June 5, 2017

Suite Success Secret #70

​7 Things Salon Suite Clients Want for Your Relationship to Grow 

THOUGHT PROCESS
Relationships are dynamic, not static. Growing your client relationships to the next level is the key to growing your business, because this is how prospects become clients, new clients return, casual clients become loyal ones, referrals are generated, and so on.
 
ACTION STEPS
Discover seven effective ways to grow client relationships proven to help increase sales and move Salon Suite clients toward loyalty and brand advocacy.
 
Success in business isn’t about selling, it’s about relationships, and relationships mature over time and experience. The Huffington Post lists five stages of relationships. As they would relate to a Salon Suite, they can be defined as:

  • curiosity – based on some kind of attraction, a prospective client wants to know more about what you and your Salon Suite has to offer
  • exploratory – based on their desire to know more about your Salon Suite, the new client explores whether your services and products seem like a good fit for them
  • familiarity – your new client is fairly confident they have found the products and services they were looking for in your Salon Suite
  • vulnerability – either your Salon Suite or the client is out of sync, with one wanting a deeper relationship and the other party not sure (or backing away)
  • intimacy – both Salon Suite and client are committed to one another, are likely to continue their relationship over the long term, and will give preferential treatment to one another

 
As a Salon Suite owner, you have to connect with prospective clients, arouse their curiosity, show them  how your products and services are a good fit and get them plugged in to those services that best-meet their needs. Once your relationships are established, you have to continue to nurture them in order to ensure they keep growing over the long term. Ultimately, you hope to move your client to the point that they feel committed to your Salon Suite and their affinity for your brand translates into word of mouth and referrals.
 
There are seven things that you can do as a business owner to establish and cultivate relationships toward these goals, taken from a RAIN Group study about what it takes to succeed in sales.
 
1. Connect with People
 
This is where you introduce your Salon Suite to new clients through offline and online marketing or where they discover your brand through some other means, such as a personal referral from someone they know. This is also where that first spark of attraction is generated, which creates curiosity (the motivation for the client to find out more about your Salon Suite.
 
2. Connect the Dots
 
This is the point where you have listened and are able to connect the dots between the client’s needs and your products and solutions, and successfully communicate this to them.
 
3. Rise to the Top
 
Prospective clients may be considering multiple options. Rising to the top is about telling them why your Salon Suite is the best choice for them, not just a good choice. In marketing this is often referred to as differentiation, or the things that set your brand apart from any other option.
 
4. Minimize Risk
 
You already know that some people are bold and brave when it comes to beauty services and others are reluctant to take risks or make changes. Demonstrate your expertise, build trust and inspire confidence to minimize any perceived risk a client has in switching to your Salon Suite or trying a new service or product.
 
5. Set the Expectation of Success
 
It’s not just about minimizing risk. To get prospects or existing clients to take actions you want them to take, they must also be persuaded that the results will be worthwhile. This is also an area where perceived value comes into play, since results may not just be measured in actual outcomes, but in whether a client perceives that they are getting the better end of the deal; i.e., they are getting the most bang for their buck.
 
6. Educate
 
Many of your Salon Suite clients want you to do more than fulfill what was discussed during a consultation or delivering the same service appointment after appointment. They are also looking to you – as the expert – for new ideas and information that can help them continually improve their look and outcomes. Based on what you know about each client, you can even put a plan together so that you have a continuing dialogue at each appointment about products and services. You can also reinforce this conversation in between appointments with email and social media marketing.
 
7. Collaborate
 
More and more North American consumers choose to do business with brands that not only personalize services but also collaborate. This is about making the client feel like they are a true partner in the process, giving them the ability to feel like they had a part in defining their Salon Suite experience and results.
 
MY SALON Suite provides Salon Suite owners with proven tools and resources they can use to move client relationships to the next level, resources that can’t be found anywhere else. If you’re ready to find out what makes Suite Ownership with us so special, visit a MY SALON Suite location in your area today. 

Back to blog