The Professional Esthetician and Client Management

Client management is the process of overseeing and coordinating an organization’s interactions with its customers and potential clients. As a skin care professional, the ultimate goal is to develop a loyal client following that sustains the business and the esthetician.  

“Clients” and “customers” are sometimes viewed differently, in part based on how and what they buy from a company.

1. A customer typically purchases a product or service through a brief interaction with an organization. The customer often does not develop a long-term relationship with the seller and, thus, garners less personal attention.
    
2. A client may buy a product but more typically purchases a service from an organization. By procuring that service, the buyer often develops a deeper, ongoing relationship with the seller, who then provides more personalized attention.

A successful client relationship starts with a good consultation process. Here we break down customer retention and how you can turn a customer into a lifelong client.

Benefits of customer retention:

• Customer retention is the most effective way to grow revenue. It is much less expensive to keep a current customer than it is to try to acquire a new customer. It’s estimated to cost five times more to land a new customer than it does to keep a current customer!
   
• Customer retention provides a huge return on investment. Not only are your current customers much less expensive to keep, but they also offer much greater lifetime value (how much they could spend with your organization over their lifetime). Customers who’ve been with you for a while are much more likely to continue to be customers—and bring you built-in and ongoing revenue—for years down the road.
   
• Customer retention leads to more referrals. When you work to retain your current customers, you not only continue to make them happy, but you also increase the chance they will become brand ambassadors by telling others about you. Word-of-mouth referrals are free and effective.

Business research has provided interesting insights into the costs and benefits of retaining a current customer compared to trying to acquire a new one, including the following:

• Increasing customer retention by 5 percent can lead to an increase in profits of 25– 95 percent, depending on the industry, according to Bain & Company research.
   
• The probability of converting an existing customer into a repeat customer is 60–70 percent, while the probability of selling to a prospective customer is 5–20 percent, according to Marketing Metrics.
   
• A 2 percent increase in customer retention is equivalent to decreasing your organization’s costs by 10 percent, according to Leading on the Edge of Chaos by Emmett Murphy and Mark Murphy.

How to turn a customer into a client:

• Become a trusted advisor. You’re the expert in your field. Show and provide that expertise to your customers, so you can gain their trust and build loyalty. This begins with the initial consultation, through the initial service and continues at EVERY SINGLE APPOINTMENT (don’t get lazy).
   
• Provide good customer service. Customers—both new and current clients—quickly bolt when customer service is poor. You must provide a good product or service. It’s just as important to provide good customer service as it is to provide a strong product or service. 
   
• Create a rewards or referral programs. This incentivizes loyalty.
   
• Send a company newsletter. A regular newsletter from you, including information about your work, a new ingredient, information about a current commercial, a class certification you just received, a trade show you just attended, can remind customers of your good work and expertise.
   
• Don’t always be selling. Be collaborative and be a good resource for your clients. This means you’ll want to have many interactions with customers and clients just to be helpful, even when it doesn’t relate to a direct sale for you. Example: “We are going to start out with only three home products because your skin is going to change. I would like to see you back here in four weeks to see how that happens before we can recommend another moisturizer. In the meantime, continue using *blank* since you already have it and there is plenty left.”

For estheticians at every stage of the journey who are passionate about skin care, ASCP is your essential partner. ASCP empowers you to reach your highest potential by providing innovative business solutions, unmatched quality education, vital professional liability insurance, and a dedicated team who cares about our members’ success and is always willing to go the extra mile for our members.

Not yet an ASCP member? Join today!

NOTES:

• www.forbes.com/sites/patrickhull/2013/12/06/tools-for-entrepreneurs-to-r...
• smallbiztrends.com/2014/09/increase-in-customer-retention-increases-profits.html#:~:text=The%20more%20loyal%20customers%20you,between%2025%20and%2095%20percent.
• www.mypmp.net/2014/09/30/customer-retention-is-key-to-profitable-growth/....