Every practitioner has clients who love (and are willing to pay for) treatments, but who aren’t inclined to reschedule at the end of their session. Today, I give you a three-part method for reaching out to clients who haven’t scheduled in a month or two. If the strategy works, it may even motivate those clients to book their sessions more regularly.
Create a Three-Part Promotion
Marketing research shows that when a customer hears from a business three times in a row, they are more likely to remember to use its services. Give the following a try. Send your less-than-regular clients a series of promotional messages over a period of two to four months. Send postcards or emails, or mix it up.
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Promotion #1
Mail or email an offer for a one-hour session at a discount, or, if you don’t want to discount your services, offer to add 15 extra minutes to their session at no extra cost.
Promotion #2
Within the next month or two, send a promotion encouraging clients to try another modality you provide. For example, offer 25% off reflexology, stone massage, or any other specialized modality you practice. Again, if you are opposed to discounts, promote a standard session that adds 15 minutes or more of your favorite specialty for no extra fee. This way, your clients get to experience your other skills without missing out on the work they know and love.
Promotion #3
Within another four to six weeks, send a special offer of a gift when clients book a session by a certain date. When a client comes in, give him or her a bottle of an essential oil blend, a microwavable bag to use for pain relief, or some other useful and enjoyable gift. If you sell retail items in your place of work, select one of these as your gift. This will alert your clients that you carry them. If you don’t sell retail items, this may be the time to start with a few items you trust. Consider a joint venture with another small business. Maybe you know someone who makes herbal lotions or eye pillows. Or you might want to carry a soothing liniment you can buy in bulk at wholesale prices.
Track Client Response
Keep track of client responses to your offers, as well as your other client communications. You may find, for example, that clients respond less to a discount offer, and more to a follow-up inquiry about how the session helped their condition. They may not call to get the free gift, but may mention a thank-you card you sent after they referred new clients. Or maybe the opposite will be true. But you won’t know anything unless you keep a record.
Whether or not you send promotional specials, it pays to stay in touch with your clients between sessions. Making all kinds of client contacts reinforces the personal relationship you have with your clients and helps establish you as an ongoing source of support.
Special offers are icing on the cake. By tracking client response, you can find out how sending promotionals compares to other tools like thank-you cards, newsletters, and follow-up calls or emails.
[This article is adapted from a blog originally published on the Natural Touch Marketing blog site. We are posting it here for your benefit, and with permission.]