Retaining Clients Key to Salon’s Success

Many assume attracting new clients is the one true path to commercial success. But in a clinical or salon setting, research and evidence show that retaining existing clients is easier and less costly, reaping the rewards for your brand and bottom line.

Up to 65-75% of a salon's business comes from existing customers. Acquiring new clients is both time-consuming and costly. It costs a staggering seven to eight times more to win a new client compared to retaining a client. Additionally, existing clients are easier to connect with and are more likely to refer family and friends to your salon or clinic.

According to Salon Marketing Creative Agency (SMC), the secret to growing any salon business is increasing the average client frequency of visits by just two visits per year. You can increase revenue by up to 30-35% by achieving this moderate goal. Most clinics don't track these statistics, but something as simple as securing a second visit of NEW CLIENTS can make a significant difference to the salon's revenue.

The Real Costs of a "Leaky Bucket" in Client Retention for Your Clinic

Referred to as the "leaky bucket" phenomenon by Vanessa McDonals, founding director of SMC, Vanessa claims most salons she has consulted with over the years retain a mere 27% or less of their new clients if they operate without a retention strategy. That means there is a massive opportunity for salon and clinic owners to work on their NEW CLIENT retention rates.

There are several KPIs recommended for embracing a client retention program.

These include:

• Measuring how many new clients you attracted in the last 12 months
• Measuring how many new clients came back for a second visit
• Calculating how many new clients didn't return at all
• Knowing the percentage of your new clients who didn't return for a second visit

The real opportunity for potential revenue growth is considering how many new clients did not return for a second visit. Then, if you and your team could work towards retaining 25% of those lost clients for the next 12 months, you would see a quantifiable difference to your business by any measure.

Strategies to Retain New Clients

Some strategies for retaining new clients, especially from their first visit, include offering a Welcome Gift Pack for new clients to redeem on their next visit. Typically a free skin service enhancer voucher included in the Gift Pack, such as an LED session - is booked with any other treatment. For some salons offering a new client a retail gift to kick-start their at-home skincare routine, a journey that will now be more closely linked to your salon works well. These offers should be tied to re-booking within a limited time to increase the client's frequency of visits.

Another interesting finding by the Salon Marketing Creative Agency is that the best time to ask for a referral is after the first appointment. Often the client is the most excited at this stage about their treatment results – and finding a new clinic. This is when clients most often leave the clinic and talk about their experience with family and friends. You can build on this by giving them a voucher for family, friends or work colleagues.

Salon Marketing Creative Agency (SMC) is introducing their New Client Experience Package (with new Client Gift Pack templates in Canva plus procedures guides). They already offer a 10% savings when people opt to pay upfront, and our readers here can use the discount code ABIC30 to save a further 30% bringing the cost down to $371.70.

For the first six to purchase, SMC's New Client Experience Package will also receive a free Client Nurture Marketing Consultation with Vanessa McDonald valued at $250.

For more information, visit: Salon Marketing Creative Agency (SMC)