Plug The Leaks and Turn New Salon Guests Into Loyal Regulars
Our columnist, Gina Conway, an environmental advocate and founder of Gina Conway Wimbledon, is known for pioneering sustainability in the beauty industry. As UK Brand Ambassador for bio-organic brand Philip Martin’s, she educates and inspires salon owners to adopt eco-friendly practices through initiatives like carbon footprint reduction, water conservation, and responsible sourcing of materials. Her salons are committed to minimising environmental impact by using green energy, reducing waste, and eliminating single-use plastics, positioning Gina as a leader in driving sustainable transformations within the beauty sector.
Do you find that you’re busy working to get new clients in the door? You review your stats and see that you’re doing 50 new clients a month. “WOW, our marketing is really working great, eh?” yet you look at your sales and they are not growing alongside your new client acquisitions?
We are always seeking business growth. It’s a sign of success if you can’t fit any new guests in your column, and then you have the ability to charge and demand more in your salons and spas. You are balancing the supply and demand ratio and eventually you will see greater rewards and return. However, if you’re finding that many of your clients, say under half, are not returning for a second visit; that is what we call “The hole in the bucket”. In other words, your retention needs help, and you need to identify your target client and market to them. You need to ask yourself “what clients am I attracting? And what can I do better to keep them loyal?”
I have found that having special offers and big new client promotions encourage the ‘bargain seeker’, and they will shop around for that big discount and likely not return to you. These clients are not my perfect client. My perfect client wants a high-quality haircut, colour and spa treatment. They are looking for a sense of community and like-minded relatable hairdressers. They have expensive taste and only want the best. Service is very important to them and when they get great service, they know they’re onto a winner. They become the loyal clientele that don’t check the bill for offers but feel even though the price tag was at the higher end of the market, that they got a great deal as they got value for money.
Attracting your perfect clients requires a strategic approach that combines understanding your target audience, effective marketing, and authentic engagement. I’ve outlined a few key points we use to help you target the right guests for your business.
Identify your ideal client
Define your niche. What demographic, interests, pain points and buying behaviours do they have?
Create client personas. Develop a client profile, what age, gender, occupation, values, and challenges do they have?
Understand their needs and pain points
Research. Conduct surveys, focus groups and gather insights about who your ideal client is, what needs do they have and what problems can you solve.
Empathy Mapping. Create empathy maps to visualize their thoughts, feelings and experiences. This can help you tailor your offerings.
What is your Unique Value Proposition?
UVP. What sets your products and services apart from your competition? Does this address the needs of your ideal clients?
Optimize your online presence and social channels
Choose the right platforms. Are your perfect clients on Instagram, or Facebook? What about You Tube and Pinterest? Are they tuned into visual or word of mouth advertising? Do you have online bookings in your website and social pages? Are you using Google AdWords to optimize your local areas searches for your UVP?
Engage and Share. Post valuable content, respond to comments, and engage with followers to build relationships and trust.
Content Marketing
Create valuable content. Develop blogs, videos and e-books, or Instagram lives showing that you can answer their pain points with your expertise in your field.
Network and collaborate
Attend events. Your community will have many opportunities to meet and share about your business, ensure your message is concise and use keywords that will resonate with your ideal clients.
Collaborate. Find like-minded businesses who can reach a wider audience by marketing to your respective clients, such as yoga studios, nurseries, gyms, and other businesses that you can cross promote to.
Showcase testimonials
Collect feedback. Ask for and share your great reviews. Post your feedback on facebook and Instagram. Get google to link to your review page on your website.
Be authentic
Share our brand values. When your brand is communicated authentically, people resonate with it and feel that the brand they saw online is the same that they experience builds trust. Don’t be afraid to be personal. It helps to hear real stories from real people.
Continually analyse and adapt
Review results. If you have not hit your goals or your target was missed, collect data, analyse conversion rates and adjust your tactics based on what works best.
Once you have clear strategies in place you need to start a “Retention Strategy”
I find that your team need to be on board to understand that they are a business inside your business, and that by training them to run their column as a business owner, they take pride in their services and see each client as a privilege.
Exceptional and unique service strategy
Service is the key. Remembering we are here to serve, means that you need to develop a selfless and nurturing attitude toward your guests. Adopt American-style customer service standards. At Nordstrom, one of the best known for service in the US, their mantra is “the customer is always right”. You need to adopt this too, even if they are wrong!
Find unique ways to wow them. Being exceptional means that you are always going above and beyond thinking of creative ways to surprise and delight the guests. Do you do aromatherapy inhalations during your shampoos? Maybe you put on lavender eye masks during conditioning treatments? Maybe you offer Sunday brunch with your bookings?
Understand client needs
Active listening. Are you listening to the guest with all your senses? Are you watching cues during consultations like body language that are telling you information on their needs? Are you keeping track of their likes and dislikes for future reference showing that you really care?
Loyalty Programs
The 5 visit rule. Offering clients a bounceback after the first visit is amazing... offering them an incentive for the first 5 visits is exceptional. After 5 visits, clients are at their most loyal. So, ensure you plan the strategy where they are wanting to come back for more. There will surely be things that you can do for them that means that they get added value during their visits that cost you small change but have a higher perceived value. We offer Scalp Treatments, free bottle of shampoo with purchase, mini set of travel sizes, repair treatment and hand massage. While these all take some time and some cash to invest in for the giveaway, it means that they want to come back for more. Give the VIP experience and they will feel the love and tell their friends.
Be consistent
Make it 110% for every guest, every time. If you drop your standards for your loyal clients and fawn over all your new guests, you risk losing their custom and leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Treat every guest like it is their first time. I never, never dismiss an in-depth consultation for instance even for my long-term clients. This means they always get something fresh and new and always feel valued. Every guest is a celebrity. And every celebrity is a guest.
Implementing and owning these strategies will create a warm welcoming environment where your clients will feel loved and cared for. They will feel they have found their tribe and will also tell their friends about what a wonderful caring business you have created. By focussing on providing exceptional service and creating meaningful connections, you and your salon will feel empowered and grow from strength to strength.
