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How to Expand the Customer Base at Your Salon or Spa

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Introduction

As the owner of a salon or spa, you know that growing your customer base is critical to success. Even if your business already has loyal clients, you should continue to look for opportunities to expand and foster new connections with diverse clientele. Building these relationships is important and will keep customers coming back again and again.

This guide provides a variety of ideas to broaden your reach and branch out to new customer groups. Whether you implement one or a few, you’ll be well on your way to increasing revenue and creating a more inclusive culture at your business. That’s a win-win.

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Understand your current audience—and expand from there Depending on the nature of your salon or spa, you may already have a well-defined audience. Much of your advertising and brand messaging likely speaks to this group in particular, which makes sense as these individuals may already be interested in your services and offerings.

While it’s certainly important to consider the needs and preferences of your existing audience, you shouldn’t limit your expansion potential to just this group.

Think outside the box, and consider those who might not fit into your main demographic. By creating specific offerings for customers besides your core group, your business can make a bigger impact and establish additional opportunities for growth.

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Create new opportunities through customized services One of the most successful ways to expand your customer base is to create specific offerings for groups that you may have overlooked or that your advertising and brand messaging don’t currently market to.

In fact, a recent study from RedPoint Global and Harris Poll found that consumers now place great importance on a business’s ability to treat them as an individual and provide more specialized services just for them.

Overall, 52% of consumers noted that they have a more personal experience with a brand when the company provides unique offerings to fit their needs.

But what do these services look like? The following pages include examples you can leverage in your salon or spa to connect with a variety of customers and expand your customer base.

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Welcome older adults It’s good business to market your offerings toward the young-at-heart, keeping their needs in mind. To reach older demographics:

• Offer special discounts for those 65 and older. Many older customers have fixed incomes and budget accordingly; a discount may entice an otherwise reluctant person in this age group.

• Host a pop-up event at a senior center to showcase and demonstrate your services, answer questions, and offer consultations. This is particularly helpful if you offer new and/or unconventional treatments.

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Reach out to students It can also be beneficial to offer specialized deals just for students, especially if your business operates in or near a college town. Many companies provide discounts for people in school, asking them to show their student ID as proof.

Other strategies you can consider to help your business reach local students include the following:

• Make your business visible on campus. Work with the local college, high school, trade, or vocational school and promote your business’s available student discount, and other specials and services.

• Ensure you’re mobile-friendly. One study found that college students spend between eight and ten hours a day on their mobile devices. Your website and other features—like the ability to book appointments online—should function correctly on these smaller screens.

• Create specials around exam time. Offering specials around this time to help students de-stress is beneficial for them and a great opportunity for your business to connect with this audience.

Check out our guide for other ideas on how to market to students.

“Women college students spend an average of 10 hours a day on their cell phones, while men students spend nearly eight hours.”

Baylor University

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Support familiesParents and those who are about to become parents have their own unique needs and considerations. To appeal to these customers:

• Customize pre- and postnatal services. A spa, for example, could create a special prenatal and postnatal massage package. A salon could specifically feature and label products that are safe for pregnant and nursing women.

• Provide on-site childcare. There’s nothing more relaxing for a parent than being able to enjoy a massage or haircut while also having the peace of mind that their children are well cared-for.

Not ready to add on full-time childcare? Offer specific appointment blocks a few times a week with the option and partner with a childcare provider who can join you in your space for part of the week.

• Create parent-and-me services. For the parent who wants to include their child in the fun, develop tailored packages or workshops to help mom or dad bond with their kiddos and teach them the importance of self-care. For example, mommy-and-me manicures, dad-and-me hair styling workshops, etc.

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Accommodate the needs of multicultural groupsBeing mindful of cultural differences and helping others to feel comfortable in your space offers a chance to bring more customers in the door and build a more inclusive community in general. Strategies like these can work well to accommodate all:

• Prepare pricing and service menus in languages other than English, especially if your business is located in an area where another language is prominent.

• Offer consultations and treatments with practitioners who speak other languages. Enabling non-English speaking customers to feel comfortable in your business can make a big difference in helping you reach these groups.

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Support the LGBTQIA+ community Think of the unique needs of your LGBTQIA+ customers. Consider elements like:

• Create gender-neutral pricing and service menus. For example, salons could base their pricing on hair length as opposed to offering cuts for male or female customers, specifically.

• Make restrooms gender neutral. More businesses in every industry are making gender-neutral options available for customers, and it’s an important addition for your facility as well. You’ll want to be sure to have partitions in these facilities to provide privacy.

• Design services for transgender or transitioning customers. This might include treatments for hair removal, specialized facials, or skin care education.

• Provide detailed intake forms. It would be a mistake to assume anyone’s preferences based on appearance alone. Consider including an area for your new customer to share their preferred pronoun (he, she, they). Also, be sure to include a field for current supplementation/medication and pay particular attention to any hormonal therapies.

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Make those who are differently-abled feel comfortableIt’s up to you as the business owner to ensure all individuals can easily access your business and that your services take a variety of needs into account. Here’s how:

• Make your building and appointment rooms accessible. Have an entrance ramp, elevators where necessary, and wide doors to accommodate those using wheelchairs or other equipment.

Spa owners in particular should also be sure treatment tables or beds are adjustable, and that there is a stool or support table nearby to assist clients.

• Consider unique mental needs. Certain music, noise levels, or lighting could impact a customer’s ability to relax. This is where your intake form will be especially helpful.

• Update or revamp your intake forms to include areas where clients can detail any specific preferences, allergies, sensitivities, treatments, or other health concerns that might impact treatments or services.

• Consider partnering with local treatment centers to support those being treated and/or recovering from illness. Services like those for stress reduction, cosmetic courses, coping with hair loss, and more could be especially beneficial.

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Market your new services and mission for inclusivityOnce you’ve updated and/or established new services for groups outside of your main audience, it’s time to spread the word that your business has more diverse offerings than ever. Your social media channels and branded mobile app are some of the greatest tools for customer outreach and marketing here.

Depending on who you’re marketing to, you’ll want to customize your efforts accordingly. For example:

• Take to Facebook to reach seniors and older demographics, and read our guide to learn more about making the most of this networking site.

• Put together a series of Instagram posts to advertise your new student-centered discounts and offerings. Check out our guide to learn more about Instagram marketing.

• Try out social ads, which are extremely targeted options to help reach a variety of demographics. Read through our guide for tips to create an effective ad on Facebook.

Pro Tip: When putting together any marketing collateral, use language like “we,” “us,” and “let’s” to support your inclusive brand. Also, be sure to prioritize diverse imagery in your online and print marketing to visibly reflect a range of customers.

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Retain your new customersYour main goal in creating these additional services is to bring new customers through your door. But getting them there is only step one; in order to truly expand your customer base, you must retain your new clients.

From the start, make sure anyone who walks through your door feels immediately welcome. Train your staff to use positive and inclusive language and establish a company culture that’s accommodating for all.

These impactful changes will provide a memorable experience and increase the likelihood these clients will become repeat, loyal customers.

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Services for all Competition across all industries is fierce, particularly for businesses in the salon and spa space. Customers have increasingly specific preferences, and, in order to expand your client base, you must consider the unique needs of different consumers.

To find out more about supporting and expanding your customer base, check out our other educational resources and put your salon and spa on the path toward success.

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MINDBODY welcomes and celebrates all people, regardless of their unique differences.