How to keep your clients loyal in a non-committal era

Historically Brits are a loyal bunch - especially when it comes to their hairdresser. However, younger clientele are less loyal than their older counterparts, which can be worrying as these are the clients that you need to sustain a bond with. Here, Sean Hanna discusses the importance of creating a distinctive experience in your salon to keep clients loyal and engaged... Consumers are less loyal than they used to be. In the 1960s clients would come in for a shampoo and set or a ‘comb out’ twice a week, which meant salons needed a much smaller client base to be busy. Today, clients don’t commit to appointments in advance and prefer to book at the last minute. For this reason, it’s important to give your clientele the option to book online and to inspire them on social media. We live in a world of multiple distractions and a desire for instant satisfaction because we want everything now. Your clients are paying for a service and demand value for money. The Expected Creating an experience that combines both the expected and unexpected is key to gaining client loyalty. because client expectations are high. In the salon your clients expect to receive the following: • A good haircut • The cut they want • Professional shampoo and a head massage • Complimentary drinks selection • The right music and ambience • Complimentary magazines • Wifi access • A selection of quality haircare to use at home This list has become the norm for salons throughout the UK. To win your clients’ loyalty indefinitely, you need to go beyond the expected salon experience and create something unique. The Unexpected I remember taking my daughter to the Disneyland resort in Orlando, Florida. We stayed in one of the Disney hotels and as you would expect, the hotel was kept to a decent standard with large and spacious rooms. While we were at the park, the cleaners would come in and clean the room as expected. However, when we returned, we realised the cleaners had gone above and beyond what we expected as they had made animal figures with our bathroom flannels and written little notes for us. Each day there would be different figures and notes. My daughter was thrilled and wanted to rush back to see what had happened in her room while we were in the theme park. It was a small detail, but it was a special memory that we shared with friends when talking about our magical Disney experience. It was because the cleaners had delivered an unexpected hotel experience. I believe we can all deliver something that our clients’ won’t expect and this will make a huge impact on their experience in your salon. Of course, the unexpected soon becomes expected so it will lose some of its charm and will eventually be seen as the norm. For example, when I bought my first salon, clients would pay for tea and coffee. Only a nominal amount but it was still a charge. When we first offered complimentary drinks, it was unexpected. Clients commented on it and it had a positive impact on their experience. Over time, people just expected to receive a free drink. Eventually, it gets to the point where if we didn’t offer a selection of complimentary drinks it would deter people from visiting our salon. The unexpected had become the norm and eventually it is what clients demand from us. There have been numerous examples of this over the years. I believe we always have to be on the look out for new ways to surprise our clients and give them extras they wouldn’t expect. It’s hard to think of new ideas and it’s hard to train and motivate teams to take this notion on board. It’s hard to implement new ideas and keep them going, but I truly believe the effort is worth it. Many jobs are genuinely under threat today. Imagine being a black cab driver watching the growth of Uber or even an Uber driver watching the advance of driverless cars. There are so many jobs that will no longer exist in a decade. The best thing about hairdressing is that despite everything around us changing, our profession still relies on a one to one and hands-on service. Consumers will still go to salons, but we just need to make our salons great places to be. Good hairdressers that are prepared to go the extra mile have a great future ahead of them. This article originally appeared in the Hairdressers Journal June 2018 issue