Winning your eyelash extension clients' hearts and minds is just like courtship, yet many lash salons struggle to interact and connect with their potential consumers and clients because they overlooked some basic communication and common sensible standards.
There's no gimmick here or even a formula. If you own an eyelash extension salon, here are some possible reasons why your clients turn their back and never return. We will also enumerate some strategies to earn lash clients, bring back old clients, establish their trust, and empower your business. So let’s start counting the strands!
1. Not lending your ears to your clients’ need.
Customers have high expectations of the eyelash extension salons they choose to do appointments with. And, as it turns out, just one incident of expectations not being met is enough to cause customers to switch providers in search of a better deal. It should be a wake up call for us when customers don't feel valued during a service interaction, they're quick to look to our competitors for help.
The Solution. Let the client speak, actively listen, stay humble and be patient to the replies. Sometimes, they don't understand the basics that is why they seek our help. They are troubled on some key steps or terminologies, and we have to take their hand through every step of the troubleshooting process. Every client’s question is significant so remain informative in order not to create longer conversations.
Some clients also have zero tolerance in waiting for such a long time to troubleshoot issues. Clients feel that their time is wasted in waiting for client support and that there is non-assurance that the customer service will be back as soon as possible so get back to the clients quickly and offer updates and proper solutions. If a client support representative is conversing via phone, he/she must use a calm voice. Though some clients are challenging to deal with, in this situation, the client support representative must be emotionally intelligent while keeping his/her cool and stay modest. Remember the three key factors in this area: The client, the problem and the immediate solution.
2. There is a need to strengthen the client support system.
Does your business have a social media account or contact information that clients usually send their inquiries to? Let’s not ignore these communication channels for these are vital elements for the businesses.
Most of the time, our product has undergone quality control and we have set a high quality standard in our services but when a customer's expectations aren't satisfied with what they are looking for, it's considered bad customer service. Bad examples of customer service include; long wait times, an automated system that makes it difficult to reach a human agent, and having to repeat information numerous times are among the top symptoms of poor customer service. But sometimes, an unsatisfied customer does not equate to bad customer service, we are just unlucky to have customers like Karen in which we have to deal with lots of patience.
Clients have preconceived notions about how an eyelash extension salon will treat them. It's bad news for your brand if your customer service isn't at par. Customers who have had a bad service experience are quick to vent out their frustrations on social media. The message is clear: in today's digitally connected world, we can't afford to ignore these annoyances. Customers will immediately switch to a competitor after having a bad support experience. 
Any service that assists consumers in resolving difficulties over the internet and communication channels is referred to as online customer service. Customer support agents are in charge of this, and their primary purpose is to help your lash clients. Image resource: https://tinyurl.com/2c3nwnh4
The Solution. Clients are your bread and butter. If your eyelash extension salon has a growing number of subscribers, establish a client support system that will entertain bookings, appointments, products and services inquiries, and others. Keep track of your clients by developing a calendar or record system of eyelash extension appointments. It’s good that your lash salon’s mobile phone and social media account is open 24/7 even on holidays to monitor client inquiries but if you are taking a holiday vacation, post an announcement to immediately inform your clients in order to consider rescheduling their eyelash extension appointments. Use of appropriate words in transacting with your clients must also be taken into consideration. Remember: It takes months to find a client and only a second to lose one.
3. The salon is unwelcoming and possibly…unsanitary!
Ouch! That’s a hard pill to swallow! The reality is that eyelash extension salons now are not just investing on products and services but also in the overall interior design of their salon.
Interior design is the process of determining the most efficient layout to maximize an eyelash extension salon’s potential in terms of utility and aesthetics while taking into account the space's attributes and the intended style. The goal is to optimize the zones by arranging the eyelash extension salon in a precise style that matches the owner's needs, personality, special tastes and most of all, the comfort of the clients so select the perfect combination of colors, materials, furniture, and décor that will not only make a beautiful layout, but will also manage limits and ensure that it is functional. The overall interior of your eyelash extension salon must have good taste and originality that will keep clients coming back!
