Increase your clientele by increasing your value

HOW do we gain clients in the lash industry? It's all we want - stable clientele that pay, don’t reschedule/cancel last minute and respect us as business owners. This is what creates a stable income for us self employed people.

No one likes high client turnover however there’s still a plethora of instagram stories from established business owners posting their available times every month, and they’re usually very available.

Why?

One of the reasons I see this commonly happening when I speak to artists in my lash artist refresher course is that clients just … don’t rebook. Or they get lashes for a special occasion and don’t come back. 

This blog is straight out of my courses, and this is how I coach my students to increase their perceived value to their audience to ensure that you are a sought after lash artist. 

1. Are your skills worth becoming a regular for?

Whenever we raise our prices, I believe it’s important to ask - are we worth it? No honestly, I’m all for raising prices and demanding what you’re worth but as a service based business, we have to ensure that we are delivering value to our customers at every single appointment. 

Is your isolation PERFECT? imperfect (and I use perfect on purpose here) isolation causes huge issues in your customers ‘at home’ experience with lash extensions, which really taints their view towards you/lash extensions. They hurt, they itch, they feel very uncomfortable. Clients are better educated now than they were 5 years ago which means they mostly know that lashes are not meant to fall out in chunks and are meant to be completely comfortable. Perfect isolation also saves you a lot of stress at refills when you don’t have to remove chunks of outgrown lashes.

Is your retention the absolute best it can be? Do you know how to fix issues with retention? Or do you find yourself dealing with retention complaints with nothing but hope that it won’t happen again? As a service provider, you must know how to deliver impeccable retention consistently - it puts you on the next level to your competitors, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find an artist that has great styling, perfect isolation and 4+ weeks retention. If you’ve like to learn more about retention, check out my retention secrets ebook which will empower you to nailing your retention.

Are you good at the styling that you offer? Do your lashes face the right direction? Are your bases lifted? All great questions to ask and answer truthfully. 

2. Cut the hours you’re not filling up yet

Listen, I know it’s uncomfortable but sometimes you have to create an artificial sense of FOMO before you truly have it. When we go out for ice cream on a warm day, we tend to drift to the places that have lines outside them because we assume they’re good. You need to create this sense of ‘ooo they must be good if they’re busy!’ but online.

Something as simple as working less can make you seem like you’re working more - try opening up more appointments as you get busier and once they're requested.

The basis of creating a sense of FOMO ethically is to create a sense of urgency, make yourself seem exclusive, show that you’re in demand and use testimonials. Post photos of clients you’re doing everyday, collect reviews and collate them into a highlight and reduce your hours if you’re not filling them up yet.

This works in every part of psychology - when you are too available, your value decreases. While you’re doing this, you have to be in front of everyone. Post photos everyday, post stories every day and show some behind the scenes. If you couple this with creating a sense of fomo, I promise you won’t have to do this forever and you will become a sought after lash artist.

3. How’s your customer service?

I TRULY believe that the basis of the success of many beauty businesses is connection. This doesn’t mean you HAVE to delve into every trauma that you’ve faced with your client to connect, instead providing top tier customer service to your clients. People support people that they like and feel comfortable with - which is why everyone is not for everyone. Figure out what connecting to your clients means for you - think about the service you’d love to receive if you were a customer.

Find a way to be kind and polite, but assertive enough to enforce your policies (I’m looking at you miss I feel bad charging late reschedule fees) and stand up for your business. 

I still, to this day, reach out to any new clients after their first appointment. When you lead the conversation, customers feel much more comfortable raising their feedback/concerns instead of internalizing it and writing you off. If it’s positive feedback, you get to add another review to your story/highlights. If it’s constructive feedback, you have just gotten honest feedback from someone who has come to you which is completely invaluable. When you reach out, it gives you a chance to show you truly care about their experience and potentially fix any retention/isolation mistakes.

This was monumentally valuable for me when I was a beginner, you wouldn’t believe how many people gave me honest feedback because I was ready to receive it and work on it. I knew I wasn’t the very best and it scared me to ask a question where I may not get the answer I wanted, but like I said, getting feedback from an audience that has directly dealt with you is invaluable. It’s up to you if you want to take it or leave it.

I hope this post has made you think about the approach you’re taking to your business.

The more value you bring to your customer, the more they’re going to want to do business with you. A valuable experience is the first step in getting people talking about you and bringing in more clients. So when you're selling a service, make sure that what you’re offering is the best of your abilities. After all, if it’s not good enough for you, it shouldn't be good enough for your customers either.