5 Guaranteed Tips To Achieve Customer Retention On Your Hair Salon Business

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Owning a hair salon is a dream for many, especially for those who are inherently interested and in love with anything fashion and beauty. Starting one, however, can be quite expensive. There’s the salon equipment you need to have. Then, on top of that, there’s the challenge with building your name. Remember that clients who approach salons usually aren’t there for something they need—it’s more for pampering, relaxation, and beauty, which, in certain economic times, can be a luxury.

Of all the numbers you should have in mind as you keep track with running your hair salon, the most important is customer retention. When client retention is high, it means customers are happy, and they’re pleased to have your salon as their go-to choice for all of their pampering needs. It’s a number that’s representative of your salon’s consistency and quality score.

As you start a brand-new year, it’s a good idea to focus on improving customer retention. Here are guaranteed tips to help you out:

1. Use The Right Tools

Using the right tools relates to managing customer support. Whenever your customers have any concerns or queries, with your salon services, are you quick to give a response? Or is your response time slow? If the latter is the case, then you’re potentially losing customers. In the fast-paced digital world of today, would-be customers want answers fast. If another salon is more amicable and responsive, then you’re losing those clients, in favor of the competition.

This is where the need to use and upgrade to the latest customer support tools and software like this barbershop appointment software comes in. These allow you to have a better response and collaboration with customers, which makes for good customer service.

2. Ask For Customer Feedback And Suggestion

Don’t take for granted the power of customer feedback. After every pampering session each client will have from your salon, make it a point to ask for feedback and suggestion. One of the key factors in better retaining your customers is in knowing how they feel. This means having a clear-cut idea of what it is that they like and dislike. Most importantly, customer feedback gives you insights on how you can smoothen or refine your approach such that you can better the needs of your customers.

Note, however, that it’s not just enough to ask for customer feedback. You have to take it one step further by closing the loop on customer feedback. This means putting into action what you know are the effective ways to keep your salon clients satisfied. If you don’t do any action, then those customer feedback will merely be useless information.

3. Offer To Pre-Book Clients

Right after each of your clients’ pampering sessions, offer to pre-book their next appointment. Don’t be pushy with this, though, as when you’re pushy, you may also just drive clients away. The key is to be friendly.

You see, right after each pampering session, clients are most likely happy with the time spent in your salon. You can always follow up with, ‘Would you like us to pre-book your next appointment, to reserve that slot for you?’ That way, it sounds friendly without being too pushy. And it also creates that sense of urgency that if they don’t pre-book, your salon might get too busy, wherein it’ll be challenging for them to score a time slot with you.

4. Create A Loyalty Program

Many salons today also have a loyalty program. For instance, loyalty cardholders can have a 5% discount on their next appointment. Or after ticking ten boxes on your loyalty card, you become eligible for a free haircut or nail service. Whatever your perk is, the point is for you to reward your loyal customers. This can help entice them to continue coming back to your salon for more services.

Just make sure the loyalty program you’ve come up with is sustainable both for you and your clients. If your salon is still small, you don’t want to be overly generous too with your rewards. Otherwise, you may wind up losing more than actually gaining some, with a faulty loyalty program.

5. Have Surprises And Gifts

You’ve got a client that came in during their birthday. Why not reward that client with one, small, free service? Whether loyal client or not, everyone deserves to be pampered on their birthday. Offer small gifts and surprises like that, and you’re sure to have that very same client stay loyal to you.

If you’re worried about the expense of those free services, don’t fret too much. How often is it that you’ll have clients walk in for a service during their birthday? Perhaps not too frequently. So, the odds will still be in your favor to make this kind of perk work to your hair salon’s advantage.

Conclusion

When you first start with the initial stages of opening up your salon, it’s inevitable that you may have worked quite hard to attract new customers. Once your salon’s operations are in full swing and you already have quite a number of customers, then the next challenge you have to face now is in retaining those clients. When clients are happy with your services, they’ll stay and continue patronizing your salon. In a competitive business climate, clients become your assets that help your salon thrive and survive.

Written by Megan Taylor
Megan is a beauty expert who is passionate about all things makeup and glam! Her love for makeup has brought her to become a beauty pro at Glamour Garden Cosmetics.