The Stylist Connection

Creating strong relationships between stylists and customers may be the best route to lasting customer loyalty. To allow for this, customers must be relatively assured that they can get the same stylist when they return.

Keeping low employee turnover is a first step and this can be done by keeping your employees happy over the long-term. Offer a comfortable work environment, competitive salary, and bonuses based on performance to make your best staff feel appreciated. An appointment system that allows for customers to reliably reserve the stylists they want is the second step. 

Stylists might often remember regulars and their desired styles on their own, but encouraging them to document their clients to offer better service as they return can systematize these efforts.

With a CRM (customer relationship management) database system like Be In Style, the salon can use computers to support this work, making client information available to all staff.

The CRM system can be used to schedule customer appointments proactively, by reminding customers when it is time to return through calls, postcards, SMS Cell Phone Text, or even automated emails.

Stylist and Salon CRM Usage

So I went into my local franchised hair salon today. I wont give the name to avoid embarrassing myself about how much I pay for a hair cut (or dont pay as the case may be). Instead of taking your name as most franchises of this type do, they asked for my phone number. Since I had been in there once before, my info was available and the response was, Thanks Josh, have a seat and we will be right with you.

OK, I thought, they use my phone number to track customer data like what area the customer is coming from, how often they come back and their drop off rate. Boy was I surprised when the stylist came to get me and said, Josh, would you like to do the #2s on the sides and shorten the top like last time?

Since this was a different stylist then my last hair cut, I quickly deduced that they asked for my phone number for their CRM.

Now, Im not impressed that they could tell when and what my last hair cut was. But I am impressed that a business like this, which probably makes relatively small margins, invested in and actually uses a CRM.

I now know they value their customers enough to invest in customer relationship technology. As long as their employees hold up their end of the bargain be nice and courteous they will have my repeat visitation for a long time to come.