Attracting & Retaining Clients
March 26, 2023
You have to spend money to make money. We’ve all heard the saying and know it to be true. Providing services to your clients and earning their loyalty requires an investment of time, effort and money. Ultimately, your massage therapy business’s profitability depends on your ability to achieve the best possible return on your investments. You can do that by making sure you maximize the value you gain from each of your clients.
Every client you obtain comes at a cost. You had to spend money on marketing or other acquisition strategies to bring that client to your door. This is your customer acquisition cost (CAC). You won’t start making a profit until the amount that your client spends with you exceeds their CAC. Of course, the more often a client visits your practice and the longer they remain a customer, the more that profit component will grow.
That’s why retaining loyal clients and regaining lapsed ones is so important. You’ve already made an investment in the client relationship. Maintaining allows you to reap the rewards.
But what can you do if a client stops booking appointments with you? Can you win them back?
Yes. Use these strategies to revive those waning client relationships and increase your bookings.
The key to maintaining any relationship is communication. Winning back your lapsed clients may be as simple as reminding them that you are still available to serve them.
While there are several ways you can get in touch with your clients, including phone calls or postcards, email offers you an efficient and affordable way to rekindle people’s interest in your massage therapy business. For clients who have opted-in to receive marketing-related email content from you, use a win-back email campaign to reconnect. Then, use traditional mail or a quick phone call to check in with your other lapsed clients.
Clients who haven’t booked an appointment in the past three to six months may be re-engaged by the right message. Make a list of your lapsed clients by looking over your bookings for the past year or use ClinicSense’s software to quickly find this information.
Once you know which clients meet your win back criteria, ask yourself: Do you want every client back? Remove clients who frequently canceled appointments, were late to pay or caused other problems from your win-back list.
If you have time, divide the people who appear on your win-back list into groups based on their treatment preferences. You can look at their invoice history to find out which treatments appeal to which clients. You might also want to create a priority list that includes those clients you value the most or you believe are most likely to be won back. This is where your personal knowledge of your clients will pay off.
With your list of likely candidates in hand, create messaging for your email campaigns (or phone scripts) that includes an irresistible offer.
Remember those personal preferences? Use them to choose what to offer in your win-back campaign. For example, your relaxation clients might be enticed by a special spa day offer or a free facial. Clients who formerly booked 2 to 3 treatments a month might respond to a multi-treatment package discount.
Special occasions are a great reason to get in touch with your clients. Create a themed message centering on a holiday, calendar event or an event you create to give your re-engagement message a focus. Or, make your contact truly personal by sending your not-seen-in-a-while clients a special birthday wish. The anniversary date of your client’s first treatment is another event that offers you the perfect opportunity to say, “Hey, remember me?”
You may have noticed that the above strategies have something in common. They all involve knowing your client and giving them a reason to stay in touch. Your customers’ loyalty will grow when they understand the value you bring to them. So keep those lines of communication open!
Find more ways to demonstrate your value and keep your loyal customers coming back in our free ebook, The Loyal Customer Generator. Get your copy today!
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