What sets one salon apart from another is more than just the quality of their stylists and services. It is how well your salon connects with their customers. Many salon owners and hairdressers take their customers for granted and do not develop a strong personal and business relationships with them. This kind of attitude can be devastating to a business. Customers know there are plenty of other salons and prices to choose from. If they don’t feel a sense of loyalty, there will be nothing to stop them from taking their business elsewhere.
Email marketing is an excellent cost effective way to stay in touch with your customers.
Build the Reputation of Your Salon, Not the Reputation of Your Hairdresser
Salons and staff work hard to attract and keep customers, but it’s even harder to turn those new customers into a solid, dependable, and loyal customer base, especially when you want to develop a client retention strategy.
When you learn to connect with your clients in a personal and meaningful way, you will cultivate the kind of customers who will remain loyal to your salon, not just to a particular hairdresser. Remember loyal clients who refers friends, relatives, and business associates is pure business gold. Positive word-of-mouth publicity generated by a satisfied customer will always be your cheapest and most effective form of adverting.
Business Tip: Work hard to develop your salon’s brand name.
Connect with Your Customers
You as a salon owner need to stay in touch with your valued customers, and make it a top priority. Think of it this way: the more you keep your salon’s name in front of customers , the more they will stay loyal to your business ,even when you lose one of your hairdresser’s to a competing salon.
The more they know about you, the more they will see you as a business that cares about them. And the more they see you as a salon owner and hears from you personally from time to time, that you care about them and value their friendship and loyalty, the more loyal they will be to your business.
There are many effective and inexpensive methods of reaching out to your current and future customers that can be accomplished through social media. Social media is a wonderful cost effectivelv platform to do the following:
- make special announcements,
- introduce new staff members,
- send personal messages of thanks to your customers,
- keep in touch with current customers,
- offer salon incentives
- broadcast press releases,
- publicize early bird specials,
- lure back lost customers,
- provide fashion and design tips,
- sell retail products,
- write a blog offering beauty tips or other information,
- measure customer retention,
- ask for customer feedback,
- build name recognition, and
- improve your market position in the community.
A Powerful, Communication Strategy Will Help You Gain a Competitive Edge
Regular, ongoing communication with your customers is a powerful marketing strategy little known and rarely used by your competitors, and one that will help your salon stand out in the crowd.
For example, let’s say you lose one of your hairdressers to a competing salon. Your email newsletter would allow you to stay in touch with any of your clients who may follow their stylist to the new salon. Rather than lose a valuable customer, you may retain them by offering incentives to continue as customers or return to your salon with one of your other hairdressers. Let them know they are always welcomed back. This shows your potential lost customer that you value their friendship and patronage. This is the kind of personal connection your clients appreciate, and it will differentiate you from the other salons that may not communicate with their clients at all. This is also a great deterrent to staff turnover.
Most likely, you’ll find that the majority of your clients have email accounts, but for those who don’t, simply send excerpts of your newsletters via direct mail, postcards, social media, or offer a printed version in your salon brochure. And if you need help writing articles or designing your newsletter, there are many cost-effective resources available. In fact, try your local college. They probably will be able to recommend a student who is proficient in this area and willing to help for little or no cost. Always look for local talent to help you with your efforts.
You may want to consider learning how to be an effective blogger.
I will be covering ways to increase salon traffic cost effectively at my 2 day business seminar in las Vegas.