First, Karen Leporini explains that gaining one customer a day with an average basket of €50 represents €18,250 earnings in addition to the usual turnover. There are four rules to follow to take no chances.

Developing an e-mail base and exchanging with customers
The main objective is to set yourself a minimum number of new e-mails of potential future customers to collect every day: it is actually up to the shopkeeper to define their own base figure. Karen Leporini recommends not aiming too high though: it is better to lay the groundwork with realistic, but solid objectives.
How to collect new e-mail addresses? Among others, our training expert recommends consulting your council’s website and collecting craftspeople’s contact details. Then, if you send them a newsletter, an offer, or some news, you will generate traffic and manage to make yourself known.
Karen Leporini explains that ‘even if you cannot see the direct advantage of introducing yourself to a coachbuilder, bear in mind they may be married to or know someone likely to be interested in a beauty service.’
Once the mailing base gets more solid, Karen Leporini emphasizes the need to issue varied content. If the shopkeeper decides to organize two emailing campaigns per month, the first may be a newsletter, the second a promotional offer. It is crucial to provide diversity, so that customers do not get tired or feel harassed.
In addition, she explains ‘these mass mailings cannot be generated from a private mail box, otherwise all messages automatically end up in spam e-mails. To avoid these problems, it is highly recommended to use mailing software.’

Gift vouchers
All retailers are contacted at some point to become a donor for a fair or lottery. This principle is well-known, but often poorly used, according to Karen Leporini. She claims that ‘if you have a small structure in a medium-sized town, offering gift vouchers for this type of event is a very good opportunity to get more visibility.’
First, the period of validity of the voucher should be short, so the winner knows they do not have much time to use it and need to book their treatment as soon as possible. With this method, the shopkeeper is sure to get the maximum number of potential future customers. By contrast, if the period of validity is too long, the winner is likely to forget about his offer, and you are likely to lose a potential customer!
Also, Karen Leporini warns against too qualitative prizes. ‘The gift should be interesting, but not too expensive. Instead of offering a €150 treatment, it is wiser to offer six of them worth €25. This way, the beautician has six more chances to create loyalty,’ she analyzed.
Lastly, being a good donor makes it possible to ask organizers to be publicly thanked during the party or on social media. It is an opportunity to get more visibility and create a positive feeling among different communities.

Having a simple, effective sponsorship system
It is not always easy to implement an efficient sponsorship strategy, because it is a general concept. The key to succeed is personalization.
Indeed, promising a discount to a customer if they promote the salon is not necessarily the most motivating approach. The carrot should be adapted to a regular customer’s profile. Karen Leporini says ‘it is not insignificant to choose a project sponsor. If you choose them, it is because they are loyal, which means you know about their habits and what they like. So, you should offer them a targeted treatment if they manage to convince their acquaintances to come have a treatment in your salon.’

Improving your visibility on social media
Today, no one can do without social media or overlook their importance to consumers. It is a free, simple way to make yourself known.
Karen Leporini encourages beauticians – if they have not already done so – to create a Facebook page and invite their customers to like it, preferably right before they go out of the store, so they do not forget about doing it later. To avoid sounding too aggressive, the trainer recommends having a connected tablet available at the salon. ‘This way, the customer does not need to take out their own mobile phones and does not feel invaded in their own private sphere,’ she adds.

To conclude, Karen Leporini insists on the fact that these principles are real simple. ‘They may seem ordinary, but they are essential in your search of new customers,’ she asserts. These free solutions are available to everyone. However, if they do not require any monetary investment, it is necessary to spend time on these networks for them to pay off.

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