Cross contamination can be avoided by maintaining the high levels of hygiene practices in your salon. Image resource:https://tinyurl.com/34affnef
The Solution. Revamp the old atmosphere of your eyelash extension lounge into a classy stylish one that will make a significant impact on every eyelash extension client that will walk in. Don’t spend too much on interior design since there are a lot of DIY ideas available on Pinterest, TikTok and other home decorating channels. Some furnishings and other materials can be refurbished in order to create a new cohesive look. Some eyelash extension beauty lounges are also decorating and setting up a nook which is Instagrammable for everyone. Allow your eyelash extension clients to take selfies and groupies and get free shoutouts from them online and make other people curious about your services.
Here are some other helpful tips that you can work with: replace linens regularly, put aromatic essential oils or air fresheners to improve the mood of your staff and clients and put on comfortable eyelash extension recliners and pillows to assist in the comfort especially on pregnant clients. Plants can also serve as natural air purifiers. While having a lash session with your client, play subtle jazz, bossa nova music or podcasts in the background to keep the experience more relaxing. After your client’s eyelash extension session, regular sanitation is a must! Sanitize your set of tools and put enough supplies in order not to hamper the lash sessions of your eyelash extension clients.
Organizing things is a skill while maintaining cleanliness is a hallmark of perfect standards and the best inspector is our conscience.
4. The service menu is outdated
In a world of fast paced business, there are a lot of advancements and trends. The current craze for this month might already be outdated in a matter of a few months. We have to accept that fads are popular for a short time but then fade right away. Some latest crazes are frequently thought to be spontaneous, spread quickly, and short-lived. What is trendy this month may no longer excite clients in the coming months. In 2021, fashionistas went gaga over microbags, a tiny purse that fits almost nothing but looks amazingly cute. For scale, a micro bag should not fit even your cell phone. The mini bag trend is still going strong, but now that people have realized that it’s useless, the trendsetters and fanatics to this fad are slowly transitioning back into their normal lives post-covid and going back to more spacious and practical bags.
Product development opens you to the entire process of delivering a new product or refining an old one for your lash clients.Image resource: https://tinyurl.com/2p952vsh
The Solution. Have you remembered Nokia, the prominent mobile phone a few decades ago which was unable to keep up with shifting customer demands and refused to adjust to market conditions. Instead of adopting Android (as did the rest of the world at the time), it clung to Symbian. Nokia also neglected to upgrade its software offerings, focusing solely on hardware. With its company's refusal to keep with the market, it caused its downfall.
We don’t want this to happen in our eyelash extension salon.
Learn from your past experiences or from other businesses. You might learn from the best practices of other eyelash extension businesses too. Observing the eyelash extension market will keep us updated on the latest styles and strategies. Check out the latest forecasts and eyelash extension product developments in the market. Try to look at the offers made by your competitors. If a lot of clients are craving a certain service that is not available on your eyelash extension menu, try researching and developing offers. Offer promos, packages, freebies, and other exciting eyelash extension giveaways.
In 2021, colored lashes and decals were introduced in the market and it became a massive hit to eyelash extensions fanatics. Aside from classic eyelash extensions, lash artists made some razzling dazzling blings to eyelashes called decals. Salons and home based eyelash extension studios beefed up their menu to expand their lash services in order to be at par with the demands of the market. If you are offering new and unique products, make some noise on the internet so that curious clients will check out and avail your services.
With these latest happenings, ponder on your target market. Is your lash salon exclusive for women only or a certain age group? Rule of the thumb: a successful business can cater to all people from different walks of life.
