How to effectively teach salon clients about aftercare
By Katie Barnes | 10 August 2021 | Expert Advice, Feature
Customer education is critical to maintaining a successful nail and beauty business. Sharing aftercare and other maintenance tips can be difficult, especially if you’re back-to-back with clients or want to avoid sounding pushy. However, the service doesn’t end at the nail desk. Following the correct aftercare can be as important as the appointment itself to aid longevity of the nails and will help with client retention.
Sharing your wealth of knowledge with your clients provides several benefits to your business:
- Improved customer experience
When clients know how to care for their nails and lashes etc, they last longer. This leads to a better customer experience, which can help you retain customers and attract new clients with great word of mouth and visual recommendations.
- Prevents against negative reviews
If a client has a bad experience because they didn’t perform the proper maintenance, they won’t be satisfied with the service and will inevitably blame the service provider. Not only could this cause you to lose a customer, but the client may advise friends against choosing you as their lash professional.
- Good customer relationships
Educating clients highlights your experience, knowledge and dedication as a nail and beauty professional. You should always provide suggestions and recommendations for your clients, including aftercare advice, retail products and top tips. Once they notice results, this will increase the level of trust your customers place in you and in turn give you more credibility on future recommendations.
How to share this information
The time you choose to do this can be to suit you. Some nail and beauty professionals choose to discuss aftercare during the consultation, while others opt to have these conversations during or after the appointment. Figure out what works best for your business and maintain this process with every customer, whether new or longstanding. By making it a habit to discuss aftercare or other tips at a certain time during each appointment, you’ll ensure every client hears your valuable advice.
Before the appointment
Performing a consultation is a great way to ensure you understand what the customer is looking for and what they expect. Always discuss and manage how long they expect a service to last for. This can avoid disappointment in the future, so it is important to address and manage these expectations from the start. For example, if your client has short, damaged nails and wants to improve their health, you can suggest a retail product to complement your services. If you use an online booking system, this information can also be sent out prior to the service, however it is still important to carry this out face to face to allow engagement and understanding.
During the appointment
Some nail appointments are relatively long, which provides you with ample time to discuss your client’s expectations and give relevant tips. This also allows adequate time for the client to engage and ask questions. For shorter appointments, it can be good to get this information relayed at the beginning of the appointment to ensure enough time.
After the appointment
If you choose to discuss this after the appointment, set a routine which you follow after every client appointment. Whilst the client is paying, you should cover the aftercare process and provide any other relevant information. To help clients remember each step of the aftercare process, consider creating a take home leaflet detailing this information. This can greatly improve the chances of your client remembering aftercare best practices. As with before the appointment, if you use an online booking system, this information can also be sent out after the service.
Ongoing communication
Providing tips and advice on an ongoing basis can keep your nail and beauty services at the forefront of clients’ minds. To maintain regular communication with clients, consider checking in with customers between their appointments and asking if they have any questions or concerns.
Social media
Social media is a great tool for engaging with your customers and showcasing your knowledge and expertise. Before and after shots are always successful and it can be beneficial to consider adding a tip of the week or month to your social posts. It can also be beneficial to share professional articles and blogs. Sharing official blogs or your own tips can help you demonstrate your dedication to health and safety while sharing valuable advice to current clients.
No matter how or when you choose to share tips with your customers, be sure to communicate the “why” behind your advice. This can help customers better understand the importance of your recommendations and motivate them to practice aftercare correctly.
Love Katie B x