Three Ways To Raise Revenues With Neighborhood Marketing
THOUGHT PROCESS: Grassroots marketing sounds good… but how do you make it work for YOU?
As a salon owner or independent salon professional, building your dream takes consistent effort. One of the best ways to improve your profits is with a neighborhood marketing plan. The intention is to entice people who live and work near your salon to become regular clients.
Done properly, a well-thought out grassroots approach – turned in a habit – will give you the best return for your efforts. But good intentions alone won’t cut it…
Four Common Mistakes Salon Owners Make:
- Being Haphazard – Not having a clear plan
- Being Impractical – Making your plan more complicated than it needs to be
- Being Unrealistic – Promoting services that are not your salon’s greatest strengths
- Being Impatient – Expecting too much too soon
Three Neighborhood Marketing Habits That WORK:
The Classic Drawing – with a Secret Purpose!
Do you know where your customers live and work? This method will reveal that secret while building your list of clients and prospects. Developing your own customer database is the foundation of grassroots marketing.How to build your list with clients who work nearby:Come up with a gift that will be valuable to the clients you want to attract – such as a free color or weave. Put out a fishbowl in your salon with a poster that says “Business Card Drawing”. Mention the gift and the date of the drawing.
It might be a good idea to make sure each person has dropped in only one card before you draw the winner! You’ll get a bigger response if you say, “Runner up prizes will also be awarded!” These could be a coupon for $10 OFF for services of $30 or more… or something like that.
The Secret Purpose: Don’t stop there! After the drawing, take a look at the business cards. Where do your clients work? Use a map and mark each location with a pin. Do you have several clients from one business? Encourage referrals by offering “office specials” to first-time visitors. Find out if these businesses would like to become your Avatars.
Where do they live?
The next time you run the drawing, ask for home addresses and provide a note card for them to fill out. Be sure to include a line for their email. After the drawing, plot these visitors on the map with a different color to find out where your clients live.
This is valuable information. Is there a neighborhood where you could spend more time marketing? Do those locations have a community board or local paper where you could advertise?
Be sure to add these names, addresses, and emails to your marketing list!
The Salon Business Card Handshake
Would you like to know how to grow your list in a way that gives you lots of clients come back again and again? The method I’m going to tell you about now will help you to develop personal relationships with people you’d like to serve. By taking this approach, the potential client will feel like they’ve received a special offer from you, the salon owner!
How to attract new clients like crazy:
First, make sure you have your salon business cards printed. Just before handing someone your business card, turn it over and personally write an offer on the back while they look on. Be sure to sign it! If you make it a habit to do this at least twice a day, except Sunday, you’ll get 12 new contacts a week – 50 every month! As you hand this personalized business card to your future customer, say this short greeting:
“Hi there. My name is (name), the owner of (name) Salon in (name) Shopping Center. (Shake hands) Have you ever been there before? Do you like getting pampered in a private salon? Well, you’re going to like coming here. Why don’t you just come on in sometime and get a free service. (Take out a business card and write your offer on the back.) Have a free (specific) service on me. It’s best to call to make an appointment first. See you soon!”
The Salon Client Hot List
Find out which clients would like to be on your HOT LIST to receive specials. One great way to keep your chair full is to give a discount to people who can come in on short notice. When you have a cancellation or an open spot – you call them.
You both win! They spend a little less, and your chair is never empty.
Find out more about The Suite Life and schedule a tour at your local MY SALON Suite today!