With the rising costs of acquiring new clients, salon and spa businesses must be innovative and proactive by engaging in effective client retention and rebooking tactics. According to a recent survey, acquiring a new client can cost five times more than retaining current clients.
What is the Difference Between Client Retention and Rebooking?
Rebooking and retention go hand in hand. They have similar meanings and are both important, but there are a few key differences. Rebooking occurs when a client books any kind of an appointment or follow-up service within 24 hours after their original appointment. Retention occurs after that 24 hour time limit is up.
You will want to try to rebook clients as soon as their appointment is over as often as possible. However, this isn’t always possible. In these cases, it’s important to have various of other ways that they can rebook so they can stay in retention.
If a client has booked several appointments in advance, they are still considered rebooked after their first one is over, even if they’re not scheduling another one. Your overall goal is to get your clients to come back, by either rebooking or retention.
With the right tools and a thoughtful strategy in place, you can improve client retention at your salon or spa and reap the benefits of increased revenue and an enhanced service experience for your guests.
Here Are 9 Tips for Better Client Retention and Rebooking at Your Salon and Spa:
1. Take Advantage of Guest Surveys
Whether pre-consultation, after the first visit, or before a new service launch, surveys provide guests a chance to share feedback and any concerns they may have about the service they received at your salon or spa. This information can help you fine-tune the customer experience to be exceptional every single time.
Pro Tip: Use Meevo’s 5-Star Ratings feature to automatically alert visitors via email or text to rate their recent service during checkout. View their feedback in Meevo and choose which ratings get published. This tool helps give owners, managers, and service providers deeper insight into each individual guest experience and if there’s an opportunity for improvement.
2. Utilize Client Notes
Details, while small, can make a huge difference in making your clients feel special and important. It’s also extremely valuable for rebooking and retention. Remembering life events, beverage preferences, how a client likes her hair, and her favorite products and services can make or break your client’s return. Studies show that over 60% of consumers are more likely to become repeat customers after receiving a personalized experience.
Pro Tip: Keep your client’s file filled with notes and important information about visits, their likes and dislikes, personal interests, and anything else that might be valuable to recall during their next appointment. With Meevo’s Client Preferences tool, you can easily keep track of these important details and scratch your head a little less trying to remember each and every guest interaction.
3. Give the V.I.P Experience Every Time
Get ready to roll out the red carpet the minute guests walk through your doors! Your clients should always receive your dedicated attention and thoughtfulness, whether they’re a first-time guest or it’s their 10th visit. As consumers, we tend to make decisions based off of our emotions. Providing your guests with a warm, genuine, and truly enjoyable experience each time they visit will not only make them feel valued but will foster client retention and make them want to rebook right away.
Pro Tip: If you really want to WOW your guests, take their visit to the next level with Meevo’s 24/7 mobile capabilities. Before a client even leaves their seat, service providers can complete check out, add other services provided and any products they wish to purchase. Now that’s a 5-star experience worth coming back for!
4. Educate on Products
Build trust and become your client’s go-to expert by educating them on the products used during services. Incorporating dialogue about products during each service will help your clients feel less like they are being sold to, and more like they are being taken care of by your team. The extra retail revenue is an added bonus!
Pro Tip: Want to maximize your retail sales? Take advantage of Meevo’s email marketing platform and start promoting your products like a boss! Create engaging email campaigns your clients will love and share things like seasonal retail promotions, new product drops, irresistible bundles, product reviews, and so much more.
5. Implement Loyalty Points
What better way to rebook clients then to reward them for coming back. As consumers, we are motivated by the thought of getting something for free. Implement a loyalty rewards program, and allow clients to accrue points towards free services. They will be much more likely to come back to rack up their points. Loyalty program statistics report that roughly 74% of people participate in loyalty programs and the average consumer has 14 customer loyalty cards—let’s hope you’re one of them!
6. Create a Culture Around Rebooking
One thing your client retention strategy should always include is a rebooking discussion. When your team goes above and beyond for a new client and exceeds their expectations, they’ll not only be more likely to schedule their next appointment at checkout but also become a long-term client.
Pro Tip: With Meevo’s chairside checkout, you can easily rebook your client’s next appointment, without them having to get up and visit the front desk for scheduling. This convenient feature not only enhances the guest experience, but helps guarantee repeat business when you lock in your client’s next service.
7. Provide Small Perks
Delight your clients with additional perks such as “free add-on Tuesdays,” “Membership Appreciation Day or Week” or margaritas on your beverage menu for National Margarita Day. These extras will help entice clients to keep coming back.
Pro Tip: Offer enticing perks and boost revenue at the same time through Meevo’s eGift platform. Promote gift card sales to your guests by offering BOGO incentives around the holiday season or running a special referral reward campaign.
8. Offer Membership Programs
Secure your clients for multiple visits and keep them coming back with memberships. Beyond reoccurring revenue for your business, memberships can increase your frequency of visit, retention rate, productivity, as well as drive revenue and increase your bottom line.
Pro Tip: Increase client retention by offering your clients different Membership Options through Meevo that you can easily set up and manage. Allow your clients to share, swap, and split their packages the way that works best for them. Personalized perks like these are hard to resist!
9. Engage on Social Media
With technology, there are several platforms to connect with your customers beyond the walls of your business. Engaging with clients through your social media accounts strengthens relationships and builds client loyalty. Over 88% of the U.S. population uses social media so establishing and maintaining a presence is crucial for your beauty business!
Pro Tip: Did you know you can automate your social posting within Meevo’s Marketing Suite? Save time and effort by scheduling your posts in advance to ensure you’re consistently engaging with your customers and building more brand awareness for your business.
Maximizing Client Retention and Rebookings
Client rebooking and retention is one of the most crucial elements to growing a thriving business. How many of your new clients have returned for their second visit? How are you encouraging brand loyalty at the initial visit? Share these helpful tips with your staff so everyone on your beauty business team can keep the customer experience at the forefront of their mind!
Love these tips? Check out our recent blog on How to Attract New Clients Through Your Online Reputation next!
