How to connect with salon clients when you're feeling distant
Your clients and the community they provide are the heart and lifeblood of your business. When things are going well in your business, you’re feeling the love from your clients, they’re satisfied with your offerings, and you’re making good money in the process. When problems pop up, you’re quickly able to identify them and fix them. It’s all gravy!
But then there's the other side of the coin: when you feel disconnected from your clients. Maybe you’re seeing fewer sales and appointments come through. Even though you’re open again, maybe your clients have been spooked by the economic downturn, or they’re staying at home more and not visiting as often. Maybe your social media posts aren’t getting much love. You feel like your emails aren’t getting read. You try to run promotions and they don’t get much traction.
Maybe you’ve thought to yourself: What did I do wrong? Do they even like me anymore? What’s going on?!
If you've been feeling like this, I’d like you to do something for me right now: give yourself a mental hug. I want to encourage you that you’re on the right path! Your business is still relevant, you still have a loyal client base and community out there, and you’re going to be ok.
It’s just that things have changed a lot, and the truth is: yes, we are going through an economic downturn. Yes, there are so many changes in the industry and online right now. So it might be time to reconnect with your clients and adjust a few things.
It’s a super-strange time to be running a business. Consumer habits, needs and wants are rapidly changing. It’s really hard to know what will happen when you're feeling uncertain about things you might have previously felt really confident about. I get you. I’m with you. But please, don’t despair and give up! I’m here to help.
In this blog post I’m going to give you several pointers on how to connect with your clients right now. I’m going to show you how to start a positive feedback loop. You’ll get back in touch with clients who maybe haven’t heard from you in a while, and also get a good feel for what’s happening in their lives right now, and how you can serve them best.
By the end of this process, your clients will feel extremely supported and appreciated, and they’ll be brought “back in the fold” with you -- not feeling so anonymous and distant anymore. And you’ll be back in the swing of things!
Connection -> Happy customer -> Motivation and creative impulses -> More business! It’s a win-win-win-win!
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of connecting with clients, hearing back, and being reminded of why they’re your amazing customers in the first place. So let’s get started!
Warm up your clients with a personal, heartfelt email
During the COVID shutdowns, lots of salons learned that they had to double down on client communication. Since they couldn’t see their clients, they were finding new ways to connect, and one of those ways was email. Little did these salons know the power they held in their hands!
Do not pull back on emailing clients now that you’re open again. I know you might be busier than you have been in a long while, but it’s still so important to connect. Email is the best way to communicate with all your clients all at once. You get more reach than on social media. You have more people seeing your emails, opening them and reading them than with a simple Instagram post. It truly is the best way of connecting with clients, in between appointments or when you haven’t seen them for a while.
Here's the first way to show your clients how much you care: send them a simple, heartfelt email message.
Don’t worry about making it pretty. Just use simple black text on a white background. Share some things going on in your life right now. How have you been feeling? What’s new and exciting, or new and scary? You don’t have to share any major secrets or revelations, but always remember that a little bit of vulnerability goes a long way when connecting with clients.
Share a photo or two of you and your salon. Tell them how things have been in your business, and if there are new services or a new layout you’ve introduced.
At the end of your email, tell them you’ve been thinking of them (because it’s the truth) and ask them a question. How have they been? Are things starting to feel normal again in their life? What are some things they're learning about?
If you’ve been feeling like your communications are being ignored, this type of message will be a completely different experience for them. You’re not doing this to sell, to promote, or with any ulterior motive at all. You’re doing this to show your clients: Hey I’m here with you! I care about you! (These are also good examples of eye-catching subject lines you can use for your love-letter-emails to your client.)
They’ll love receiving this kind of attention, and you’ll feel great getting their responses.
Don’t overthink it and don’t second-guess your content - just send a simple email today and magic will happen.
If you’re struggling with what to put in your emails, I’ve got 3 free templates for you! These templates will give you fresh and fun ideas of what to say in your emails to clients. Download below!
Send a simple 5-question survey
If you’ve been feeling ignored, overlooked, or out of sync with clients, maybe it’s time for a change in how you’ve been communicating with them.
Case in point: my students, customers and community are beauty business owners. In the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling a disconnect. My videos and blog posts aren’t hitting where I want them to, and they’re not getting the same attention as previously.
My emails aren’t getting opened and read as much. My social posts aren’t getting the engagement I want.
This puzzled me, so I started brainstorming, and came to a quite-likely conclusion: the types of things I’m sharing these days aren’t really what my clients want to hear from me right now. I usually write about growing clientele, but it’s possible that growing a client base is not a relevant or important focus for my clients currently. Maybe they’re struggling with something else entirely, and I’m just not aware of what it is yet. So I put together a really quick survey with Google Forms, asking what they need help with right now, and what they want to hear from me.
