We all know that client retention is super important for any business, but it’s especially important spas as their business model is built on repeat business.
Spas thrive on building long-term relationships: clients who keeping coming back for treatments that make them feel pampered, confident, and looking their best.
While gaining new clients is the goal of every spa owner, it’s equally important to build a regular client list, maintain a relationship with your existing clients, and improve your client retention rate for sustained business growth and revenue.
In this article, we’ll shine a spotlight on eight effective client retention strategies to improve customer retention, transform new customers into loyal clients and enhance the overall client experience. Let’s jump in!
Feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of practice marketing? It’s time for a change. Book a Demo today and discover how Pabau’s automated marketing tools can boost your practice’s growth and retention rates.
Why is spa client retention so important?
When shopping for shampoo, which brands do you usually go for?
Few adventurers aside, most people have their go-to brands that they’ve tried, trust, and know what to expect from.
Once you’ve tried the shampoo and know it’ll make your hair look great, your chances of buying it again are much higher. You might even try their conditioner the next time. The same applies to your spa clients.
Clients who have had a fabulous experience with your spa will likely come again… and they might even spend even a bit more on their next appointment. Therefore, turning first-time clients into repeat customers brings a lot more benefits.
Boosted revenue
Retaining loyal clients not only enhances customer relationships but also significantly boosts your spa’s revenue.
- Retaining repeat customers costs five times less than acquiring new ones.
- Repeat clients spend 67% more than new customers.
- Loyal clients also directly impact your spa’s bottom line as they spend more per visit and are more likely to try new services.
- Repeat customers have a higher lifetime value, which increases revenue without investing more time and energy into it.
💡 Client lifetime value is the total revenue a business can expect to generate from a single customer throughout the duration of their relationship.
Increased sales
Current clients buy more. That’s right, existing clients who have had positive customer experiences are easier to sell to because they have a relationship with you and are confident in the quality and value you provide.
For example, if a client regularly comes in for massages and you suggest trying a new aromatherapy add-on or a special skincare treatment, they’ll be more inclined to consider it.
Returning clients are also more open to trying out retail products. You could weave in upselling naturally into your service. If you’re seeing a client for a facial treatment, you can recommend a skincare tip and then mention a new product that could be beneficial for their skin.
Free marketing
Happy clients are your biggest advertisers.
They’ll spread the word about their positive experiences at your spa, bringing in new customers through valuable word-of-mouth promotion.
You can lean into this further by encouraging your existing clients to spread the word through a referral program. Offer incentives such as discounts, free add-on services, or loyalty points to clients who refer new customers.
This not only rewards your existing clients for coming back, but it also encourages them to actively promote your spa to their friends and family.
Predictable income
A steady stream of repeat clients provides a predictable income flow, which is crucial for the stability and growth of your spa business.
When you have a reliable base of returning clients, it’s much easier to forecast revenue, manage cash flow, and make informed strategic decisions for the future.
You’re able to predict your income and revenue more accurately, set realistic financial goals and make strategic business decisions. This can range from expanding your services, investing in new equipment, upgrading facilities, or launching marketing campaigns.
8 strategies spas can implement to improve client retention
Keeping returning clients happy is your top priority.
But with already so much to do in your spa, coming up with ideas about how to increase repeat business might feel like the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Many spa client retention strategies revolve around marketing and that might not be your jam. But that’s why we’re here!
Below, we unpack eight effective client retention strategies, plus how a great spa and salon software, Pabau, can help you accomplish many of them.
1. Create a user-friendly website and online booking system
A user-friendly website and online booking system are no longer a luxury for spas – they’re essential tools for attracting and retaining clients.
There are several reasons why:
Convenience is king: Clients are busy and want a hassle-free way to learn about your spa, browse services, and schedule appointments. A user-friendly website and online booking system allow them to find the information they need – quickly – understand exactly what you offer, and book at their convenience.
First impressions matter: Your website is often the first point of contact for potential clients. A professional, easy-to-navigate site with high-quality photos and clear information creates a positive first impression and keeps clients coming back.
Less friction = more bookings: A clunky website with a confusing booking system can lead to frustration and abandoned appointments. A clear booking flow, easy navigation, clear call to action, and impeccable checkout experience reduce friction and increase the chances of clients completing their bookings and coming back for a second visit.
2. Implement recalls
When you first think of marketing, it’s tempting to focus on winning new customers, but it can be more effective to focus on existing customers first.
As a reminder, acquiring a new customer can cost five to seven times more than retaining an old one.
That will add up quickly, so finding ways to promote repeat business is vital. This is where automatic client recalls can play a huge role.
In the simplest terms, a recall is a message you send a customer to remind them to rebook a top-up or repeat treatment.
But, it’s not as simple as just automatically messaging a month after every appointment, though. Every treatment is different, and your recalls need to reflect this.
For example, a botox treatment might need a top-up in three months, whereas a filler may need six months.
With automatic recalls, you can configure how long after the appointment it triggers, and whether it’s an email, SMS, or both.
With spa management software, you can assign recalls to individual treatments or a category of treatments and add as many recalls as you want.
This means that once you’ve set it up, you don’t need to worry about it again. Your clients will be automatically prompted to rebook, which will improve your retention and revenue.
3. Rewarding returning clients with a loyalty program
Do you know another great way to encourage repeat business? Incentives. By rewarding repeat business, you encourage your customers to book more appointments.
