Loyal customers keep your startup afloat and propel your business to success. No one understands this better than barbers. Ask the guy next to you how many times he’s switched barbers in the last year. I’m willing to bet my savings that his number is less than 2. That’s the kind of loyalty your startup needs to grow into a sustainable business.
Here are three tips that you can learn from barbers about garnering customer loyalty.
Barbers are there when it counts.
Every important life event is preceded by a visit to the barber. Preparing for your first day of school or a new job? Get a haircut. Going on a first date? Call your barber. Scheduling an important client meeting? Check your barber’s schedule first.
Like barbers, you need to think about when your customer needs your service and position your brand to meet them at that juncture. You want to become the solution that your customers look for in their times of need.
If you cannot think of when these needs occur, don’t be afraid to create the need. It wasn’t always an expectation to buy a diamond ring before proposing.
Barbers change customers’ lives.
via bevelcode.com
Nothing is quite like getting up from the barber chair after a fresh cut. Don’t think a good haircut can change someone’s life? Try going without one for a few months and see how your life changes. Or try to imagine how different life would be for Kevin Durant if he got a decent cut.
Pretty cool: Kevin Durant’s hair is a tribute to the Dust Bowl, which devastated rural Oklahoma in the 1930s pic.twitter.com/iPcnjt7OAC
— don trillingsley (@Boobie_Styles) May 17, 2016
Jokes aside, barbers’ primary service changes their customers’ lives for the better. As a business owner, you need to ask, “How are we changing our customers’ lives for the better?” Once you’ve found the answer, ask if your customers know how much you’re improving their lives. Could they use a reminder? You bet they could.
Barbers give away freebies.
Yes, a beard trim or straight razor may run you a few extra dollars, but who can put a price on an engaging conversation? Your barber sure doesn’t. Freebies like this give customers extra reasons to be loyal to you and only you.
Barbers have mastered the art of providing free services to their clients and you can too.
- Start with freebies that are indirectly related to your primary service. If you sell custom meal plans, think about giving away free workouts. This leaves figurative bread crumbs for your customers to grow into brand loyalists.
- Give freebies that matter. A barbershop conversation is more than just witty banter. It’s an oasis in the middle of a tough workweek. It’s an opportunity to open up about real (or not) issues. These conversations provide value to customers and cost nothing to the owner. What can you give that your customers would actually value?
- Finally, create freebie tiers. Make it so that customers can access some freebies without purchasing the focal services (e.g., the guy who comes to the barbershop just to argue the best album of 2016) Then, think about what your business can afford to give away only to loyal consumers. In both cases, they’ll appreciate the free stuff and return the favor later.
If you act upon these tips, you’ll be three steps closer to gaining more loyal customers and driving sustainable growth for your startup.