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5 Easy Tips On How To Keep Clients Coming Back

When you run your own business, it’s a steady stream of planning, patience, and pivoting. Once you’ve done the heavy-lifting of building and the good paying clients are walking through the door; the next stage of fortifying your business is keeping those clients coming back. The name of this part of the game is Client Retention. Meet Johnny Locklear, a true multi-talented nail tech with a killer personality to match. Johnny has over 14 years experience in the nail business and is a nine year veteran teaching at our Young Nails OWC and traveling everywhere with us as a YN mentor. Find out how to he mastered the art of client retention which is the key to running a successful business.


TIP 1 - PRIORITIZE QUALITY
Sure lots of clients can walk in the door. Now you have to figure out a way to keep them interested in your services and wanting a repeat performance. The first and easiest way into the hearts of your clients is to offer quality work and to use quality products. It’s a baseline of what they can expect from you. Quality speaks for itself and will have them coming in year after year.

TIP 2 - KEEP THE CHARM ON
An unwritten code of conduct for nail pros is to remember to keep the charm on. A client can come into the salon with a lot on their mind. Some will come in grumpy. Others will come in looking for some space and a little silence. Even if you don’t like what they are saying; just smile and wave. You can’t respond to their negative energy. You can’t be grumpy with them. You have to deal with them. One simple way to deflect the energy is to ask them how they’re doing or what their plans are after their service.

TIP 3 - FRIENDLY CHIT CHAT & SHIFT
Engage your clients in an easy conversation. Talking makes the time go by faster. It helps you develop a rapport and make a deeper connection. Quality service is only one part of the scenario; a quality connection is another. Clients come back to you for all your parts; your skills plus your personality. If you’re doing it right, eventually, you become an extended part of their family or maybe a pseudo-therapist. You will hear all kinds of things and meet all kinds of personalities. Sometimes, your clients will feel like they can drop anything on you good or bad. You have to know how to answer them in the right way. Don’t tell them what to do or give advice. Learn how to really listen. Then when their time is up in the seat, you have to learn how to shift out of their energy back into yourself several times throughout the day.

TIP 4- COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL
The nail business is a service business yet there are nail pros who are introverts. So if you’re someone who isn’t naturally a talker; in our industry it’s best to try to come out of your shell. As an introvert, you might feel like chatting people up for hours a day is exhausting. If you love what you do; maybe you can somehow market to that quieter connection and garner that kind of clientele. Smile and do your thing. Do try to break out of your shell and practice the process of listening and communication. All you have to do is start with “Hi, how are you?” Being nice and kind, can really open things up.

TIP 5- NO JERKS ALLOWED
In the nail business, it’s hard to have an off day during salon hours. Coming to nail pro is often a client escape. If you’re a jerk, you might discover it’ll be a bit hard to build a return clientele. I actually know some nail pros who are kind of jerks and successful. Trust me, it’s not a long-term sustainable model. Your bad reputation will precede you. People will hear about it. If you do good work, and your service is phenomenal; you make your clients feel special. The chances are a lot better that your going to have a keeper client. Personally, I’m not going to someone who acts uninterested in me or is tired, grumpy, or distracted by their phone.

*If you want more of Johnny Locklear check him out @jdollarnails on Instagram.
**This is an adaptation from our YN Biz Talk Playlist “Client Retention”.