Win back non-returning clients

Have you ever bumped into someone at the supermarket or a restaurant, and thought, 'Hey, isn’t that one of my clients?' only to realise, with a sinking feeling, that you haven’t seen them in ages, and they’ve actually stopped coming to your salon?

It's a familiar scenario for many in our line of work.

Someone once told me “it is impossible to remember all of your clients, but they all remember you.” It’s a fact of life that clients come and go. But, there’s a strong case for keeping that 'going' part to a minimum, don’t you think?

Imagine for a moment: if you could communicate with every client as if you knew them personally, do you reckon you'd see them walking back through your doors more often? Picture that client you recognised in the supermarket – if they’d received just the right nudge at the right time, perhaps they would have remained loyal to your salon instead of moving on.

We often resort to 'Win Back' marketing campaigns during quiet periods, hoping to quickly ramp up sales or fill up empty appointment slots. But let's face it, this approach is more about meeting our immediate needs rather than focusing on what our clients actually want. It's a cure, not prevention.

Did you know, on average, a client visits a hairdressing salon about 6.5 times a year? That’s roughly every 8 weeks. Sure, there are exceptions, but we’re talking averages here. If this rings true for your salon, then each time a client doesn’t rebook within that 8-week window, the likelihood of them returning starts to dip.

That's exactly why we've put together the Client Win Back Road Map. Our approach starts with prevention and then moves on to the cure. In other words, we focus on reducing the number of clients who don’t return before we try luring them back. Why go down this road? Well, for starters, it’s cheaper. A client who still sees value in your service is more likely to respond to a gentle reminder than someone who's lost touch with your business and would need a much bigger incentive to come back.

In our Win Back roadmap, we begin at the point when clients are due to book but haven’t – a stage where they might be at risk of becoming non-returners. At this point, heavy incentives aren’t necessary; it's more about staying in touch and keeping the relationship alive. If a client is overdue or misses an appointment, that's when we reach out again, this time with a little something to tempt them. It's worth considering that they might just have been too busy to book, rather than having gone elsewhere. This is still in the realm of prevention. Then, when a client would typically have visited twice since their last appointment, we recommend a more enticing offer to rekindle their connection with your salon. And finally, there are always those 'cold' clients - the ones who have drifted away with no apparent intention of returning. I’ll share a story about a courageous salon owner who achieved remarkable results by targeting these super cold clients.

We’ve also included a handy download with text and email templates you can use or tweak to kickstart your own Win Back campaigns.

So, let's get started!

Download your Winback Road Map here.

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