How to Increase Bookings With Better Salon Customer Retention in 2024?

For salon owners, the importance of salon customer retention cannot be understated. Salons need to be able to retain customers, building loyalty among their clients in order to boost profits, gain referrals, strengthen their marketing strategies, and even make some new friends along the way.

But what exactly is salon client retention? What advantages does it offer and how can a salon owner quantify and measure their own client retention rate? This guide will answer those questions, as well as providing you with some key strategies to boost your own salon client retention rate.

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1. What Is Salon Customer Retention?
2. Why Is Customer Retention Important
3. Salon Customer Retention Rates And How To Measure Them?
4. How Can Salons Improve Their Salon Retention?
5. Conclusion

What Is Salon Customer Retention?

Let's begin with a simple definition of salon customer retention so you know exactly what it is. In simple terms, salon client retention refers to your salon's ability to keep or retain the clients you have. It's about getting clients coming back to your place again and again. The opposite of salon client retention would be client churn or client defection, which is when clients of salons and spas stop using your business and search for products and services elsewhere.

Why Is Customer Retention Important?

So why does salon client retention matter? Well, there are many potential benefits to be enjoyed when you have a good client retention rate and can make sure clients keep coming back to your business.

Profits

One of the most obvious benefits of client retention is more money. If salon clients return to your place over and over, they’ll be investing money each time, thereby boosting your weekly, monthly, and annual revenue. Just a 5% boost in retention can lead to profit increases of up to 95%. What’s more, an existing client will be more than 50% more likely to try a new service compared to a new client or first-time client.

Referrals

There’s also a stronger likelihood of client referrals when you have lots of loyal customers. Clients who are loyal to your brand will be more likely to recommend it to other people, either in person or over social media. This can help you get more new clients and first-time client arrivals, as well as repeat clients.

Marketing

Marketing can also be improved with increased customer loyalty, as loyal clients will do your marketing for you by showing off their nails and hair, telling their friends about it, sharing photos on social media, and so on. Studies show that marketing with the help of existing clients, otherwise known as relationship marketing, can be hugely important in terms of business growth.

Salon Customer Retention Rates And How To Measure Them?

It’s clear that the importance of salon customer retention strategy for modern-day salons and the people who run them is not something to be taken lightly. But how do you actually measure the rate of client retention for hairdressers and businesses in the salon industry?

Well, it's important to have some sort of system in place to measure how much loyalty your salons’ customers are showing. Otherwise, you won't really know whether or not your business is hitting its targets. A system of measurement can help you make sure you're on track to amassing enough loyal customers to grow the business.

Key Metrics Impacting Salon Customer Retention:

• Rate of salon occupancy
• Rate of re-booking
• The number of client consultations conducted
• Client pre-booking rates

Keep track of these numbers to see how well your salon is attracting new clients and encouraging loyal clients to return. You might also want to set up a salon loyalty program. A loyalty program will make it easier to keep track of how often clients are returning to your business. It’s also a good way to attract new clients too.

It's also a good idea to have some targets in mind, so you know what percentages and figures are classed as adequate and which areas need improvement. The general benchmarks for the salon industry are as follows:

• New Client Retention: 30%
• Existing Client Retention: 68%
• Overall Client Retention: 58%

How Can Salons Improve Their Salon Retention?

The importance of salon customer retention policy is clear to see. But how do you actually build up your client retention numbers and client engagement levels to make clients feel motivated to request your business' services and products time and time again? This section of the article will look at some key strategies, from social media tips to customer consultations.

Hygiene And Comfort

Hygiene and comfort really matter when you’re running a salon or spa business. Dirty and badly-maintained locations aren’t likely to have many repeat customers, and failing to keep your location clean and tidy is a great way to prevent people from making repeat visits to your location.

So one of the first tips is to make sure that your premises are kept clean and organized at all times. Comfort matters too, so consider investing in quality chairs and couches to make the place feel cozy, and add extra luxuries like coffee makers and magazines for every client to read.

