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SEARCHClient retention can be a slippery slope, and it’s hard to know how you’re doing when everyone measures it differently. We dug deep into the loyalty stats with these five owners.
Client retention can be a slippery slope, and it's hard to know how you're doing when everyone measures it differently. We dug deep into the loyalty stats with these five owners.
JANICE VAN MULLEN
New client retention ratio:33%
Existing client retention ratio: 72%
Measurement timeframe: 90 days
Do you regularly set retention goals for your team? Every six months we do a career path meeting where we identify benchmarks and specifically client retention. This is how I determine how new customers will be filtered into the salon. We put it into a power ranking system.
How often do you evaluate and share statistics with your team? Every day. We also post benchmark reports on a weekly basis. We have a daily huddle sheet, which shows high performances from the day before.
Is retention a factor when considering raising a stylist’s prices or giving them a raise? Yes, the formula we use is 80%requested, 80%booked and 70%retention.
KAREN WISCHNELFSKI
New client retention ratio:32%
Existing client retention ratio:
79% Measurement timeframe: Average of 90 days and 180 days.
Do you regularly set retention goals for your team? Yes, their pay is based off of retention. I pay hourly with bonuses. If one of the employees is at 75%retention and they increase it to 80%, then I give them a $300 bonus.
How often do you evaluate and share statistics with your team? Weekly. At our meetings we highlight different areas we are working on. We go over retention once a month.
Is retention a factor when considering raising a stylist’s prices or giving them a raise? Absolutely. Their wage is set off of that. Raising a stylist’s wage is also based upon their productivity.
CHERIE SLUSSER
New client retention ratio:28%
Existing client retention ratio: 74%
Measurement timeframe: 90 days
Do you regularly set retention goals for your team? We do this on a quarterly basis. The salon looks for continued growth in retention numbers. The team members also can see the increase in their revenue.
How often do you evaluate and share statistics with your team? We meet with the individual team members twice a year. We have seen very positive results from continual meetings with the stylists. We are moving toward meeting on a quarterly basis.
Is retention a factor when considering raising a stylist’s prices or giving them a raise? Yes, the stylists with higher retention rates have a better opportunity to achieve this. Retention rates and pre-booking show increases in revenue and income for the stylists.
GLENNIS TOLUNAY
New client retention ratio:45%
Existing client retention ratio: 76%
Measurement timeframe: 120 days
Do you regularly set retention goals for your team? Our benchmarks give us a set standard to operate by. They require us to retain a minimum of 60% of all our clientele.
How often do you evaluate and share statistics with your team? The salon manager has a 30-minute meeting with all service providers once a week. In this meeting, service providers learn, among other things, their current client retention and pre-booking rates for the week, month and year.
Is retention a factor when considering raising a stylist's prices or giving them a raise? Client retention rates are one of the integral parts factored into any consideration for a promotion.
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