Nurturing Client Relationships

I read this article and wanted to share it with you as I spent many years in beauty retail and I can relate so well to the plight of trying to source new clients. I learnt the hard way that the emphasis, effort and finance I exhausted trying to find new clients would have been better spent on servicing and retaining the ones I already had.

While I do believe it is important to grow your business there are some smarter not harder ways to go about it. If you want more roses in your garden you could take up more space and give yourself more work by planting more or you could tend to your existing rose bushes, sit back and watch them produce more roses.

Francis Acunzo (FXA), Founder & CEO of Acara Partners who specialise in development, management and marketing services to the Medical Spa Industry has some very valid points below and I hope they assist you to make smarter more productive choices for your spa or salon. Enjoy!

At times it seems that we are so caught up in generating the next client that we lose sight of the client’s that are right in front of us, the people who have invested their time and money to become a client at your spa already. They are your marketing ambassadors, an actual walking advertisement for your business. As you know it is cheaper to keep a client than to advertise to reach a new one. 

Your goal is to nurture, maintain and retain your current clients

• Repeat clients spend 33 per cent more than new clients.
• Referrals among repeat clients are 107 per cent greater than non-clients.
• It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to an existing client.

So how do you harness your customer and not let them slip away?

Remember, a spa or salon does not make a buying decision – a client does. Their buying decisions are a culmination of many factors, but once they have committed to working with you, your job doesn’t stop there. Personalising their experience is where it matters most. Remember that people want to feel important; to know that when they walk in the front door of your spa or salon they matter and you care.

You want to build a sustainable relationship with your clients and the best way to do this is through effective client building.

Key Points

• Be sure to gather enough personal information through your sales process
• Record all birthdays, special anniversaries in your computer system
• Follow through with personalised cards and notes 
• Know about your clients children, family, pets, hobbies and interests, anything you can use for conversation
• All therapists should greet clients by name and ask a conversational prompt-such as ‘ Hello Mrs. Smith, lovely to see you, beautiful weather today, any special plans for the weekend?’
• Always treat your clients with integrity and respect
• Ensure that each client has the best experience they can, and that each visit has a consistent level of quality

There are many opportunities to reward and nurture the client relationship; the above are just a few. Nurturing your clients will be your best form of marketing. They will share their experiences and ultimately bring future business through your door.