Creating a customer care plan

Customer care specialist, Julie Eldrett offers advice on creating a loyal client base

1 Implement a customer care plan

There are certain areas that all businesses need to concentrate on whether the country is in a recession or not. Research has shown that customers come back to salons following a pleasant experience and because they have been made to feel important within the salon. A simple way to achieve this is to implement a customer service plan, which will nurture every customer that comes into your salon.

2 Do your research and implement thoroughly

To ensure that your salon is following an effective customer care plan, do your research. Are you providing the best customer care within our area? Have a look your local competitors and ensure your customer care plan is surpassing other salons.

Once the customer care plan is in place, it must be implemented via the salon employees. Involve your team in training days and educate them on how you would like this plan to be implemented.

3 Monitor the success of your plan and keep staff motivated

You need to ensure it is working effectively. Send in mystery shoppers to see how the team is performing.

Ensure you continually motivate, acknowledge and reward staff members for their efforts in implementing the plan. Ask yourself if you are rewarding the excellent customer service that your team is providing? Based on results, the team will need to be motivated and encouraged to keep the customer plan in place. Reward can be anything from internal awards to daily praise showing their actions are noted.

4 Think about wow factors

The essential part of your customer care plan is to think about the 'wow' factors that all customers look for. Research has shown that this is not just one big 'wow' factor but lots of smaller elements that add up to a customer having an enjoyable experience within the salon. This can be something as small as a stylist remembering which specific details the customer requested on the last visit to what was talked about. Such details can be recorded on customer record cards.

The top reasons for clients to return to the salon is because they trust their stylist and the brand they are representing. If a customer feels valued and feel they have received an exceptional service, they will return.