Let’s keep it simple and clear:
When you don’t know what your clients want from you… ask!
When you’re unsure what to talk about… ask!
When you don’t know how your clients are feeling… ask!
My favourite way to ask is through a survey, because I like that I can get lots of responses and start to see themes. I send them through email to my list. But you might want to ask on your IG Stories, IG or FB comments, or anywhere else you engage with clients.
If you want to incentivize your clients to give you feedback, it also helps to have a prize giveaway to get more responses! Think of a product or service (or gift card) that would be valuable to your clients and offer to give it away to a lucky winner who fills out your survey.
So, what kind of things could you ask? Here are some ideas:
Ask them what kind of videos you can make that would be helpful to them right now: tutorials, educational, inspirational, or personal
Ask them the biggest problem they’re experiencing these days with their hair/skincare/makeup etc. The answers to this question can all be turned into social posts, videos, blogs, etc! So much potential for content creation! You can also use their responses to shape your upcoming packages, promotions etc. Acknowledge their problems and provide them with a handy bundled package of services dealing with their issues.
Ask them how they’d like to hear from you, such as by email, on social, videos, etc. Which way of communicating is most accessible and enjoyable to them?
Gauge their interest in different types of services and promotions you’ve been thinking of
Ask for their advice or opinions on a new upcoming change you’re doing or a decision you’ve been battling with.
Your clients will honestly love that you care to ask their opinion. It will make them feel valued, understood, heard and respected… and who doesn’t want to feel that way?!
By asking the right questions, you’ll get months worth of ideas for what to talk about on social media, what kind of content will help clients right now, and what services and promotions they want. Through the gathering and analyzing of responses, you’ll gain some major clarity on where the disconnect with your clients is happening, and how to fix it.
Send a thoughtful thank you card
Here’s a handy tip to keep in mind throughout every aspect of your business: when you feel like you’re not getting anything back, give, give, give! It’ll make you feel good, but it will also bring your clients back into the loop.
Nothing hits home quite like something real, physical and personal. A handwritten thank you card is a great way to show your appreciation and get back in touch with clients who might not have been in for a while.
Hopefully you’ve got your clients’ addresses on file, but if not, you can ask for them at any time via email, explaining that once in a while they might get something special from you by snail mail!
Now obviously this takes a bit of time and a small amount of money, but since your clients are local you can often mail 50 letters for like, $25. Not bad at all!
Getting something physical from anyone means so much, especially if it’s handwritten - so expect that your clients will be tickled pink! Same as with the emails I told you about above, keep your card content brief, fun, and filled with gratitude. You can add some personal sentiments to favorite clients' cards that you can’t in mass emails, so have fun with it and aim to make your clients smile!
You might want to choose to send these cards exclusively to clients you haven’t seen in a while, as it does cost money and you want to try a little harder for clients you’ve been missing. You could send out a $10 gift card that they can use or give to a friend. Tell them how much you appreciate them, that it’s been a difficult time during COVID, and that they’re welcome anytime. Give them your number to text you! Think of the types of things you’d want to read in a card from your favorite business, and put it in yours.
You might choose to send these cards exclusively to clients you haven’t seen in a while, as it does cost money and you want to try a little harder for clients you’ve been missing. On the other hand, you could choose to send this out to all clients if you’ve got a smaller client base, just to remind them you’re thinking about them and can’t wait to see them again! “I miss you, come visit!” is a heartfelt sentiment that any client would love to hear.
In Conclusion
It’s normal and expected that there will be ups and downs in your business, wondering and doubting if you’re on the right track, especially when clients go silent on you. It’s happened to me! When things aren’t going well I often wallow for a day, feel bad about it and complain to my boyfriend. Then I pick myself up and say “Okay, what’s next? What can I DO about this?”
Just don’t let this feeling of disconnect fester and grow. Push yourself outside your comfort zone and do something different.
Sending an email to your clients is free. Just write what your heart says and be vulnerable and honest. You can do it! Your clients will love to hear from you.
Sending out a survey gets you into the minds of clients, understanding what they really want and need from you right now, and it helps you figure out exactly how you can serve them with content and marketing that speaks to where they’re at.
And a thank you card, something physical? That’s going the extra mile to make your clients smile, and it will make a huge difference in bridging the gap of the disconnect you’re feeling. They’ll feel appreciated, they’ll get back in touch, and you’ll feel great that you made someone’s day.
At the end of the day, our businesses come down to relationships. There are so many great ways that you can strengthen your client relationships. And if you’re feeling distant, now’s the time to reach out and connect.