A well-designed loyalty program is a win-win scenario for both your clients and your spa business:
- Exclusive rewards programs make clients feel that their business is appreciated.
- Rewards incentivize repeat visits. Clients are more likely to return for services if they know they’ll earn points towards discounts, free treatments, or exclusive products.
- Loyalty programs with tiered structures or point systems give clients a sense of accomplishment as they win bigger rewards, keeping them even more engaged.
The best example is the air travel industry, where the more customers fly, the more air miles they earn. These Air Miles can then be used to pay for flights, hotels, and other rewards. Other examples include retail club cards, which earns customers points on what the spend and gives them discounts, or the Sephora Beauty Insider program, where members earn points for every dollar spent, which can be redeemed for exclusive products, gifts, and early access to sales.
You can set up your own loyalty program in Pabau. You just choose what incentives you want to offer and what actions clients need to take — e.g., booking a certain treatment.
When they earn enough points, they can redeem them for discounts or use them as a payment option for their next treatments.
4. Expand your client base with a referral program
Your customers are your best salespeople.
We don’t mean you should hire customers to stand outside your spa with a megaphone. We’re talking about customer referrals.
92% of consumers trust referrals from friends and family over other forms of advertising.
But as much as we like to imagine customers raving about our spas at work, family barbeques, funerals, etc., it probably doesn’t happen as much as we’d like.
So you need to find a way to encourage them to do this more.
The easiest way to do this is to set up a referral program with Pabau. This way, the person has skin in the game — they get rewarded every time someone they’ve referred becomes a new customer.
Once it’s set up, you can view and manage these referrals directly within the system, making it super easy for your customers to redeem their incentives.
5. Targeting and personalization
There’s an expression, ‘When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.’ When you send out generic marketing communications, that’s what it feels like.
Information that is impersonal and irrelevant to the client is probably going to mean they don’t engage, they unsubscribe, and then it’s game over.
Instead, develop data-based targeted and personalized marketing that will build long-lasting relationships, foster client loyalty, and drive repeat business.
Here are some tips on how to keep clients coming back for more:
- Create targeted audience lists: Use spa management software like Pabau to create super granular audience lists directly from your client base. Segment your clientele based on demographics, preferences, and service history.
- Send personalized campaigns: Send personalized campaigns via email – birthday greetings, special offers for frequently-used services, or even product recommendations based on previous purchase history.
- Send SMS campaigns: Send text messages promoting special offers, announce important news, and fill last-minute appointment slots. Choose from pre-made SMS campaign templates to save yourself time.
6. Promotions and rewards
Rewards and incentives give an extra boost to attracting and turning clients into returning clients. This is how to implement promotions and rewards to boost client loyalty, and Pabau can help you every step of the way.
- Create promotional vouchers – Vouchers and gift cards are powerful tools for attracting new clients and encouraging repeat business. With Pabau, you can design targeted promotions and discounts and send them directly to clients via email or SMS.
- Reward your clients – One of the easiest ways to generate more leads while rewarding your loyal clients is through referral marketing. Pabau’s referral feature makes this easy – reward your clients with points or discounts for referring new customers.
- Give loyalty points – Take your loyalty program a step further with Pabau’s loyalty feature. This versatile tool allows you to reward clients for various actions, not just referrals. Award points based on the amount spent, services booked, products purchased, or even for leaving a review.
7. Social media engagement and connectivity
Social media is an opportunity to build trust, showcase your expertise, and show your personality – a little bit of humor (done the right way) can go a long way!
Apart from being a place where you can showcase your brand and expertise, social media also provides a platform for real-time communication. You can quickly respond to client inquiries, feedback, and comments, demonstrating your commitment to excellent customer service.
Also, don’t forget that 95% of clients read online reviews before buying a product or booking a service, with Facebook being the second most popular platform.
Make sure you regularly post on social media, sharing diverse content like service promotions, updates, tips, stories, new product launches, testimonials, etc. This will keep your brand top-of-mind for both existing and potential clients.
8. Leveraging surveys and reviews for growth
Surveys and reviews help you understand how your spa is doing objectively.
Spas that prioritize the feedback loop are well on their way to long-term success. It involves:
- Gathering client feedback
- Addressing both positive and negative feedback promptly and professionally
- Use the feedback to improve
- Share improvements on social media, email marketing and your website
Reviews are another great way to gather feedback, but they are also fantastic marketing devices in their own right.
As well as learning what they think of your business, you can publish and promote the best reviews as social proof for prospective customers. This can make a huge difference in their decision-making, especially when comparing you to competitors.
Pabau provides great tools for setting up reviews and surveys. You can create your own surveys, configure how they look and what questions to ask so you get exactly the information you need, or edit one of our templates.
You then decide when to send the surveys out, and Pabau does the rest.
Pabau also automatically requests reviews after a treatment plan is complete, so you don’t need to remember to request them yourself.
Build and maintain a loyal client base with Pabau
What makes spa businesses unique is that their business model is built on long-term client loyalty and repeat business, not one-time purchases.
This is why turning first-time clients into repeat customers is your number one priority so your spa can grow and thrive, not just survive.
Pabau is here to help you streamline your spa client retention strategies: our software delivers a smooth booking system, automated recalls, a loyalty program, referral marketing, personalized email campaigns, and lots more. Everything is wrapped up in one easy to use, all-in-one practice management solution.
Ready to see how Pabau can transform your spa business? Book a demo today and discover the difference we can make!
