5 Steps To Supercharge Your Salon Referrals

It is no secret that “word of mouth” is one of the most effective ways to bring in new clients while simultaneously strengthening relationships with your existing customer base. But even though it is extremely powerful and virtually free (or at most costs very little), very few Salon business owners use it anywhere near it’s potential!

Consider this: if you got just one referral from each one of your clients, over the next 60 days you’d double your client base! What would that mean to your potential income and how many more clients you will be touching their lives through your services .

So, how do you maximize word of mouth in your salon business? Here are 5 Steps you can start to take right now…

1- Really appreciate your clients and let them know consistently that you value them

This is the most important, yet overlooked element of creating endless referrals. Many Salons focus more on profits than on people. Focusing on profits alone can be detrimental to success and ‘Word of Mouth’ success comes from looking beyond just profit into how you can enrich your customer’s lives. 

Action: At least once a month, take the time to communicate to your clients and show them you appreciate them. Send them something of value, something unexpected, maybe birthday gift , a special offer that is  relevant to their life events, a home care beauty tip or advice that will make their life easier thanks to you.. and do it regularly. 

 2- Create an exceptional experience each time they come to your salon

If you can make clients  get an exceptional experience, they will want to tell a lot of people. People want amazing experiences before anything else..

Action: What can you do now to add little things that make an exceptional experience? Remember, start creating exceptional experiences today, that should be your main offer. 

3- Give your customers incentives for giving you referrals

 If you’re being passive about referrals then you’re sitting on a gold-mine. Come up with ways of rewarding your clients for referring business to you. They could receive free gifts, such as a free service or a product, a certificate for a massage or a nice dinner. No matter what you choose, the key is making sure that whatever you choose to offer is something that your client will really be attracted to!

Action: Reward your clients for referring people to you. Come up with rewards that will be beneficial to your clients , If you work with clients who routinely comes for a certain service or maintenance offering her an upgraded service for the initial price might be a very motivating reward for them and better she might get hooked to that upgrade service and she would end up buying it every time ..

4- Make it easy for clients to give you referrals

 If you want to get lots of referrals, you must make it incredibly easy for your clients to tell their friends. Don’t expect them to go way out of the way to help you grow your business. Make it as simple as possible. 

Action: Develop a ‘referral package’ that you give to your clients. Ask your clients to be an ambassador for your Salon as you wish to serve more people similar to them. The package would include a professionally designed of referral cards/ invites/ links that your client can easily share with others and post to their social media accounts. Always make sure to present everything very professionally in order to increase the perceived value of your services and to put your best foot forward with your new potential clients!

5- Ask at the right time!

 When is the best time to ask for referrals? Any time! If you have followed the steps listed above…you’ve let clients know they are appreciated, you have consistently given them an exceptional experience, you have provided an enticing incentive to share your message with friends, and you have made it incredibly easy for them to do so. At this point, you should not only be able to ask your clients for referrals at any time, but you should also receive very positive results from it as well!

Action: The key is to do something now. Draft up an email/message today and just send it off to your clients letting them know how much you value them, how much you have enjoyed serving them and include something that is going to be helpful/ provide some value to their lives. Then over the next 4 to 6 weeks develop your ‘referral package’ and start to use it. Take yourself out of your comfort zone and take action…. Your Salon business and new referral clients will definitely thank you for it!

"Naim Nahedh"