How to Surprise and Delight Your Clients

The world of salons and spas is a busy place. You need to make sure that you’re doing things for your clients that other salons aren’t. Stick out from the crowd (for good reasons!) and show your clients that you appreciate their business.  Don’t worry about having to spend a fortune either, you’d be surprised by how little it costs to make their day.

Read on to discover some tricks on how to surprise and delight your clients, so that they keep coming back!

1. Cleanliness is next to godliness

One of the first things most clients will notice, is the state of your space. A filthy, cluttered salon is not a good first impression to be making. You may think that cleanliness may be standard for all salon, but you’d be surprised how many business don’t treat this as priority.

Make sure that you invest into making your space look nice, and not like a fast-food restaurant. This means clean and modern decor and proper, tidy facilities. Any area where you really invest in will be noticed by your clients. Think about times where you’ve been impressed by a nice restaurant for example, and imitate them. Did they have fancy towels? Perhaps they offered a nice hand cream alongside fragrant soap in the bathroom?

The most important thing however, is a cleaning schedule. Even if you have cleaners come overnight, you’ll need to clean up during the course of the day as well. At the very least, have employees check to see if the bathroom is clean every hour and wipe down surfaces.

2. Greet regulars by name

Your regulars are the reason you’re able to keep your doors open, so it only makes sense that you show them gratitude by taking the time to learn their names. This might come naturally to some, but certain employees may need to be reminded. Using client’s (correct!) names shows them that you care and that you really appreciate their business. It will also go a long way in convincing them to not visit any other salons or spas.

Make sure that you’re coaching your stylists on the importance of taking the time to learn their client’s names as well as addressing their clients as soon as they come through the door. Remind them to look at the appointment calendar every morning to see who is coming in.

Timely’s new photos feature can help you match faces to names!

3. Treat new clients like regulars

You only get regulars by treating your new clients well! Whenever a new client visits your salon, they’re looking for reasons to come back. As long as you’re providing a top-notch service, you’re in the running for them to become a regular.

If you want to take it a step further, send new clients a thank-you SMS or email after their first visit. You can set this up as an automated follow-up message within Timely. Once you’ve set it up, all new clients will get a lovely message after their first appointment.

4. Kid’s area

It won’t be news to you that many clients bring their children along when they’re getting their hair and/or nails done. It’s also a hassle having to get them to behave and not cause a ruckus in the shop.

Many parents would be pleasantly surprised to find a salon that offers a play area for their children to entertain themselves while they fully relax.

As long as you have the extra space for it, get some toys and board games for the kids so they don’t get bored. Another option is to have a TV showing children shows if you can’t spare much space. Whatever you do, it’s sure to surprise and delight your clients and their kids!

5. Umbrella stash

This one is bound to surprise people. We’ve all been there though; we go to the salon, spent time getting our hair/nails done, and right when you’re on the way to leave, it starts pouring down rain.

Instead of having your clients risk messing up what they’ve just had done, offer them an umbrella! They’ll be able to keep dry and will have new found respect and loyalty towards your salon.

You can buy umbrellas fairly cheaply, even if their quality isn’t the best. Alternatively you can probably pick some decent ones up from a thrift store. If you want to go the extra mile, you could buy new ones and have your salon’s logo printed on them for extra marketing.

The definition of a surprise is the unexpected.

Being able to delight your clients in these ways is sure to increase the chances of them becoming regulars. Whether you follow these tips or come up with some of your own, the simple fact that your thinking about surprising and delighting your clients is a good sign. Wherever you invest your energy, your clients are bound to notice.