5. The eyelash extension products are substandard
There are a lot of eyelash extension salons who are guilty on this part. Some owners tend to buy cheap eyelash extension products but charge high on their eyelash extension services which are no longer affordable to the target market. As a result, the eyelash extension clients are not happy with the outcome and tend to look for other alternatives. We can’t question this because every eyelash extension business is unique in terms of standards. For example, eyelash extension adhesive with formaldehyde is a lot more affordable than fume free eyelash extension glues. You might want to look at this matter.
Not all eyelash extension products are created equal. Substandard eyelash extension products on the market rack are unregulated and have not undergone clinical trials. These substandard products may cause serious damages to clients like irritation, allergic reactions, and worst is blindness.
A trusted eyelash extension brand demonstrates their genuine side and adheres to their proclaimed principles. A lash essential brand emphasizes its reliability and raises confidence in their capacity to deliver on their promises.
The Solution. Consider purchasing not just expensive but high quality eyelash extension products because it will also reflect the output of your eyelash extension salon. There are also affordable eyelash extension products that are high quality and adheres to the clients needs.. Compare and contrast eyelash extension products in the market. It’s best to purchase clinically tested eyelash extension essentials which are trusted by many. What’s the best selling eyelash extension product that most eyelash extension salons are buying? This aspect is sometimes a trial and error so study the ingredients of eyelash extension essential products, check the eyelash extension client reviews and policies too but the safety of your clients must not be compromised. Another marketing strategy is to explain the benefits of the eyelash extension products that you are using to your eyelash extension clients. They would love to know how the eyelash extension product that you use benefits them. Offer eyelash extension aftercare tips and follow ups for infills, lash removal, and other eyelash extension services. Keep in mind that quality is not an act, it’s a habit. When the product is right, you don’t have to be a great marketer, your service will spread through word of mouth and will make its own noise.
6. The services needs to level up
One of the characteristics of most sought after lash salons is that they continuously strive for excellence. There are eyelash extension salons who are very competitive in the market. You’ll easily recognize these salons because of their premium services which is evident in their classy salon ambiance, well trained and courteous staff, awards received, updated services, detailed operations and intensive social media presence. These lash salons are looked at by everyone as a model. These businesses did not achieve such prestige overnight but hardly worked on and maintained to achieve a status.
It’s not yet too late to upgrade your services. If you are a small business, start listing on small things that you can improve and work on it one lash at a time.
Quality eyelash extension service entails far more than simply delivering assistance in a timely and pleasant manner. More significantly, it entails going above and beyond to ensure that your consumers are more than satisfied. They are genuinely pleased with your eyelash extension services. Image resource: https://tinyurl.com/2brpujz4
The Solution. Examine the daily operations of your eyelash extension studio. Conduct quality control procedures in order to offer better eyelash extension services in your salon including lash retention check, eyelash extension mapping among others. Ask eyelash extension client’s feedback on what to improve and consider it in refining the processes in the overall management. Keep track of the contact information of your eyelash extension clients and update them from time to time of your valued eyelash extension offers. By the way, did you know that some businesses are sending their employees posing as eyelash extension clients to try the services and observe the strategies of their competitors? You might not be aware that you have already entertained some eyelash extension clients that are working for your competitors. Pro-tip: Try the same game plan and you’ll know some hidden secrets employed by other competitive brands.
7. The eyelash extension pricing mistake destroys the salon’s brand
A price is literally composed of just a few figures but for many lash salons, pricing strategy is essentially a game of lash chance, with the hope of landing on rates that eyelash extension customers are ready and glad to pay without considering certain factors. As you know, clients tend to compare prices from one lash salon to another. The tendency for an average client is to avail eyelash extension services to lash salons with affordable but high quality services.
Make a lash salon hopping and notice their service menus. Some problems on eyelash extension pricing include: overcomplication of price presentations, stagnant price over time, lacking competitor comparison among others.
It makes perfect sense to assess your eyelash extension prices on a frequent basis in order to stay competitive.
