Know Your Clients: The Secret to Increasing Sales in Your Salon

Why is it valuable to know your clients better?

Getting to know your client's needs, preferences and habits is the secret to increasing sales in the beauty industry. But how can a professional leverage this knowledge to encourage new clients to book treatments at their salon? Get to know your regular and potential clients, and learn how to use that knowledge to grow your revenue like never before! 

A careful analysis of your customer's needs and behaviors can provide you with key insights that you can use in a variety of ways. This information will help you:

• Find out which clients use your services more often, how they found your salon, and which services they are most likely to choose
• Reach out to people similar to your loyal clients, based on their preferences
• Increase sales with current clients
• Reduce the cost of advertising by directly reaching the potential clients that are most interested in your services
   

Each of these subjects requires the use of special strategies and tools, which will be covered in this article.

What do you need to know about your clients? And how can you get this information?

1. Your Client List

One of the most important sources of information about your customers is your Booksy Client List. You can use Client Tags to make note of any important information. Besides a client’s booking history, you should also take a look at:

• How they found your business: This will help you know what kind of marketing was most effective. 
• Their occupation: This will help you tailor services and potential Add-ons based on the client’s lifestyle. 
• Treatment history. This lets you know which services they are most interested in and helps you make recommendations for new services. 
• Product purchases. This information can help inform which products you choose to carry, as well as future product recommendations.

You can use all of this information to develop a loyalty program or set up Packages and Memberships for your clients.  

Knowing your client is key to increasing sales for your salon. But the information you gather will only be valuable if you are updating it regularly—which can be hard in a busy salon environment. This process is a lot easier with an automated, efficient tracking system like Booksy Client Cards.

2. Face-to-face interaction

Your client's first visit to the salon is the perfect time to get to know them. You should ask questions during the appointment, throughout the service, and when saying goodbye. It is very important to use any opportunity to get to know your client as much as possible. But of course, remember that they are there to relax, so be mindful not to flood them with too many questions. If all goes well, you’ll have plenty more opportunities to get to know that client.

The goal of asking these questions is to find out more information about the client, their lifestyle, and preferences. This often involves some reading between the lines. For example, if a client:

• Tells you about shopping sprees or expensive trips they have planned, chances are they can afford high-end treatments
• Says they discovered your salon because they go to the gym next door, this can be a lightbulb moment for you to partner with that business on a promotion or offer
• Says they have a hectic job, they’re probably interested in relaxing or soothing treatments like a massage or facial
• Has a major event coming up (like a wedding), you can offer a special package designed for that occasion

You’ll also want to ask your client some questions about your salon. For example:

• How did they find out about your business?
• Have they seen your social media posts?
• Are there any other services they are interested in?
• What was their booking experience like, and what kind of booking experience do they prefer?

Like more and more people today, your clients might prefer booking online to calling, texting, or DMing to book. If you’re regularly getting this kind of feedback from clients, consider setting up online booking through Booksy.

Finally, remember to record any relevant information right at the end of the visit, especially if you have multiple staff members who may be working with the client in the future. The most convenient way to do this is through Booksy salon management software, where you can quickly add Client Tags to the client’s profile in your system. No detail is too small if it’s relevant to the client experience and providing better services—even things like their favorite tea or what show they’re currently watching. The next time they walk in your door, greet them with their preferred beverage and ask about the latest episode. They’ll appreciate you for remembering, and they’ll be a lot more likely to return for another visit.

3. Social media analytics

Your experience working with clients allows you to better understand them and their needs—but did you know you can also obtain this information through social media? It’s more technical than having a face-to-face conversation with a client, but it’s well worth it. Chances are you or your staff already post photos, offers, events, and new services on your social media accounts. But how do you know exactly what customers are interested in? Fortunately, most social media sites offer analytics about your posts, including views, shares, likes, and comments. You can use this data to:

• Learn what kinds of content your audience is interested in. For example, if a post did not get many likes or comments, it means it had low value to them. But if a post had many saves and shares, this is probably the type of content you should focus on. 
• Launch effective marketing campaigns. If a post promoting a new service or product got great engagement, it’s safe to say your audience wants to see more of this type of content

Once you’ve mapped out your social media strategy, use Booksy’s Social Post Creator to easily create and post content straight to your social media accounts. You can share photos of your work, 5-star reviews, special offers, announcements, and so much more.

4. Customer feedback

Every salon professional loves getting 5-star reviews, but you should also ask yourself whether you’re taking full advantage of the power of customer feedback. Savvy business owners know that customer reviews are a goldmine for generating more business—so don’t overlook this important part of knowing your clients. Positive reviews serve as social proof to encourage new clients to visit your salon. Even negative reviews can be constructive if they help you improve and address potential issues.

When it comes to feedback and reviews, it is important to be responsive and listen to your clients. Address negative reviews as quickly as possible, especially if the review is online and visible to a large number of people.

Feedback comes in many forms:

• Face-to-face conversations, although this feedback may not always be honest
• Reviews on online platforms like Google and Yelp, which may or may not be anonymous
• Comments posted on social media
• Reviews on your booking platform, such as Booksy Reviews

The information you gain from customer feedback, whether positive or negative, can help you make positive changes and identify opportunities for growing your business. It can indicate which offers, services, or products are most valuable to your clientele and help create more effective marketing campaigns.

Want an easy marketing hack? Use Booksy’s Social Post Creator to share your most stellar Reviews directly to social media in just a few clicks.

5. Putting it all together

By now, you probably understand that the better you know your clients, the easier it will be to increase sales in your salon.

The best way to get a complete picture of your clients’ preferences and engagement with your salon is to combine the data from social media, online reviews, and the Booksy platform. All of these channels work together in a seamless loop—collecting data, helping you make informed business decisions, and attracting new clients (and new information).

What can you do with all this data? Build customer groups for better communication and targeting. With Booksy salon software, you can group clients according to any criteria that makes sense for your business. For example, you can create a list of clients who have not visited your salon for the last 3 months, and use Message Blasts to send targeted promotions to get them back in the door. And for those VIP clients who appreciate more individual attention, you can always tailor personalized offers.

Knowing your clients and their preferences, and leveraging all the tools at your disposal, is an important tool for improving your marketing, attracting more clients, and increasing your salon revenue. But collecting and using all of this information manually would be time-consuming for anyone, but especially for a busy salon owner. Booksy allows you to quickly capture data, create client groups, and automate marketing—so you can focus on delivering the best possible client experience.