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Love Thy Client Part One

Providing excellent customer service is essential to your salon's success. In the first part of this two-part series, marketing consultant Sharleen Hunter explains why looking after the client is so important.

How well do you treat your clients? Does everyone on your team make each client feel special and valued each and every time they visit your salon? Or is customer service something that is practised by just one or two client-focused staff?

As obvious as this maxim may sound, it bears repeating: the client is your most important asset. Whether your salon has the best stylists, uses the best products, and has an interior to die for, if you do not look after your clients, that beautiful, talent-filled salon cannot survive.

So what, then, are the benefits of customer service? In this month's article we will look at why providing excellent customer care will make your salon more successful.

Benefits of Client Retention

A growing salon needs to attract new clients, but acquiring them (through marketing and advertising) can be an expensive business. So before you start looking outside the salon for that extra income, stop. To increase your sales and introduce more clients to more services, you don't need to look far to find the perfect market - just consult your existing client records.

Developing relationships and loyalty with your existing clients will not only make you more money, it will also save you money. That is because loyal clients spend more, cost less to serve and are more likely to recommend your salon to others. In fact, research shows that it can be up to ten times more costly to recruit a new client than it is to keep an existing one. Therefore, rather than spending precious time and money trying to attract new clients, start by caring for those you already have, and your marketing efforts will be much more successful.

The Right To Choose

Providing excellent customer service also contributes to success by giving your business a real competitive advantage. With over 40,000 hairdressing and beauty salons in the UK, clients are truly spoilt for choice. Whether you are based in a small town or a big city, a competitor's salon is not likely to be far away, so you need to stand out from the crowd.

Modern day clients are intelligent. They know they have a choice and they will no longer accept poor service or an indifferent attitude. Your clients will compare your salon to others to find out who will offer them the best all-round service. If your prices and the overall customer experience are equal to those of your competitors your clients are sure to remain loyal.

However, if they believe that you have taken them for granted, rest assured that it will not be long before they seek out a competitor who provides them with better service.

A Client For Life

Recognising your clients' lifetime value is also vital to securing long-term growth. For example, if a client who has a £30 cut and blow dry every six weeks suddenly takes their business elsewhere, at first, that loss may not seem significant. However, if the client stays in the area for five years, that's over £1,300 of lost revenue. Lose just one client a month over five years and that figure rises to over £15,000! What's more, if they believe that your service was not up to standard, departing clients certainly won't keep it to themselves. On average, a dissatisfied customer will tell at least nine other people, generating negative publicity for your salon and costing you much more in the loss of potential sales, something that no salon can afford!

How To Show Them You Care

Once you appreciate the value of your clients, how do you ensure that they know just how much you care? And how can you help your clients become ambassadors who have positive things to say about you and your salon to everyone they meet?

In our next issue, Sharleen will reveal five simple, yet effective ways to keep your clients coming back for more!