Silent Walkers

Stop press: Business consultant and former salon owner Penny Etheridge is joining Colour World UK 2023 to present her Silent Walkers’ seminar. Don’t miss this opportunity to watch Penny present live and share some of the things she has learnt throughout her career! 

With a wealth of experience behind her, Penny provides insightful and engaging advice for salon owners and stylists. Read on to find out more about silent walkers and how to deal with them. 

Silent walkers

There is nothing more frustrating than salon clients who leave and don’t tell you why. Penny Etheridge calls them “silent walkers.” She signals how silent walkers can cost your business hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.

So, what do you do when you realise a client has left you for another salon and even after an Email, text, and courtesy call, you feel as though they haven’t really told you why? 

Consumer surveys point to perceived employee indifference (not incompetence of product or service issues) as the main reason why customers take their business elsewhere. 

Recent stats reveal that 91% of dissatisfied customers will leave a business forever without making a formal complaint. 

While consumers report that perceived employee indifference is what causes them to stop using a salon, most hair and beauty salon owners say they are far from indifferent to their clients. When a client leaves without an explanation or obvious reason it can cause incredible frustration to both the salon owner and the team involved.

In order to understand why a client has left and prevent it from happening again, Penny says to use a checklist. Using a checklist won’t save every client but, as Penny explains, think about a ‘leaking bucket’ syndrome and try to eradicate any holes from your business. This checklist will ensure you do just that.

Checklist

• Scrutinise their past interactions with your business

What services did they last receive? What products did they last purchase? How much did they spend at their last appointment? Look for clues as to whether they experienced some type of disappointment at their last visit, or even whether their service history changed over time.

• Talk to everyone else who was there

A good detective follows up with all witnesses! Even if it was you who interacted with the “disappeared” client for most of the time, other staff members who were at the salon during the client’s appointment may have observed and interacted with the customer, sometimes without you realising. Ask relevant team members whether they noted anything odd during the client’s appointment or after the time of service.

• Don’t underestimate the value of social networks

For some social media users, nearly every waking thought bears a status update. If your former customer is active on social networks see if you can gather any information as to where they took their business. This might give you clues as to why they left, especially if they left for a competitor who convinced them that they were better than you. If you have mutual friends or acquaintances and feel comfortable doing so, you could ask them whether they know why your customer stopped coming to your business.

• Do a competitive analysis

Penny says that you should periodically survey other local salons to see how your services, products, pricing and customer service stack up. Although, Penny says, don’t get obsessed about what your competitors are up to. Stay in perspective but become aware of other salons activities. This awareness can prove useful in revealing competition and potential threats in attracting clients away from your salon.

• Conduct an ideal client profile 

Penny says you should compose an ideal salon client profile. Use this profile to look for potential problems in your own customer experience delivery that may cause a customer to choose another salon. Penny recommends creating an ideal client profile every 6 months. She also recommends doing this in a team to ensure everyone is singing from the same song sheet when it comes to delivering consistent customer service.

• Finally, don’t beat yourself up!

Annually, any business can expect to lose on average 10% of their client base. Some clients move away, change jobs and as horrible as it is, die. Some clients sadly fall out of love with you which is why Penny says it is imperative to track your client retention. Hopefully this has given you some ideas for how to evaluate your business after experiencing a “silent walker.”

Click here for more news from Penny Etheridge 

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