Image source: www.pexels.com
The Solution. According to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology on behavioral economics, shoppers perceive prices with more syllables to be significantly greater. What exactly does that imply? Let’s take for example the comparison of the following prices:
$1,899.00
$1,899
$1899
If you are going to examine,in theory, these figures all mean the same thing. The clients, however, thought the first and second values were considerably higher than the third one. What is the reason for this? Those costs felt higher when the extra syllables and commas were added to the pricing. What does this imply for business? Ideally, you'll have a pricing structure free of any "unnecessary" additions. It may seem foolish, but study has shown that goods and service prices should have a "$1500" product rather than a "$1,500.00" product, despite the fact that they are the same price. There is also this discount mentality from our clients that they will take the $99 price instead of $100. We've all heard why it's employed (to make the price appear lower), but is it actually effective? Is a $99 pricing point vs a $100 price tag going to make a difference? As it turns out, this strategy works, and it's been nicknamed "charm pricing."
Despite shifting demand and other changing economic conditions in the eyelash extension industry, certain aesthetic salons tend to maintain their pricing sticky — or resistant to change — while others are better suited revising their price numerics on a regular basis. If a certain eyelash extension price isn't getting the outcomes you want, or if the eyelash extension industry is rapidly and aggressively shifting away from what you're charging, consider adjusting your eyelash extension price to stay up.
Any eyelash extension price changes you make, particularly if you cut prices, can have a direct influence on the bottom lines of your eyelash extension industry counterparts. As a result, if you want your eyelash extension price changes to be as effective as possible, you must anticipate how your competitors will react.
Examine the rivals who sell their eyelash extension services at the pricing peak you want to achieve. Consider how they'll react if you start siphoning out pieces of their clientele.
Above all, whether there are changes in the eyelash extension pricing, the products and the quality of eyelash extension services you offer must uphold the highest standard. Once you pledge to provide quality services at a reasonable price, your clients will have a reason to come back.
8. The lash salon is not accessible to the clients
Have you experienced looking for an establishment in the middle of an unknown area realizing that you are lost and nowhere to go. Looking for an establishment especially in a remote area is just like Hansel and Gretel being lost in the woods. At least once in our lifetime, we have experienced like nowhere to go inside a maze..
Have you considered the location of your eyelash extension salon? If your eyelash extension lounge is hard to find, then chances are, your lash clients will get tired of finding you. They might chance upon a nearby eyelash extension salon at the heart of the city center.
Eyelash extension salon owners should find a balance between well-trafficked parts of town and the cost of the planned location. Researching an area in which the lash salon will be put up is the best way to identify whether it will make a suitable home for the business and also serve as an attraction to potential clients.Image resource: https://tinyurl.com/3n269dar
The Solution. Is your eyelash extension business located in an isolated area? Why not consider relocating in busy business areas in which shopping centers are located where walk-in eyelash extension clients can see your shop and avail your lash services? If you are a home based lash artist who doesn't have enough budget to relocate, provide the exact address, landmarks, signs heading to your studio and maps on how to get into your location. Also, lash clients who have cars need a parking area. If your business doesn’t have a parking space, they might just end up looking for an eyelash extension salon that has access to their parking concerns.
Are you on the right map? Your establishment might not also be available in Google Maps or any online map alternatives. There is a strategy in Google Maps in which you can employ or put the name of your business on the map so that your clients can locate you through their mobile phone GPS while traveling on the way to your location. Keep this in mind: lead your clients to where you are!
9. The lash artists are not motivated to perform well because of certain work issues
For big lash salons, it’s challenging to handle a number of staff since the concern is not just about the daily operations but also the employee to employee and employee to company relationship.
Do certain internal problems within the company affect the quality of their work? Are the employees overworked but underpaid? Settling some issues might be tedious, especially that it involves emotions. Issues will test leadership and management skills.
There might also be underlying problems within the business owner and their employees' relationship between them. Do employees have woes on the benefits that they receive? If these cannot be settled, these will have a domino effect on other related matters. Business is not just about earning money but also establishing harmonious human connections. One might be good at handling money matters but it also takes skills to learn how to handle people.
