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A primary goal of any hair salon owner is to build a loyal following of regular customers. But to build a long-term business relationship with your customers, you need to be able to attract them back to your salon again and again. When it comes to attracting customers back to your salon after their first visit, your first instinct may be to run a special discount or promotion to earn a return appointment. While discounts and promotions are an effective way to expand your client base, it’s important that you know they aren’t your only option.

Today, MyCuts will discuss five ways to attract customers to your hair salon without necessarily running discounts. These tips revolve around building trust with your clients and letting them know that you care about them as individuals, not just another customer. By using these strategies, you can quickly and easily build a loyal following of clients that will revisit your business again and again. Let’s get started!

1. Build Trust With Your Client

Whether it involves discussing trends, sharing haircare hacks, or introducing how-to videos to your clients, you should use every opportunity to communicate with them to build trust. When you show your clients that you genuinely care about them, even aside from a business relationship, they’ll be much more likely to return to you in the future. Thoroughly communicate with every client, get to know them, and show them you care. Your customers will come to trust you and metrics like re-bookings, referrals, and retention are all dependent on how much your clients trust you.

2. Send a Personalized Congratulations

Sometimes the smallest gestures make the biggest impression on your clients. Keep good notes on important dates in their lives, such as their anniversary. Send them a personalized "happy anniversary" message through email. To really make a good impression, include a gift card in the message. Show your clients you remember them and care and they’ll be sure to return to your hair salon.

3. Offer a Free Consultation

Another way to get your clients to return without necessarily offering discounts is by providing them with a consultation free of charge. Free consultations are a great idea for hairstylists that offer the flexibility of meeting either in-person or virtually depending on what your client prefers.

The key to using free consultations to keep your clients engaged is that you’re offering something for nothing, but that something has a very high perceived value. Use the consultation to demonstrate your ability to truly listen to your client’s concerns while sharing your extensive knowledge about the specific services and treatments that will work best for them. This strategy carries the opportunity to really sell your services and products, so take it seriously. All the while, you’ll be giving your client more and more reasons to become a return customer.

4. Send “Checking In” Messages

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to offer kind words to your clients that don’t carry an agenda. Something along the lines of “Hello! How are you? We were thinking about you and just wanted to see how you’re doing” can go a long way in making your client feel cared about. When sending these messages, it’s a good idea to include some questions related to your products and services, such as “ Is there anything we can do for you?”. In this way, you invite your clients to reach out to you while encouraging friendly conversation which can translate into a new booking.

5. Make Announcements About Last-Minute Availability

Finally, keep your clients up to date on your availability. You can use social media to announce when you have openings to drum up appointments. The occasional and well-timed “We have unexpected openings today, hit 'Book Now' and make your appointment” can be very effective.

Remember, however, that posting about availability or sending these types of messages too frequently can create the wrong impression that you’re not an in-demand hair salon. The goal is to make these openings in your schedule appear to be a special opportunity that your repeat customers can’t pass up. When used effectively, this is a great way to get your customers to return to your salon!

Take Care of Your Return Customers With the MyCuts App

Now that you know some of the best strategies for getting customers to return to your salon without necessarily offering discounts, it’s time to entrust a company that can help you manage your busy schedule! Our hair salon scheduling app is built to make the busy hair salon owner’s life much easier.

The MyCuts app offers a revolutionary way for hair salon owners to manage their bookings with ease. Not only does our app make it easy to schedule and keep track of upcoming appointments, but you can also send customized text and email appointment confirmations and reminders to put an end to money-draining no-shows once and for all! Try the MyCuts app for free today! You’ll be glad you did.