The cost of acquiring clients has sky-rocketed the past few years and the COVID-19 lockdown has not brought any change in that. The contrary happened. With online growing so fast due to the lockdown the online cost to acquire new clients has even spiked during the lockdown and following.
Where does it leave us, laser therapists, as specialized small business owners? In quite a difficult place. We need clients to stay in business, but we also need to make a profit to justify staying in business and a lot of all the marketing advice we’ve got (sometimes very expensively) lately have proven to be worth nothing.
In this article we will look at the good old way of growing a client list; referrals. This method remains the goose laying the golden eggs. But as with everything else, this goose also updated to stay with the times and getting referrals nowadays is not exactly what it used to be. However, keeping to a couple of simple rules, this goose is still willing to lay her golden eggs.
The first rule is: Do not ask all your clients for referrals. This may sound counter-intuitive, but think about it for a moment. Only ask the clients who are willing to sell you to their friends and family. This usually means your top 20 to 30% of clients.
Timing is also very important when you ask for a referral. The best time to ask for a referral is when your client is the happiest with your service. This is usually when she has just bought or booked a specific treatment. You should also ask for a referral related to that specific product or treatment and not in general.
It is also easier to get a client to refer if you make the experience shareable. Make it possible for the client to gain ‘brownie points’ with an acquaintance by bringing her (or him) with for a treatment to share. Again, don’t extend this offer to all your clients, only the top 20% of your clients. This way you get all the referral’s information without asking for a referral, since the person will complete a client information form before the treatment starts. You also get the opportunity to book another treatment with this new client at the end of the treatment and will certainly benefit from the support of your existing client.
Make referring as easy as possible. The lower the barrier for the client to refer someone to you, the higher the chance that she will do it. Don’t ask the client to complete a page of questions just to refer someone.
Deliver results. A satisfied client will keep on referring to you long after she completed her treatment course.
These are just some ideas on how to get your client list growing with the help of referrals. Let us know if you tried some of these ideas and if they worked for you.
