Bringing back the clients you already have usually costs far less than finding new ones. To know whether it is working, you need a couple of simple numbers.
The numbers worth tracking
- Rebooking rate: of the clients you saw in a period, how many have booked again
- Returning clients: how many of the people you saw had been before
- Lapsed clients: regulars who have not been back for, say, three or six months
- Where new clients came from, so you know which marketing works
Working out your rebooking rate
Take the clients you saw in a month. Count how many have a future appointment booked, or came back within their usual interval. Divide by the total and multiply by 100.
For example, if you saw 200 clients in March and 130 of them have rebooked, your rebooking rate is 65%. Track it by team member too: it is often a good sign of how clients feel about their stylist or therapist.
Simple ways to improve it
- Rebook at the desk. Suggest the next appointment while the client is still in the chair.
- Know when each client is due. A cut might be every six weeks and infills every three. Set a rebook interval for each service.
- Send a friendly nudge to clients who are due and have not booked, if they have agreed to hear from you.
- Win back lapsed clients with a “we miss you” message, perhaps with an offer.
- Reward regulars with loyalty points or prepaid courses.
How WearBeauty helps
- A “Rebook after” setting on each service and a due back date on every client
- Dashboard counts of clients due to rebook and lapsed clients
- A clients report with new and returning clients, the percentage who came back and where new clients found you
- A staff report with rebooking by team member
- On Professional, automatic “Time to rebook” and “We miss you” messages to clients who have given consent
More on this: client retention in WearBeauty