Do you know who your ideal grooming clients are?
Start by reviewing which returning clients and services make a sustainable contribution to your grooming business. The 80/20 idea is a prompt to measure, not a rule that identifies your best clients automatically.
No…well then, this article is written just for you!
Use the Pareto principle as a practical way to ask where time and effort have the greatest effect. Compare it with your own grooming records and keep professional care consistent for every owner and pet.
Who is your “ideal grooming client”, and why do they matter?
Many pet grooming business owners fail to recognise that identifying your particular grooming salon’s ideal client is an absolute must.
The idea that casting a wide net to attract lots of clients to increase business may seem logical but will not necessarily build client retention, loyalty or growth.
“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one”.
Meredith Hill
If you want to build a strong client base and transform your grooming salon into a successful, thriving business, identifying your ideal client is the first step in the right direction.
Your ideal client isn’t just anyone who walks through the door.
Your ideal client wants to utilise your services because;
- You meet their specific needs.
- They love how you treat them.
- They love your facilities, grooming salon aesthetic, culture and brand.
- Your location is convenient.
- You provide the products they need.
- You provide the services they need.
- They feel appreciated.
- They trust your expertise.
Identifying your ideal client is important because you can:
- Take efforts to retain these clients and foster loyalty.
- Encourage referrals and testimonials from these clients.
- Tailor marketing to attract more of these clients.
So what does the 80/20 (Pareto) rule have to do with your ideal grooming clients?
The Pareto principle is commonly used as an 80/20 planning heuristic: a smaller share of inputs may account for a larger share of results. It is a prompt to examine your data, not a law that fixes every business’s client or profit distribution.
So in a nutshell (or pea pod), this rule can and is applied to all manner of business, marketing or sales matters, including grooming clients.
For a grooming business, the useful question is which services and client relationships contribute most to sustainable results. Measure your own distribution using comparable records, including costs and time, rather than assuming precisely 20% of owners generate 80% of profit.
High spending does not automatically make someone an ideal client. Consider whether the service suits the pet, whether your team can meet the owner’s expectations and whether the relationship is respectful and sustainable.
Look at actual repeat visits, service requirements, appointment time and contribution after costs. A well-suited returning pet and a respectful owner can be valuable even when their purchases are modest.
So, not only are these clients significant in maintaining your income, they are clients you really don’t want to lose.
If nothing else, identifying these clients for that reason alone, helps you understand which clients you should go the extra mile for.
These clients deserve the best client experience, every single visit, along with a few special perks here and there…but more on that later.
To read more on how to provide the best client experience, click here.
How to identify your ideal grooming clients?
First, ask yourself what you specialise in? Providing a specific service and doing it extremely well will definitely be a deciding factor for attracting prospective clients.
Furthermore, branding your business is an important tool to attract the right clientele too.
Plus, consider what services, grooming services or products are giving you the best profits.
Product and service sales may be concentrated in a few categories, but check your own records. Popularity alone does not establish profitability, and a lower-volume service may be important to the clients you serve.
Now, let’s do the math and look at who your top spending clients are.
Neko simplifies this task, as the handy reporting feature will pull up specific data on your top client’s average spend.
If you don’t have a software system, you can do this manually. This may take some time but it’s well worth the effort.
Once you have identified your top paying clients, look for commonalities amongst these clients.
Neko also makes this step a breeze, just type in your desired parameters and Neko will produce the data for you.
Can you see a pattern in your top spenders?
Consider the looking at the following;
- Age
- Social demographic
- Economic demographic
- Define fit using relevant needs: pet type and coat requirements, services you can provide, location or travel area, realistic maintenance routines and appropriate appointment availability. Avoid assuming a demographic group automatically makes an ideal client.
- Location
- Favourite services, grooming services or products
- Favourite staff member
And remember, investigating your current client base is the only way you can narrow down what’s working for you.
Neko’s Reporting tools are a fantastic addition to any pet grooming business to help measure your success.
Base your ideal grooming client profile on the data you have. Your ideal client is not someone you can conjure up in your mind and hope they magically arrive at your grooming salon.
You may find your niche client by analysing these commonalities and finding common threads, such as;
- Woman over forty
- Price-conscious families
- Business Professionals with contemporary needs
- Eco-conscious millennials
- Seniors on a pension
- Young social media-savvy woman
Now what?
Give all owners and pets consistent professional care. You can thank returning clients with clear reward rules without treating lower-spending households as less deserving of attention.
Pay close attention to providing the best possible service, grooming salon experience and outcome. Never let one of these clients leave your grooming salon unhappy.
Treat your clients like royalty, and they will reward you with loyalty.
How do you retain your ideal grooming clients?
Here are a few special ways to ensure your ideal clients are happy to continue doing business with you:
- VIP loyalty programs
- Birthday greetings and discounts
- Holiday specials
- Complementary services
- Free trial of a new service or grooming service
- Product samples
- Special Vip discount offers
- Referral discounts
- Invite honest public reviews without incentives; keep loyalty and referral rewards independent of review requests.
- Vip party nights
You may already be using some of the above suggestions with all your grooming clients, but consider adding extra perks available only to your VIP clients.
To learn more client retention strategies, click here.
How to attract more ideal grooming clients?
Now you know who your ideal grooming clients are, you can think about attracting more of your ideal clients by tailoring your marketing and advertising.
Review which marketing activities lead to suitable enquiries and completed bookings. Compare the effort and cost as well as the outcome; the percentage split will differ by business and campaign.
So of course, you must target marketing campaigns to speak directly to your ideal grooming clients.
Think about where your ideal grooming client would see advertisements. Obviously, an older senior demographic is not as likely to see you on Instagram, as a young tech-savvy millennial.
To learn practical ways to attract new clients, click here.
What places would these clients frequent? Can you buddy up with neighbourhood businesses where these ideal grooming clients may frequent?
For loads of local grooming salon marketing ideas, click here.
Show genuine grooming results and explain the owner journey, with permission for any images. Represent the pets and services you actually provide, rather than using appearance or demographic stereotypes to define a desirable client.
Write a clear team or about page describing your grooming approach, relevant experience and the pets or services you can support. Owners need accurate information to decide whether to enquire.
Decorate your grooming salon with decor that speaks to your ideal client and showcases your brand.
Write blogs or social media posts with educational content that solve common problems for your ideal grooming clients.
Post social media photo examples of grooming service outcomes, before and after photos and happy clients.
Educate your staff on who their ideal grooming clients are and ensure they are also going the extra mile to avoid client loss.
Conclusion
By understanding the Pareto rule and how it applies to your grooming clients, you can gain insight into which clients are your bread and butter.
Once you have identified your ideal grooming clients, you can ensure they are treated like VIP clients to cement customer loyalty and retention.
Target your marketing efforts to speak directly to your ideal client and entice more quality clients through your grooming salon doors.
Neko has great reporting and client management tools to help you achieve the goals you want.
Keep review requests independent of incentives and use a neutral process. Google’s review policy explains its restrictions on rewards and selectively requesting positive feedback.
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