Are salon loyalty schemes worth it?

With energy bills rising, salon recruitment struggles emerging and flu season approaching, it’s understandable that you would want to keep your regular clients coming back to you, whilst also attracting new ones. One common approach to achieving this is through a salon loyalty scheme – but are they really worth it? HJ spoke to Leo McCallum, owner of ROAR Hair and Beauty, to find out.

ROAR’s Approach

At ROAR we work constantly with promotions and our loyalty program. For example, we have our ‘ROAR recommended a friend’, where the new guest receives £10 off any service and the regular guest receives 100 loyalty points to spend in salon whenever they choose. We have always worked with a referral program, and it has always been successful. However, we have most certainly seen guests booking extra visits due having loyalty points, as this can help to lower the cost of their favourite services.

The Benefits

We love change at ROAR; we are always up for trying new promotions and we regularly update these using our salon software Zenoti, which is perfect for promotions in salon. There are certainly pros to a salon loyalty scheme – it does, of course, increase client loyalty – however the points do mean that your clients are spending less on some visits. I think it’s worth highlighting that we as owners have to spend money to make money.

Alternatives To Salon Loyalty Schemes

At ROAR we also take other approaches, in addition to our salon loyalty scheme, to encourage rebookings. If we have a client booked in for a haircut, and they then book in for a colour service within a two week period, we like to waive the styling charge as a thank you for the guest. These little gestures built a relationship and breed loyalty with your salon’s clients! Meanwhile, here's how to make your salon stand out from the crowd.