Dear No Regularity:
This is the perfect time of year to get clients in the habit of regular pedicures. Let me share a couple of tricks to get your customer to book a pedicure every month.
1. Give a discount when a customer rebooks a pedicure within 30 days.
2. Offer a package deal. How about a Super Summer Pedicure Package that promotes purchasing three or four pedicures at a time?
3. Sell coupons that clients can purchase and use to pay for their pedicures. Sell each coupon for a discounted price and let customers purchase as many as they like. Sell them quarterly with an expiration date of about three months.
4. Change your pedicures seasonally. Keep them interesting and fun.
5. Give the world’s best massage. No one will ever stray from your appointment book if you give them an incredible massage. Take classes, perfect your technique, and find special ways to pamper your clients.
Depending on your location and the average age of your clientele, it can be a challenge to get customers to wear nail art. When marketing your work, it is essential that you have all types of nail art from simple to downright gaudy. Keep in mind everyone’s taste is different and you need to cater to all.
Displays sell nail art. It’s all about the visual presentation that makes the customer either want it or ignore it. Be clever when displaying your artwork and change it often to keep customers’ interest. I personally love to do nail art, and when I have a little extra time in my schedule I often find myself doing free art for fun (at least that is what my client thinks). But I really have more than fun on my mind:
1. Once I give them a little they usually enjoy it so much that they want more, often returning to their next appointment with their own nail art ideas.
2. Nail art acts as a walking billboard. I know for every freebie I do I am getting free advertising.
3. Other clients in the salon stop to look at the art and either book an appointment or tell a couple of girlfriends about it.
4. It motivates other salon staff by keeping the atmosphere fun and creative.
Nail art hit its peak in popularity in the ’90s but recently I have noted renewed interest. If you can’t get regular nail art customers, start off by getting customers’ feet wet by concentrating on holidays, such as Halloween and Christmas.
Veteran nail tech Shari Finger — owner of Finger’s Nail Studio in W. Dundee, Ill. — fields reader questions in the areas of salon management and workplace politics.