Employee engagement can be improved in the following ways: Gives you resources to better understand your employees' needs and goals. Allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the employee's motivation and fulfillment. Image resource: https://tinyurl.com/2ytjp6jv
The Solution. If we are talking about employee welfare, you might want to benchmark on other eyelash extension salons of their benefits given to their workforce.
Aside from the salary, check on the existing laws in your area on what benefits should be provided for your employees, especially if they are locals in the area. Aside from leave incentives, financially able companies also provide extra including health insurance, uniforms, gadgets, food, communication transportation or gas allowance and bonuses. Though these above mentioned things are quite hard to establish from starting micro businesses as the capital is still being regained, try studying some incentives that you can offer to your employees once you have increased your sales. Your company must also be competitive on this part as employees tend to look for other companies that have a higher offer. As you know, the saying goes, the grass is always greener outside the fence.
If a problem within the company arises, settle it immediately. Do not let the day pass without finding a solution to such. Always open the communication channels between you and the staff. Also, take time to appreciate your employees and they will reciprocate in a thousand ways.
10. The lash artists needs to be licensed in order to practice their craft
Can you imagine consulting a doctor about a certain medical condition that you are experiencing but only to find out that the doctor is not qualified to practice his profession? This example also applies to availing an eyelash extension to non-licensed eyelash extension practitioners. We cannot compromise our health especially when an eyelash extension is almost near to our eyes. With unregulated practice, a wrong application can affect a client’s vision.
Employers may highlight the knowledge and skills they want their eyelash extension artists to have by providing training and development. To boost productivity, training and development programs can teach eyelash extension artists new skills or provide updates on old ones Image resource: https://tinyurl.com/4z8zs9ub
The Solution. Evaluate the skills and needs of your eyelash extension artists and ask them what their weaknesses are and find ways to address it. If you are an employed lash artist, do not just rely on your boss to give you training but strive to look for opportunities to learn. Subscribe to centers who offer training and refer it to your employer. You might also chance upon free training to some big companies who are supportive of emerging lash artists. If an eyelash extension mentor within your company is not available, there are a lot of training camps, workshops, certification or licensure programs available in the industry. Part of business is also investing in the professional development of your employees and eyelash extension artists. When your employees feel that they are valued and cared for, they will become your assets, they will stay with you even through the company's ups and downs. Clients also feel safe when they avail services to licensed eyelash extension artists so it's a plus point for your business if your lash artists are licensed. Building rapport with your employees and clients is expensive and it takes years to build.
Conclusion:
Every eyelash extension professional or eyelash extension establishment has encountered the terrible experience of pursuing a warm lead for weeks only to know that the clients have already rejected your services. Gaining eyelash extension clients is not easy. It is always baffling as to where everything went wrong. We have always wondered why aren't any of our prospects grabbing the bait when efforts and the lash salon have so much to offer.
Customers are essential to every lash salon’s success. They have the ability to make the salon succeed or fail. The secret to delighted consumers is your eyelash extension salon’s excellent customer service.
Employees including lash artists, after consumers, are your eyelash extension company's most valuable asset. It pays to have happy employees since it impresses and retains consumers. Your eyelash extension brand's image will improve as a result of this mindset. On the other hand, a mismanaged eyelash extension business can have a negative impact on customer retention and sales.
Success doesn’t happen overnight. With the above mentioned methods, your eyelash extension salon development strategy has hopes up and strategies and methods that need to be applied.
We hope that these strategies will win your eyelash extension clients’ hearts and minds (and wallets too).
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Love reading? Check out these articles cited on this blog:
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The Purpose of Interior Design.(N.D).
10 Pricing Mistakes That Can Seriously Stifle Sales.
6 Overlooked Ways to Win More New Clients
12 Killer Strategies of How to Win Customers for Life.2022
How to deal with employees who don’t get along