These 3 Salon Intro Offers Will Help You Retain New Clients

As a salon owner, you realize that attracting new customers can be one of your biggest struggles throughout the year. You’ve already taken an important step by integrating salon software to make your business stand out to beauty-driven customers and to give them easy access to booking your services, but how do you get those clients to commit to your business?

By now, you know that customer loyalty is the backbone of almost every service-based business. You need to bring new customers in and keep them coming back for more. You’ll want to offer new clients an attractive, easy-to-implement intro offer. Pair an enticing offer with an exceptional experience, and you have an effective way to bring new clients into your salon and retain them.

Here are three appealing salon intro offers that will attract new clients without forcing you to make a significant financial sacrifice.

1. A multi-appointment package at a discounted rate

Keep in mind that a successful intro offer brings customers in at a discounted price with the intent of creating an optimal experience that will help them see the value of returning at full price. 

• Offer more than one appointment: For most clients, building a good rapport with a stylist and developing a sense of connection to the salon takes more than one visit. To keep your first-time clients coming back, create a package that offers multiple sessions at a slightly reduced rate. For example, if your intro package includes three haircuts, you’ll have three opportunities to build a strong relationship with that customer and, ultimately, win them over. 
• Include a frequency recommendation: Include in your intro offer a clear suggestion for how often clients should book for optimal results. For example, if you determine that a client’s haircut will stay fresh for eight weeks, they’ll have a better idea of the value (and duration) of a three-session haircut package. 
• Have a clear expiration date: The sooner you’re able to book an appointment with a new client, the better. And the more frequently you’re able to see them, the better chance you’ll have of retaining them. This facilitates your stylists’ ability to nurture lasting relationships and allows clients to see the results and the value of your services sooner. So, if you’re recommending a haircut every eight weeks, have a three-haircut package that expires after six months. 

2. The “price is right” package

The key to a successful intro offer is to remove the pricing barrier that may have previously kept new clients from visiting your salon. But since the goal is to retain new customers who are interested and willing to come back (even at full price), you’ll also want to ensure the entry price isn’t too low.

While the location of your salon, its nearby competitors, community reputation, and other factors all play a role in determining the price of your intro offer, here are a few guidelines to consider:

• Offer a discount that feels significant for clients but still allows you to turn a profit: Removing the pricing barrier for new customers means offering an enticing deal. A multi-appointment package, for example, should show value by featuring services at a price that’s lower than the cost of the same service priced independently—but not so much lower that the customer won’t be willing to return at full price. Ideally, you’ll want to reduce the price of services included in an intro offer by no more than 30%.
• Avoid having too many options: While your salon software can easily facilitate the creation and management of multiple packages and promotions, make sure you don’t have too many intro offers in place at once. This can create confusion and indecisiveness for customers, which ultimately results in reduced sales. Instead, create just one intro offer per service category offered by your salon.

3. Add value to a service instead of discounting

Why not gift your new client who came in for a color service with an additional treatment that costs you little to no money in the long run? With this particular tip, I’m speaking from personal experience. When I started seeing my stylist years ago, she threw in a complimentary Olaplex treatment with my color service. Because she threw that treatment in for free during my first visit, I get it every time I see her. It improves the health of my hair, and I know my color and my cut won’t look as good without it. In fact, I even purchase a bottle of it from her (at full cost) each time I visit her to keep my color and cut looking fresh. In this case, adding value to your client’s treatment can be a cost-effective way to hook your client since they are likely to ask for that treatment each time they sit in your chair.

Bring intro offers to life with Mindbody Promote

At Mindbody, we want to enable you to create top-notch salon experiences for your clients with technology that helps you foster the loyalty you work so hard to achieve. We want to enable your clients and prospects to easily book appointments at your salon, so you can focus on providing an exceptional experience when they show up for their appointment. But with so much competition out there, getting the right kind of new clients to actually visit your business can be quite a challenge.   

That’s where listing your salon on the Mindbody app and taking advantage of Promoted Intro Offers comes into play. Promoting your intro offers can help your business attract and retain new clients by displaying the offers in the “Intro Deals” section of the Mindbody app home screen to advertise your special packages to new customers and turn them into repeat clients. 

So, how does it work?  

Any new or existing pricing options that you sell online and mark as an introductory offer will be promoted and featured front and center on the app at the top of the screen. The best parts about Promoted Intro Offers are that it’s easy and free to opt-in—you’ll only pay if a client books an appointment with you. The fees are performance-based, which means it will cost you nothing if it doesn't produce results.  

To start promoting your intro offers, be sure to opt into "Promoted intro offers" through the Marketing screen in your salon software. To learn more about how to get started, here’s a support article where you can find more information. 

Bottom line—if you want to attract new customers, you need to provide them with an incentive to try your services. By using the tips outlined above, your client list will start to grow in no time.