Are you looking to do something different in your salon or barbershop? Would you like to increase your client retention rate or just support your best clients? Then, maybe a membership program is worth looking into.

A membership program can benefit your salon or shop in many ways. It can encourage customer loyalty, increase client predictability and keep chairs filled. It can even give you a competitive edge in the industry if you do it right. When you have a membership program this increases income consistency and makes members feel like they are a part of something exclusive. And who doesn’t want to feel like they’re special? A membership program is also a great way to expose your clients to new or different services you offer.

Of course, there are downsides to memberships. They do take extra work. Memberships require figuring out what the membership program will consist of, how many members you want, the pricing of the membership and promoting it to gain new members. You will also likely need established clientele to offer the program to. Since a membership is put in place to support your best customers and encourage further loyalty, it would be difficult to implement this without already having loyal clients. Memberships also might require more staff or more robust software to handle the administrative side.

But if you still think a membership will provide greater upside, you need to determine what kind of membership to offer. To determine this, evaluate what your most popular services are and what the average transaction value is. How often do your clients come in? What are your outgoing costs? The answer to these questions should give you a baseline of what you should offer and what the pricing should be.

So what kind of membership benefits should you offer? Offer member only exclusives such as:

• Offer discounts on retail
• Included beverages (non-alcoholic unless the place has a liquor license)
• Include a head massage
• If you have other services like waxing, manicures or facials, make a package with those services
• For barbers, offer extra ‘experiences’ like aromatherapy, scalp massage, hand massage during hot towel shaves
• Use better products during shaves and haircuts (higher end creams, moisturizers during shaves, styling products etc.)
• You can always ask your current clients what they would like to see in a membership

Whatever you offer for the membership, just make sure it’s not a discount according to Ivan Zoot. What does this mean? For example, if you want to offer unlimited haircuts in a month and your customers come in twice a week, make the membership at least 2x the price of a haircut. The cost should be higher than the minimum number of haircuts your clients come in because you’re gambling. You’re gambling they’re not coming in as often and they are gambling they’re going to come in more often so they come in ahead of the money. The offer needs to be valuable to the client but also, don’t cut yourself short. It should be beneficial on both sides. Membership value comes in the form of the added benefits of membership. There is a lot of value you can add to a membership without discounting the basic haircut.

Another tip by Ivan is to only offer a limited number of memberships so that it feels exclusive. Start with a small number. You can gradually increase that number but by keeping it small, it becomes a marketing talking point to clients. Scarcity makes people want the service.

Keep in mind that membership can’t be short. They should be long, at least 6 months to a year. But you can charge per month. Make sure you have terms outlined so that everyone is on the same page and knows what it means to be a member. Clearly define any late fees, cancellation fees or booking restrictions. Maybe even have them sign a contract.

Lastly, you need to promote it. When you have the specifics of your program together and are ready to gain members, start with talking with your most loyal customers. These customers are the low hanging fruit. If they don’t want to join your membership, certainly people who have never had a haircut with you won’t want to join either. So it’s important to test it out with your current clients. Otherwise, use social media, your email list or ask for referrals. Perhaps, you can give a reward for referrals.

There’s so much you can do in a membership. Just get creative and explore a variety of possibilities. If you want to watch a video on memberships, check out this video by Ivan Zoot in our Education CONNECT portal of JATAI Academy. Good luck!