How to boost client retention as a Hairstylist or Barber

Customer retention is an important business strategy which includes all actions taken by a business to ensure that existing customers keep coming back. It’s a well-established fact that significantly more resources are spent on attracting new customers than on retaining existing customers. Businesses should therefore pay special attention to customer retention. Here are some tips we’ve put together to help you keep your customers coming through your salon or barbershop door:

The most obvious but often overlooked : create a nice environment

Create a friendly, welcoming environment. Customers want to feel comfortable entering your business. First and foremost, they want their experience with their stylist or barber to be a pleasant one which includes professional and competent services from a person they can trust. A clean, welcoming environment is also extremely important, and this is especially true during the current pandemic. Customers want to know that you’ve taken all necessary measures to ensure their safety. Wearing face masks, thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting between clients and maintaining social distancing whenever possible are all extremely important.

Offer incentives regularly

Offer special promotions on future visits. Promotions let customers know that you appreciate their past business and want to reward their future business. And who can refuse a great deal? Ideas for promotions include:

- Loyalty programs or punch cards

- Free or discounted services with the purchase of another service

- Holiday promotions to bring customers back throughout the year

- Discounts offered to repeat customers on a first appointment for a service not previously received

Offer easy rebooking and thorough follow-up. You want to make it easy for customers to return to your salon or shop for future appointments. If booking is a difficult process, they will go elsewhere. Make sure to offer rebooking upon checkout or have a user-friendly booking platform or plug-in on your website. Use it to highlight the additional services you offer. This will encourage existing customers to try new services. You can also send reminder emails to your customers, letting them know when they might be due for a service. And make sure your platform allows you to automatically send appointment reminders with the option of confirming or rescheduling in order to optimize your schedule and avoid last-minute cancellations.

And remind them of you as often as you can

Out of sight means out of mind. Encourage your customers to follow you on social media and use it to keep your salon or barbershop top of mind. This will keep them coming through your door. You can use your page to promote new techniques, new products, new services, events, etc.

Most of these suggestions also hold true for mobile salons and barbershops. Through you don’t have a physical space for customers to come to (instead, you go to them), creating a pleasant and safe experience, offering deals and promotions on future bookings, offering convenient rebooking and follow-up, and using social media to keep your services top of mind can all serve to increase customer loyalty.

There are many ideas for maximizing customer retention, but there are no shortcuts. The suggestions listed here can go a long way in getting customers to keep coming through your door, but they don’t allow you to forget that first and foremost, it’s the quality of your services that are at the core of your business. Pay attention to that, employ these suggestions, and enjoy your continued success!

If your are thinking of becoming a mobile hairstylist or barber, follow the link for a bigger picture.