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Re-Energizing Your Nail Biz Post Pandemic
Get More Clients - Build Back Better than Pre-2020
Is your nail biz experiencing post pandemic fatigue? Getting and keeping your appointment slots full again will require taking initiative! Don't wait for clients to contact you. Reach out to them! Here are a few easy things you can do to re-energize your biz.
- Make a list of your clients.
- Organize your clients in order of priority. While some clients require more frequent services, others can go longer between appointments. For nailz, I organize my clients as 3, 4, 5 & 6+ week clients. You want to establish which clients you need to book in immediately in your first week re-opened. A client priority list can take some stress off your first week back after shutdown. Book clients that can go longer between services in your second and third week back to work.
- Contact your clients in order of priority to re-book them.
- It may not be possible to re-book everyone right away. When that happens, a quick text can reassure them you haven't forgotten about them. Let them know you have a plan to get them in as soon as possible.
Getting Back in Touch
Beyond connecting with recent clients, we can reach out to previous clients. Clients "whose hands we've held" in the more distant past. Everyone has been thru a lot in the past year. A recent poll uncovered that 14% of customers will leave a company if they are dissatisfied with the service. While a whopping 68% leave if they believe you don't care about them! Taking the initiative to re-connect and re-establish past relationships can go a long way.
- Go back thru your 2020 & 2019 Calendars. Who did you see? Whose missing? Who hasn't come back? Make a comprehensive list. (The more clients you need, the farther back you can go! But it's best to start with the most recent past and then work your way back to earlier.)
- Go thru your nail pics in your phone, can you identify more clients by their nail pictures? If you can't identify who is is, check the date stamp. Match the date stamp to your calendar to identify who you saw at that date and time!
Focus on the Interaction not the Transaction
- Do NOT reach out to them for an appointment the first time you contact them. Reach out to them to see how they are doing? Re-connect. Show personal interest. Just have a conversation.
- You can attach a nail pic from your phone to a text and say "came across this and thought of you". 💗
- When they ask you how you are doing, tell them how you are doing personally. Don't be afraid to allow yourself to be vulnerable and honest. Focus on the interaction. If they ask you, "how is bizness", THEN you can talk about bizness. You may even add "I'm finally back up and running." But on a first follow-up, I do not recommend asking if they need any services. That is not the purpose of the initial contact and it will turn off more clients than it attracts. If the client asks for an appointment in the conversation, that's a different story. But initially, the goal is just to re-establish contact. While some may ask to rebook at this time, more clients will require a few personal interest follow ups to believe you care before re-booking. The point is to re-open the lines of communication and show people you value them. If more clients know you care, even if they don't re-book, they may repay your kindness with referrals.
After You Re-establish Connection
- Consider some possible reasons why each client didn't come back to you and make a list. Is there a pattern of similar reasons? What can you work on? What solutions can you create? Evaluating their potential barriers for returning, you may be able to come up with a few potential offers that are unique to them. A personalized offer they will find irresistible.
- After re-establishing a connection, THEN in a month or "few" later, reach out with a potential promo. By thinking of specific clients you would like to see return, you can create targeted and personalized promo's that will maximize your odds of success. Perhaps a "Welcome Back Offer" - new sets for the price of a fill. Complimentary add on's. The evening appointment they always wanted. Or some other appealing offer for them.
- Have you given your nail space an overhaul? Have you re-decorated or added PPE measures that will assure people of their safety? Sending a pic of you updated space or highlighting how your customer service has upgraded can be great reasons to connect and share excitement. How does sharing something directly with someone impact how important they feel versus sharing broadly on social media?
How many times will I contact someone just to check on them? It depends on how close we were in the past or how the present conversation goes. Since the pandemic, I have had a few clients who stopped coming for nailz. The top reasons were safety (can't wear a mask) or financial concerns. Some were regular clients for 20 years pre-pandemic! I regularly touch base, just to catch up. Some have returned, others it's perhaps not the right time yet. But regardless, it's important to me to keep the lines of communication open. And if it keeps the door open to them returning at some point, bonus. 🥰
- For clients that don't re-book, I like to share this webpage with them - how to shorten /grow out ur nailz. Find out if they need glue, files, cuticle oil, etc., and hook them up with whatever products they need.
These are just a few tips. The deeper the decline in your client base, likely the more time you have on your hands to put into this. Investing a little time in previous clients costs nothing. If your goal is 40 hours a week of nailz, and you only have 20 hours booked, that leaves you an extra 5-20 hours to invest. Use the time to reach out to more past clients, upgrade your training, or run some summer promotions. Reinvest in your biz to build back to where you want to be. 💗
With love and best wishes,
Avry 💗