Client Birthdays Are More Important Than You ThoughtMay 17, 2020Salon businesses hinge upon the bonds they make with their clients. The more trusted, welcoming, and valued your services are, the more likely the client is to return. It’s not as much about the transaction that takes place at the salon billing counter than it is about the time spent getting a good massage from a stylist you trust. To keep these relationships going, salons need to go the extra mile for special clients. To achieve this, quite a few salons maintain a database of their clients’ birthdays. Client birthdays are an excellent marketing opportunity for salon businesses. Not making the most of them is a pretty big missed opportunity. Here’s how you can make a client’s birthday a win-win situation. Avoid Sounding Sales-y It can be pretty off-putting if you use a client’s birthday as an opportunity to advertise new services or promotional offers. Remember, it’s a day when they should be feeling special; not you! Using hardcore sales tactics will dishearten clients. Clients who previously believed that their relationship with the salon/stylist was personal will be led to think otherwise. This is an interaction which will make a long-term statement about your business’s values; make sure to send the best message possible! Even though going through the hassle of purchasing, writing, and mailing a card is demanding and costly, it’s an investment in marketing. A client will always remember receiving a hand-written card signed by their personal stylist on their birthday. It’s a way of telling them that it’s their day and that you’re interested in making it special for them! Offering a free or discounted salon services on the day as a gesture of goodwill will make them put you on top of their priority list. Designing A Birthday Card Buying a greeting card of the rack just won’t do. The card must be customized so it represents your unique style. This brings us to the question of how to design a card. The first thing to keep in mind is that it should look like a greeting card and not a business card. It shouldn’t advertise the salon more than it’s wishing a client happy birthday. Here’s how to design the perfect greeting card for your special client: As mentioned, make it look personal and not commercial Choose a unisex design template and color scheme that’s suitable for all ages Type out a special birthday offer on the left page along with terms and conditions Don’t make the terms and conditions too complex. Otherwise, clients will distrust your intentions Pen down a birthday message along with your business name on the right page. Try to make it handwritten Print your brand logo and contact details on the back cover Hype up the offer by mentioning a deadline. Don’t make it sound like a hasty offer; just exciting to grab Add A Personal Quote A hand-written birthday card will mean the world to a client. But you can push the limit even further and do something extra special for your most valuable clients. Apart from a general happy birthday, you can add a more personal quote to make them feel like it’s just for them. A few suggestions for possible personal quotes: anecdotal references to a fond memory congratulations on an upcoming event reference to an inside joke reference to the client’s common habits and preferences list down the client’s favorite things express love for the client’s loved ones, e.g, children, spouse, close friends, parents, etc. These ideas will show how well thought out the birthday message is. Reference the client’s personal details that they’ve shared with you in the past—it’ll show that you value them. There’s nothing that matters more to a client than being acknowledged, heard, and remembered. If a stylist knows what their client likes, it makes the client much more relaxed when availing future services. This is a more time-consuming job that’ll require hard work from your marketing team. It’s a smart practice to list a collection of personal quotes in your database and use them according to each client’s personality. Make sure your team starts working on the greeting cards a week ahead of the actual birthday so that there’s enough time to post it to their respective addresses. You don’t want to get late in posting the card, especially after investing so much energy in it. A late birthday wish loses its charm! Are Discounts The Ideal Gift? If you’re offering a big discount on a high-end service, chances are you’ll lose out on potential sales. Even though it’s important to keep the client’s interest first, you can’t afford to miss out on potential sales. A happy customer is always eager to spend lavishly on your services, and that’s exactly what a hand-written card will do. A discount offer also isn’t a great idea because expecting a client to show up for a service on their birthday is a stretch. However, don’t leave them waiting for a gift and disappoint them with nothing. They’re going to expect something to mark their special day. A good idea is to offer them a complimentary service when they come in for another service. Free hairstyling or a manicure will light up their faces when they’re coming in for a makeover. You can make your gift more thoughtful by offering them a choice between more than one service. This will ensure that they can pick whatever they like best and go for it. However, there are some things to keep in mind: Pick a junior stylist for the job so it doesn’t cost you much Offer only smaller services that don’t take as much salon time Make sure it’s convenient to offer a particular service without obstructing the regular routine Don’t waste too much of your revenues on it This is a good chance to promote a new service Only treat the clients who deserve it. Such treatments should be restricted to ideal clients. Want to make your clients stick longer by celebrating their birthday? We, at Salon Income Booster, cater to businesses and help them increase hair and beauty salons income and salon retail merchandise for optimum growth. From marketing strategies to income generation, we provide end-to-end solutions to all striving salons. Birthday promotions and special offers are a great way to market and we help salons learn the trick! We also assist new businesses in the industry with their investment plans by offering consultation. If you’re looking for ways to launch a birthday greeting card service for special clients, get in touch with us now!