Customer Consultation

Want to know how to turn new customers into loyal clients and increase salon clientele? You can start by strengthening your relationships with them and talking to them more. Ask for their opinions on things, especially new clients who are visiting for the first time.

Carry out effective consultations to get the client experience off to a good start, finding out what your customer wants, what sort of style they have, and so on. It’s a proven fact that people feel more valued if they are asked for their input and listened to.

First Impressions

In this business, first impressions really matter. A new client will form an opinion about a place quite quickly after walking in, and you need to provide them with a positive experience from the first moment to the last in order to motivate them to come back to you for more and more, every time they need services like haircuts and manicures.

Ask For Pre-Booking

Asking clients to pre-book is a key part of effective salon management. And contrary to popular belief, the majority of customers appreciate a pre-book offer. It shows them that you value their loyalty and it makes it easier for them to keep track of their own hair and beauty schedule too.

So, at the end of each appointment, ask your client if they’d like to book their next appointment right away.

Give Rewards

As stated earlier on, loyalty programs and rewards are a super way to encourage folks to come back for more products and more services. As well as loyalty programs, you can also offer guests gifts and surprise bonuses on special days, like their birthday.

When new clients arrive, you can ask for some simple information like name, email, website, date of birth, and so on. If you have their email address, you can send them a little birthday greeting, newsletter messages with promo codes, or other bonuses for loyal customers.

Retail Sales

Studies have shown that retail sales can also be helpful in terms of encouraging guests to return to your salon/spa in the future. So consider adding some retail products to your location and offering them to clients.

Customers might like to come back to you to get certain shampoos or conditioners, for example, and they’ll usually be interested to take a look at any new products you have in store on repeat visits. All of this can help to improve their experience at your location.

Ask For Feedback

Another essential aspect of good salon management is being able to listen to people, not just your staff, but your customers too. Don’t be afraid to ask guests what they like about the place and what they feel could be improved.

You can conduct little surveys, suggestion boxes, or set up a simple Q&A form to send to your customers’ email addresses, giving them away to share their views. You can also get brand ambassadors to call clients up after an appointment and see how they’re enjoying the product or service you provided.

Incentivize Your Staff

You have to think about your staff members, too, in terms of boosting loyalty and building your brand. If you can encourage staff to work harder and provide better experiences, the whole business will benefit as a result. In a way, your staff can do a lot of your marketing strategy for you, if they’re incentivized.

So search for ways to reward staff for good actions and be friendly and accessible for them. Offer flexible hours, good wages, positive working experience, and welcoming workplace culture to give them lots of reasons to work hard for you each day.

Regular Client Engagement

Engaging with customers is another way to show them that your business is the best one for you. Engagement can come in many forms, such as personalized thank you notes with the customer name at the top to birthday greetings, and so on.

This is why it’s important to try and get client details so that you can contact them with news and personalized messages. Ask for their name and email address as you offer them to join your loyalty program.

Use Salon Software

In the modern world, businesses of all kinds are making use of software solutions to work better each day, and you can do the same. Salon software can be hugely beneficial in countless ways, from managing your schedule and automating invoices to improving customer management and giving marketing a boost too.

Conclusion

Overall, it's clearly vital for every owner to understand the importance of salon customer retention. It makes a massive difference and could be the "make or break" factor that helps your business survive tough times and prosper into something great.

And if you love these ideas or have some other ideas that you've used in the past to promote your salon business, why not share them with the Zolmi community in the comment section below. We would also be delighted to answer your questions, as well.

Citations

An approach to increase customer retention and loyalty in B2C world
https://www.academia.edu/download/40340132/ijsrp-nov-2012-print.pdf#page=607

Customer retention: A usage segmentation and customer value approach
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/palgrave.jt.5740051

Relationship marketing: Gaining competitive advantage through customer satisfaction and customer retention
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8P