Using technology to reinforce client loyalty

How can you use technology to reinforces client loyalty? Trevor Jennings, general manager of Shortcuts offers valuable advice. The most valuable client for any salon is the loyal client, the one who keeps coming back year after year. The statistics prove it: 80 per cent of your future revenue is likely to come for 20 per cent of your existing clients; it costs five times more to attract a new client than to keep an existing one and, the old chestnut, a five per cent increase in client retention can generate a 25% increase in profits. Yet ensuring client loyalty still eludes so many salons, despite efforts to create a better environment and experience than their rivals. But often what they’ve failed to understand is that successful efforts to build loyalty must continue beyond the salon. Technology has made it easier to stay connected, especially with so much communication automated that clients expect it.  Here are four ways of using technology that will keep your clients coming back: Loyalty cards Those bits of tattered card with stamps were a great gimmick for a while, but their functionality was limited. Once they were handed out there was no way to monitor them until, occasionally, they were redeemed. Nowadays loyalty cards are much more sophisticated and affordable, nor are they limited to the huge companies with millions to spend. Salons of all sizes are running comprehensive, automated client loyalty programmes. All of which is recorded by your software, allowing you to plan head strategically. And it’s flexible, no longer a one-size-fits-all approach. Different points can be given for different services or products purchased; clients can be segmented into tiers and their rewards altered; different days or frequency of visit can be targeted to drive sales, and the benefits are rolling in. No-hassle marketing Instantly available records that you can segment and drill into are making it super-easy to pick up on special client dates, non-returners or high spenders. Your software should be alerting you to a client’s birthday, allowing you to quickly send out that birthday greeting, or, if you are a Shortcuts Salon with Set & Forget Marketing, it’s doing it all for you without bothering you or your staff. You can use your software to search for clients who have lagged a bit on their next appointment, allowing you to send out a missive offering a little extra something if they come back. Your software should also allow you to send regular newsletters to hone that sense of belonging and, if it includes hair advice or special offers, to give value to your clients. Priceless client recall Walking into a salon and being greeted by name or being able to continue a conversation started during the previous appointment would make anyone feel valued, but it’s difficult for receptionists and stylists to remember everyone who visits. But with digital client records, it’s possible to jot down a few notes beyond just colour formulations once they have paid and left – notes that will remind a stylist that this particular client’s husband has been ill or her daughter is getting married in the autumn. A picture from the previous appointment can also make it easier to plan how to progress the client’s style at the next one, and the receptionist can match up the picture to the person just arriving, so she can be welcomed by name. If the team can demonstrate they value a client enough to remember her, why would she ever go anywhere else? There’s an app for that The latest technologies are creating instant, constant access via clients’ smart phones, and we have seen a dramatic uptake in our recently launched customisable salon app. It means no more loading websites and navigating through to booking, yet it presents a fully branded site for clients to browse, with instant access to online booking, the ability to check services or team info or simply to review past and future appointments.