Marketing for Hairstylists: The Way to Do It

My wife received an email from her hair stylist yesterday. She thought it was different, so she showed it to me, and, having my marketing goggles on, I agreed.

Here’s what I noticed:
1.    She got an EMAIL from her HAIR STYLIST. (!)
2.    The stylist made a couple of great offers; the first was for regular customers who prebook regular appointments, After two cuts, you get the third one free. Then you get one more free cut in that year. For $100 a year, not a bad deal.
3.    The second offer was about referrals. Everyone you refer to the stylist gets their first service half price.  If you refer three people, YOU get a free haircut. Once again, a great deal.

What was so different about this email?

Keep in Touch With Your Current Customers
 I have to tell you she (and I) have been to many a hair stylist, and none of them ever sent an email. In fact, I don’t think any of them even asked for our email. Not to mention any kind of serious deal for repeat customers. Which brings me to the second point:

Keep Your Current Customers Coming Back
Ten percent off is one thing, but using our favorite four-letter word (f-r-e-e) is something pretty much unheard of, especially a $50 or $100 value. Also, the prebooking works in a way to get them to come back for the value. And…

Bring In More of the Same
Referrals, referrals. Service businesses are highly referral-run. As many marketing gurus have stated, if you’re not asking every single customer for referrals every single time, you are leaving a ton of money on the table. This strategy goes one step further, by rewarding the referrer for multiple referrals. Everybody wins.

These strategies are not exclusive to the hairstyling market, or even service businesses. But they are valuable lessons for those of us wondering why the phone isn’t ringing, or customers aren’t walking in the door. This is the type of go-getum approach that all service providers need to take, especially in a down economy.
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Bob Wallis is a speaker, author, and consultant who helps business owners increase their profitability by improving their visibility. Contact him at The Wallis Group