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How to Get New Clients in a Salon: 9 Tips to Fill Your Chairs

You will inevitably lose some regular guests at your salon. People move, stylists change professions or switch salons: in short, life happens. How to prevent that drop in clientele? Here are nine tips for attracting new clients to your salon.

Client retention vs. attracting new clients to your salon

You know how important client retention is for any beauty business. And you probably understand that it’s cheaper to retain your existing clients than to attract new ones (five times cheaper, to be exact). But even successful beauty businesses experience significant client churn on a regular basis and must continually bring in new salon clients.

A strong base of loyal salon clients is a must, but you can’t stop there. Let’s talk about how to get new clients.  

1. Craft an amazing guest experience

The best way to attract new clients is something that is second nature to salon owners and stylists: be so amazing that your guests won’t stop talking about you. An estimated 92% of people make decisions based on word-of-mouth marketing, such as recommendations from family and friends, over other forms of advertising.

Your guests’ experience starts from the moment they make their appointment and follows them through their service and right out the door. Knowing your guests makes all the difference here. Tailor your services, approach, and entire philosophy to your target guest for best results.

And when it comes to dealing with the practical aspects of the salon experience? SalonBiz helps to streamline your salon business, from check-in to payment, so you can focus on pampering your guests.

Check out Owning a Hair Salon: Your Launch Guide

2. Update your online presence

Once you have perfected the salon experience and gotten guests talking, make sure they can find all of your details online with a great business page. Update the Google business profiles for all of your locations, and make sure your Yelp entries are complete, too.

At a minimum, include the following in your profile (for each location):

  • Business name
  • Address
  • Phone or contact information
  • Services offered
  • Hours

You can include a map for directions, some pictures of your location, or even a video tour for even better visibility in search rankings, too.

3. Proactively ask for reviews

Remember that word-of-mouth marketing concept? Online reviews fall under that umbrella, too, and they can be an incredibly effective strategy for attracting new clients to your salon. The key to using reviews to your advantage? Having a lot of them!

In all of your interactions, ask guests to leave reviews. You can do this through social media channels, in email footers, and at the salon. There’s nothing more exciting than when a regular customer transforms into a “raving fan.” So how do they get there? With a little help from you and the Listen360 Feedback and Reviews feature.

Once you get reviews, make sure to respond to all of them. If bad reviews come your way, don’t discuss details online. Focus on problem-solving and give contact information to help the guest resolve their complaint.

Respond to Reviews Like a Pro

  • Know What to Do When You Get a Bad Review
  • Ensure Customers Can Express Their Dissatisfaction Offline
  • Respond to Positive Reviews, Too
  • Don’t Hesitate to Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews

Learn more about each of these topics – A Listen360 blog!

4. Rise up with referrals

You’ve got friends talking about your business, and guests are providing tons of positive reviews. What’s next in your word-of-mouth marketing toolbox?

Referrals.

Tap into the power of using your repeat guests to gain new business. Some ideas for referral promotions include:

  • Discounts for referrals
  • An Instagram-friendly wall (that encourages guests to post selfies with salon branded hashtags)
  • Special salon add-on services for referrals
  • For every ___ visits from referrals, offer a discount

Look for anything that gives your guests a little treat or bonus for spreading the word.

5. Get social With Your Salon Business

Social media helps you meet potential guests where they are: online. Don’t feel like your social media game is confined to slapping a picture and a caption on a virtual wall somewhere.

Many social media platforms have multiple ways to engage potential clients, including:

  • Paid and promoted ads
  • Hashtags localized to your regional area (i.e., #phoenixstylists #sacramentosalons)
  • Local groups

Facebook and Instagram have features that mix up the plain old picture post. Create videos for Reels and Stories to capture attention (and get promoted by the platform, too).

6. Offer unique salon services

In recent years, we are seeing a rise in mobile salon services, eco-friendly products and practices, and the importance of the overall guest experience. Consider adding unique salon services that better serve your guests and attract new ones.

Some unique salon service ideas include:

  • After-hours make-up tutorials (with food and drinks)
  • Full consultations on how to choose (and use) beauty products
  • Personalized services (for example, outfit styling or photoshoot makeup)
  • Custom skincare support sessions

Adding a new service and want to shout it from the rooftops? SalonBiz makes it easy to keep guests updated with automated email marketing campaigns.

7. Promote stand-out services

Along the same lines, how can you reimagine services that you already offer? How about a lunch-hour blowout? A happy-hour haircut ($5 off normal price during slower hours)?

What about live workshops on makeup, hair maintenance, or skincare, with Instagram Live feeds and an in-person option as well? The beauty industry has so many great beauty tips to share, and this can help attract clients. Your local business can really stand out by hyping these services to your local audience.

Offering stand-out services (and going one step further than your competition) sets you apart and can go a long way in attracting new clients to your salon.

8. Co-market with your besties

Everything is better when you do it with a friend, and marketing is no different.

Connect with other local businesses for some joint promotions. Identify local businesses with potential new clients (such as gyms, fitness clubs, and spas), and check in with them about co-marketing. This might be something as simple as hanging signs in each other’s lobbies or offering a discount on a service at your salon when they buy a product or service at the other business and vice versa. Or it might be co-sponsoring a charitable event for the community.

9. Make it effortless to book

You’ve got your new guests ready to book. Now make it super easy to schedule an appointment. Don’t hide the scheduling button deep on your website or social media profile. Salon websites should have that button eye-catching and easy to find. Booking the first service should be intuitive, with instant, automatic confirmation.

To accomplish this, you’ll need a seamless salon management software tool. SalonBiz allows you to create online booking options with automated email and/or text confirmations. And once new guests come into the salon? Easy check-in and payment options are available, along with follow-up appointment reminders.

When you’re ready to start attracting new clients to your salon, get in touch with SalonBiz to see how we can help!

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