One of the worst traps I see business fall into is trying to be all things to all clients. Marketing your business to the widest possible audience can seem like the best way to promote your business and boost your profits but is it?
If you want to transform and grow a sustainable business the first step is understanding that everyone is not your customer. If you’re reading this article it’s time to stop trying to appeal to everyone and spend your energy focusing on nailing your niche and attracting your ideal client. Find clients that enjoy the customer journey you provide and are happy to pay for those services.
There’s a huge number of resources available suggesting you try this and that but if you really want to GROW your business, boost your PROFITS and become more SUCCESSFUL nothing is going to help you achieve your goals more than a clear step-by-step action plan.
The most successful salons achieve a CONSTANT flow of new clients as well as upselling to their existing client base, by doing the following very well:
1) Targeting the RIGHT clients (which involves client profiling and nailing your niche)
2) Identifying the solutions you are specialising in and steadily building brand awareness
3) Getting found on google by new clients
4) CONVERTING lookers to bookers on your website
5) Getting regular REVIEWS (and sharing these on social media) to persuade potential new clients to book with you
6) Partner with LOCAL BUSINESSES
7) Ask for REFERRALS from existing clients
Whether you’re an aesthetic clinic, medispa, beauty salon or freelance therapist every business needs a constant flow of new clients if you’re going to survive and THRIVE. It’s vital for your business success to keep ATTRACTING new business, BUILD your customer base and GROW your business.
I hear a lot from salons that they’re not sure who their ideal clients are and ‘what does it matter as long as they pay for a treatment’ but this is always short-term gain NOT long-term success.
Working out who your ideal client is, can take a little time but it’s a simple process that you will reap the rewards from, in the short and long term.
When building your ideal client base, you’re finding clients that:
- Want your specialist treatments and solutions on a regular basis
- Are in tune with your salon’s vibe
- Love your location
- Enjoy the client experience you offer
- Value you and your team’s talents and strengths
Taking the time to find the perfect fit in terms of clients for your business will mean that they:
- Love the type of treatments and solutions you offer
- Are easy and pleasant to provide your services to
- Book regularly and more often
- Rave to their friends about the ‘transformations’ you offer, providing you with a stream of new clients and increasing revenues
The 3 steps to make your business thrive include:
1) Analysing what your business does best. Look at your strengths and what services give you most profitability. Nail your niche!
2) Work out who is your ideal client to compliment these strengths
3) Tailor your marketing messages and brand to attract more of these clients
So, how do you identify your ideal client?
Chances are that around 80% of your profit comes from 20% of your clients. These 20% are your ideal clients. The ones that make your till ring on a regular basis.
Compile a list of these top 20% highest spending clients. Hopefully you’ll already have salon software in place that can quickly pull a standard report out of these ideal clients but if not a spreadsheet is a good option.
Look for common patterns with your top 20%:
1) Age
2) Gender
3) Geographical location
4) Social demographics
5) Choice of treatments and services
6) Home care purchases
7) Courses bought
8) How regularly they repeat book
Really go into the detail. Are they affluent 40+ women or price-conscious image driven under 30’s? Local yummy mummies or loyal seniors? Or are they professionals that work around the corner?
What’s their preferred appointment times? Which treatments and solutions do they buy? Do they prefer a certain therapist? How often do they renew their home care purchases?
Take your time to create a very detailed profile of your ideal client. Really get to know them. Identify what they love about your business. Nailing your niche is about having a particular type of person to deliver your specific offers to, helping you stand out from a crowded marketplace and get more sales.
Let’s be clear your niche really does matter when identifying your ideal client. If you aren’t clear on your services and solutions, your ideal client won’t be either.
Your niche is different from your ideal client. You might think you’ve worked it out because you’ve homed-in on your ideal client. Let’s say that’s your 40+ affluent woman wanting to maintain healthy, fresh skin with minimal ageing. You still need to be specific in what solutions you’re offering. If you’re providing non-invasive, healthy-ageing treatments and skincare those 40+ clients your targeting need to know straight away that your salon can help them. It’s going to be harder to attract these clients if you’re just offering a ‘wide range of beauty treatments.’
This doesn’t mean you need to add more services. Actually, just the opposite! If business has slowed down and gone quiet the solution is NOT to add more treatments to the menu. It’s time to focus on your ideal client and the specialised solutions you offer to transform their skin, body concerns, nails – whatever you’ve identified as your niche.
Remember the more generalist you become the further away you get from the success you want. Clients want a specialist for their concerns, someone they can trust. I remember many years ago one of my clients being very disappointed that I didn’t do electrolysis treatments. I didn’t want to as I didn’t have enough clients wanting this service. I simply wasn’t doing this treatment regularly enough to be skilled in it. I put my client in touch with a specialist in this field and kept her as my client for the solutions I specialised in.
Now you’ve gathered all the information identifying your ideal client and your niche in the market together, it’s time to do two things:
1) Focus your ENTIRE marketing, brand positioning and customer journey to ‘speak’ to your ideal clients. The ones that you’ve identified with your niche make you more PROFIT, more EASILY and more OFTEN.
2) Start the process of understanding your top 20% existing client base, where are the gaps in their treatments and home care use and how you and your team can improve their journey with you. And will make your more PROFIT, more EASILY and more OFTEN.
Ready to take your business to the next level. Reach out today to book your free discovery call and discover how we can revolutionise your business growth strategy.