The goal of a good stylist or wellness expert is to build a strong clientele. When you rent your chair in a salon or own your own salon suite here are some, helpful tips and things to keep your customers and bring in more.

How long does it take to build a clientele?

Creating a stable salon clientele takes up to 12 months and a loyal client base up to 24 months. With the right marketing efforts, you can achieve all this in 4-6 months.

So, how do you gain more clients for your business?

Clients always need to have a positive experience

A good experience is important for customer retention. Give your customers the best haircuts, makeup, styles, etc and they will be happy to come back. Here are some methods of customer service that improve your customer experience:

  • Be friendly and respectful
  • Be professional
  • Communicate clearly in every step you do
  • Advice clients on promotions and new products
  • Warmly greet and receive clients when they come to your salon
  • Let clients know what they expect in their bill and offer clarity where necessary
  • Schedule your client’s next appointment

It is important to understand certain patterns or trends that are a turnoff for customers. Including:

  • Poor hygiene
  • Bad attitude
  • Dirty stations and tools
  • Waiting for too long
  • Too much talk and gossips

Offer referral rewards 

When you have your own customers, it is time to seek referrals because of your experience and expertise. Always ask, if you don’t ask, you won’t receive anything. However, do not be pushy, but let the customer choose to bring new customers.

Providing customer discounts or free service is a good way to build your customer base.

Accept walk-ins

You need to consider walk-ins when you develop a customer base. Most people are extremely distracted and forget about scheduling appointments. Make sure to accommodate both scheduled appointments and walk-ins. When you meet their requirements and provide the best services, they will return.

Online advertisement

Social networks and local business sites help you grow your skills online. You may also create a website or blog to share images of the latest trends, products, and techniques.

Continue your education

The hairdressing industry is constantly evolving, and you must be up to date with the latest trends, models and products. Daily courses or training provide you with the latest trends that are appealing to many customers.

Using Apps to quickly arrange appointments

You can use applications or devices to coordinate for your customers quickly. Customers are able to plan and commit to visiting the salon at the right time.

Show off your flaws and solutions

Thinking about your shortcomings and fixing them lets you communicate with your clients.

Send customized letters to potential customers

When promoting your brand, writing letter or an email is a perfect tool. A personalized letter accompanied by a gift, a magazine or an enticing image would have a personal connection with the client. The tiny act of personal contact demonstrates consumer value.

Tell your story through Instagram stories

provide the most innovative way to develop your clientele through straightforward speech and create an audience legacy. Pairing pictures or videos and words shines the message’s intent. Your philosophy and dream must be considered.

Get involved in their community

Understand what your clients do and how and where they spend their time is the best way to create long-term relationships. Provide morning meetings to get to know them, and serve on boards and committees. The rest follows.

Ensure your salon appears on search engines

Each day, thousands of online searches are made on “salons near me” or “hairdressers near me.” When you have an outstanding website, it needs to be designed for search engines to appear on top. Unless your region has few salons, it will appear on top.

Paid searches

With paid search ads, you can increase the chance for people searching the area to find your salon. Because you pay for sales, you want your advertisements telling people who are more likely to come to your salon. Google gives advertisers an excellent opportunity to use common terms or word combinations searched by people searching for salons. To learn more about Google, read their Google Ads Guide and configure high-conversion ads. You may use Bing as an alternative, but it has a small search rate. The best thing is to get up to 75% off the first $100 advertisement bill. This means you will only spend $25 to get started with Bing Ads.

Have the local paper write about you

Newspapers writing about your salon is a long-term marketing technique. It gives your salon the right publicity, a tremendous impact. When you start and want a solid client base, being featured in a newspaper article is the best way to go. Most local media continue to cover the area’s thriving new businesses. You must activate your local network before entering a newspaper or magazine. Offer journalists the unique nuggets to write and share your story.

It’s best to have a twist to your story making it special and fascinating for any reader. When you have a straightforward idea, call the journalist and say your pitch. You can also invite them to your salon, where they can cover the entire story and experience first-hand while capturing it on video.

Most publications post on their websites. Provide a direct link to your salon website. It will not only attract more customers, but raise appointments from people who want to visit your salon.

When you get attention or are on a local magazine or newspaper cover, you’ve scored.

Conclusion

These are some ways you can start building more customer base for your business. The ultimate goal is to increase your brand, both as a person and as a company. As long as you provide amazing customer satisfaction, these are a great way to exponentially grow your business.

Know any other ways to help build your salon business? leave a comment below!