It’s been six months since we opened Polish Salon. We have had almost 100, mostly new, clients, come in for services and still get a good amount of walk-ins. But my question is: Why are they not calling to make appointments and re-booking? We advertise on Yelp, have great signage on a main and very busy street, and people know we are there. We hand out cards everywhere we go and ask our clients to tell their friends and arm them with marketing materials we printed. I made my sister read Millie Haynam’s marketing book and she says we say and do most of what Millie recommends, yet no returns. I market to them on Constant Contact, we do high quality very sanitary work, and we have an appealing salon and some killer reviews on Yelp from happy clients.

My goal is to have a busy salon like Rhonda from The Purple Pinkie in Ford City, Pa. Solid client base that books their next appointment before they leave because they know they can’t get in If they don't. She has a great neighborhood reputation and a salon full of busy nail techs! I want that!

I have come to the realization that the nail business is not like it used to be. I spoke to nail tech Gigi from Las Vegas yesterday – she hunted me down looking for advice as she rebuilds her nail clientele after taking a year or two off. She says the same thing. Is this the way it is? Unfortunately I think so. I think discount, walk-in-whenever salons have killed it for us. Today’s client has been conditioned to never making appointments and just walking in because these salons are all they know. How do we send the message we are a high end, clean salon with quality work that has good customer service and we won’t talk about them behind their backs? How do we capture the client that wants a consistent relationship with her nail tech? It is frustrating...

--Vicki, Polish Salon, Brea, Calif.