Why Automated Marketing Is Key for By Claudia’s Reopening Strategy

When businesses were allowed to reopen in Georgia, four locations of Brazilian Wax and Spa by Claudia knew there was a long journey ahead. But with the help of Mindbody and its automated marketing features, By Claudia opened up strong—both bringing back customers and earning new ones.

A reopening surprise

Georgia’s April reopening caught By Claudia Chief Operating Officer Cintia Quinzani by surprise. Responsible for franchise relations and By Claudia’s Georgia-based locations, Quinzani knew that the reopening decisions she made would help guide the way for the 20 By Claudia locations across the East Coast.

“I don’t think anyone was ready when the government announced that we could open,” Quinzani said. “The first challenge I had was to find sanitizing and cleaning products for us to be able to use at the stores.”

But Quinzani and By Claudia’s reopening strategy stretched beyond just cleaning supplies. She needed to figure out how to alert customers to the spa being reopen, convince them to book appointments and get them in and out of the spa safely.

A step-by-step approach

The first step to reopening was a conversation with staff, asking them if they were comfortable to come back.

“A bunch of them wanted to come back, but a lot of them were afraid of coming back,” Quinzani said. “So we had to have an honest conversation and identify who was willing to work or not.”

By Claudia also changed their operations—before COVID-19, the spa’s business was walk-in heavy, and they didn’t require pre-booked appointments to get services.

“We don’t find as many people being willing to do walk-ins, and we don’t take that many walk-ins anymore,” Quinzani said. “We had to change all of those things and keep space in between the appointments for deep cleaning and sanitation. We don’t even keep chairs in the waiting room.”

The combination of fewer staff members, fewer walk-ins, and social distancing created a new conundrum: How do you handle the front desk—and do you have one at all?

By Claudia’s taken a hybrid approach to the post-COVID front desk: They’ve set up a system for virtual front desks, allowing one front desk to check out clients at other locations remotely.

This approach was a win-win for By Claudia—customers were comfortable not interacting with an additional person, and it reduced payroll.

Using new tools to drive results

But all of this reopening strategy is wasted if customers didn’t come back—and that’s where Quinzani turned to technology. With Mindbody Marketing Suite, By Claudia automated outreach to customers to announce their reopening. By Claudia built campaigns by segmenting past clients and automating outreach to them to encourage them to book.

“We had a big campaign letting people know that we’re open,” Quinzani said. “And that worked well.”

How well?

By Claudia found themselves with new customers and reactivated customers who hadn’t previously returned to the spa. Quinzani credits the growth to two things: automated email marketing and leveraging online booking to make it easy for clients to book appointments.

“You have to be creative, and think ahead about what you’re going to do next to keep them coming,” Quinzani said. “If you don’t keep contacting them to keep coming, it dries up—and they don’t come.”