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“How to effectively target your prospects, never discount ever again… and the connection between a Fendi handbag, a Burberry handbag, and the marketing of your salon.”
In this edition we’re going to:
- Kill discounting for ever - it is a poison!
- Discover what people actually buy
- Learn how to accurately target your prospects
Prospects. Remember them? These are the people who might come to see you, but haven’t yet. These are your future clients. The very new life-blood that your salon needs. What would you say if I told you that you could accurately, effectively target these people. It would be great wouldn’t it?
BUT how can you do this?
Well, tell me - what do you already know about them? (At this point I can hear the shuffling of feet and you looking blankly at the screen) Well you know an awful lot about them. Why?
BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS YOUR CLIENTS!
That’s right. They do the same kind of things. Live in the same kind of places. Visit the same kind of restaurants. Sooo (with the possible exception of London and any very large metropolis) you can do this …..
Buy yourself a large wall map of your area. Oh, and whilst you’re in the stationers, buy yourself some coloured sticky dots. OK, now get your oh-so-valuable client listing. Start putting dots on the map to show where your clients live. Do this for, say, the 50 top-spending clients.
I bet you a pound to a penny that these coloured dots immediately start to form little clusters. (If they don’t, email me and tell me so!)
So where do you think your prospects will be? In those same clusters!!
Time for a door drop?
But wait. Before you do that, two little things:
Firstly, put your mailer into a plain white envelope and seal it. Nothing on the front, and nothing on the back. Why? Because whoever picks it up just has to open it - it’s human curiosity!
Or…
(And this has actually been done) Get the person putting the material through the doors to screw the thing up into a ball. Why? Because, again, you’ve just GOT to open it haven’t you? And then once opened, the text reads “Does your skin feel as screwed up as this flyer ….”
OK, onto the flyers/door-drops/mailers, call them what you will. Now what are we trying to do here? We’re trying to get these prospects to come in and become clients right?
And remember as a client they spend £(however much you calculated it to be) per year in your salon? Well, these prospects are already spending that much with your competitors! So what ever we offer them, it has to be really tempting, to get them out of your competitor’s salon and into your salon.
So will this do it?
“20% off on your first visit”
“50% off all bookings on Monday afternoon”
“We’re 30% cheaper than any other salon”
No. No. No. NO! Discounting as a method of building your business just doesn’t do it. All it does is kill your business. Here’s why:
Case study: A local hairdressers had a sign in the window: ‘All treatments 20% off on Wednesday’ The result? On Wednesdays she was absolutely chocked. Full. The rest of the week… she was empty. So did this fabulous offer build her business or kill her business?
It killed it stone dead.
Also, if you are going to discount (and I say you shouldn’t), never, ever, offer a percentage discount.
Case study: One therapist I met whilst delivering my seminars said to me, “Hey Martin, we do the mailings to get clients back that we haven’t seen for a while, and we give them a 20% off voucher. We get a fair response.” I told them to stop doing that and include a £5 off voucher. Why? Because people know what £5 is. It’s £5! How much is 20% off? Dunno.
“But,” they said “people save far more with my 20% off.” But they gave it a go, and replaced it with a £5 off voucher. The result? Response shot through the roof!
OK, I hear you say, if we can’t offer a discount to get new clients through the door, what can we do?
The answer is quite simple really - RAISE YOUR PRICES!
“WHAT?” I hear you scream!!!!
That’s right you’ve read that correctly. I’ll say it again. Raise your prices!
Let’s leave that for a second and look at the Fendi Bag and the Burberry Bag. What have these two items got to do with the marketing of your salon?
Well let’s look at them. Costly aren’t they? Wish you could afford one maybe? You know I’m amazed by these bags. You can go to Tesco and buy something that will do EXACTLY the same thing as these bags do, can’t you?
BUT - and here’s the rub - will they make you feel the same? Of course not! And that’s EXACTLY what the marketing people behind these things know. When you buy a Fendi bag you’re buying something far far greater than just a bag aren’t you?
Now can you see the connection between their marketing and your marketing? Do people buy, say, “waxing”? Do people buy “facials”? Do people buy a “massage”? NO!
People buy “Smooth hair free, sexy legs”.
People buy “Glowing skin”.
People buy “Relaxation”. So sell them this!
So now we know what it is we’re going to sell them, how on earth can we raise our prices and still sell more? Easy!
We’re going to repackage and re-invent our services! Here’s how:
Firstly, we’re going to rename the treatment: “The Inner Glow Package”. “The Summer Sizzler”. Anything that makes the package of treatments sound more attractive!
Secondly, we’re going to add massive value to the client… at little or no cost to yourselves. Remember all those little treatments you do for free? Perhaps a little hand massage, head & shoulder massage, file & polish, etc. Now we’re going to give these treatments re-packaged names and add value to them.
Don’t feel too comfortable with this? Well it goes on all the time …
Example: You’ve got two cars side by side. They are EXACTLY the same car. With one, you get tinted windows, alloy wheels and a CD player FREE.
With the other car, you get tinted windows worth £300 FREE, alloy wheels worth £400 FREE and a CD player worth £350 FREE. Over £1,050 worth of extras - FREE.
Which car do you want?
And there’s more. If you bought the first car and your passenger said “I like the CD player” you’d probably reply “Yeah it was free with the car - sigh!” If, however, you bought the second car, you’d probably reply “Yeah. £350 worth and I got it FREE!”
Do you see the difference?
It is EXACTLY the same with your treatments. If you don’t value your treatments, your client won’t value your treatments. FACT.
Thirdly, and finally, we’re going to raise the price! And guess what - people will want to pay the extra cost! Why? Because of the extra value they’re getting.
And, they won’t be able to directly compare what you’re selling with your competitors!
Case study: I was with one of my salon owners when the phone rang. She apologised and answered it. (No problem with that - customers ALWAYS come first) The conversation went along these lines:
Caller: “How much for a manicure”
Owner: “A manicure in my salon is £15″
Now, in most salons the caller would then say thanks, and hang up. Then move on to the next salon in the phone book. But my salon owner was far too canny for that to happen …
Owner: “But let me tell you about my special. You can have the manicure you’re after, PLUS a soothing mini massage, a stunning Hollywood eye makeover, and a glowing skin facial, for just £35. That’s £85 worth of simply glorious treatments for just £35. You’ll be saving £50! Can I book you in for Monday at 10?”
Caller: “Yes please!”
You see, this price-shopper was converted into a potential client by spending far, far more than she intended!
To discover if you can get your hands on marketing material like this, that works, click here!
In the next lesson you’ll discover (click the “Next Lesson” link below):
- Just what needs to be in an advertisement or promotion to make it truly effective!
Until next time!
Dedicated to filling your salon with clients
Martin Smith
