Why your lash business is losing money without membership programs

A continuous and reliable revenue stream is a dream for any lash entrepreneur. However, it may not be an easy goal if you are unsure how to grow your business. You may have noticed so many companies you seek a service from offer memberships. Well, this marketing tool is not new, but underestimating the power of a client membership/loyalty program can do your business a significant disservice. Here is a comprehensive guide on how a membership program can be a great marketing tool for your lash salon.  

What is a lash salon membership?

“Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meets,” quoting marketing expert and author Kevin Stirtz; think of a lash salon membership as the middle ground for giving your clients what they want from your services and creating an excellent opportunity for your business to grow. It could be translated into a discount, gift, added benefit, or special offer.

The benefits of lash salon membership

A lash salon membership can be beneficial for both parties. While your clients would feel pampered by their extra privileges as a member of your salon, as a business, you would:

1. Be able to retain your clients

As a business, it is only natural to aim to grow your clientele. However, focussing on your current clients and providing them with an exclusive salon experience will eventually help you grow your business. Remember, retaining a client is easier than attracting a new one. Therefore, offering a loyalty program to your lash client will help stabilise your lash artist-client relationship leading to a loyal clientele.

2. Create a fixed flow of income

A membership program for each client helps you with a steady income flow. It could be through an upfront membership fee, the guarantee of having a fixed set of clients who will frequent your salon for their refills, or any other service you provide. This gives you a sense of security for your income and expenses to be taken care of monthly or annually. 

3. Easily upsell

When your clients become a part of your loyalty program, they will frequent your salon more often. This creates an excellent opportunity to build a rapport with your clients, who will honour your expert advice and recommendation and buy your products and services. Ensure you recommend products that you believe are effective and worthy of their money. Prolong Lash aftercare range is the most trusted brand of lash artists across 85 countries. Formulated exclusively for eyelash extensions, they are gentle on lashes and skin, remove dirt and dust without damaging lashes or breaking down the lash adhesive, and are 100% oil-free. To make greater profits from upselling, you can join the Prolong Lash Partner Program to buy products at the lowest price and earn up to 6o% profit margin.

4. Have a booked-out diary

With membership in tow, your clients will be more likely to book their refill sessions with you, considering the more they use your services, the more they will benefit from it. We would also suggest you encourage attendance on your quiet days and by offering your loyal members additional perks during these times to ensure you are not overburdened on busy days or lose money at off-peak hours. 

Types of Membership Programs

• Standard membership card:

  You can keep this membership straightforward by offering your members a 10% discount on products and services. This gives your clients a sense of authority to decide when they want to use your service while also benefitting from it. This can be catered to an infrequent client or a regular client.

• Packaged membership: 

  Packaged membership usually means you provide your clients with more monthly services to get more profits from their membership. It could be a refill session of a classic set with 10% off on all products and services or include a Russian Volume set once every three months at 10% off the total price to lure them to a more expensive service. Bundling up services eases clients’ quandary to choosing services more decisively and saving them time. 

• VIP Membership:

  This should have a higher membership fee and include all the perks from the above two membership types. You can also additionally include:

1. Adding more perks like first access to appointments.
2. Making them privy to all special offers.
3. Additional discounts.

When is the right time to have a membership program?

Providing loyalty membership to your clients can boost your revenue manifold; however, it is worth considering if your business is ready to offer it to your clients. It is important to note if you have the time and resources to provide the service you have on offer. Would you make healthy profits from each service? Would you have more clients with no time for yourself (if you are running the business independently) or not enough staff (if you have a team) to attend to them? That would cause your business more harm than good. Additionally, from a digital side, if you have a website or booking app, you must ensure you have the resources and the funds to integrate it into the required mediums for it to work seamlessly. 

 

How to create a membership program?

Understanding your customer base is one of the most critical aspects of creating an effective loyalty program. Target your infrequent as well as your loyal clients. Set the goals you intend to achieve when designing your loyalty program. It could be building their trust and delighting them with your services, increasing the frequency of their visits and earning more money, or increasing the number of clients. To understand if you will be benefitting from your loyalty program, include these in your strategy:

• Pre-program data: Create a list of your clients, their average spending, their frequency of visits, and any retail spending for the past 12 months.
• Post-program data: After investing in the reward program, tally it against the pre-program data. Remember to include 12-month reward costs, including discounts, redeemable points, and administration and staff fees. To finally calculate the Return-on-Investment cost: Return on Investment = 12 months incremental profits (gross profit) – 12 months reward costs / 12 months reward costs X 100.

Market it

Marketing is an essential aspect of a loyalty program. Before introducing the loyalty program, test the waters by soft launching it for two months and see how it fares before going full swing. This helps you and your clients transition smoothly to the next step of your business growth. Then, train your staff to promote the program effectively, send emails to your customer base, announce it on your social media pages and personally tell your clients about it. Ensure you communicate the rewards and point system clearly to your clients. It would also be worth having a policy, terms, and condition page to combat any confusion or pushback from clients. 

However, don’t set your loyalty program in stone. Allow some room for it to evolve. You can improvise and tailor it to your customer and business needs as you go along. They are a great way to grow your business, and if the proper steps are taken, you will see your loyalty program flourish. On an end note, remember, “Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.” — Brian Chesky, Co-Founder & CEO, Airbnb.