried out the door. Chat with them and see them off nicely.
Perks and Special Offers
To make your longstanding clients feel valued and appreciated for continuously using your services, consider whether it would be financially viable to introduce perks or special offers to them.
A simple text message saying that they can get a free upgrade to your luxury facial with their next booking can go a long way in reinforcing that bond with your client. It can be anything you like, but you get the picture!
image:istock.com/DragonImages
