As a massage therapist, you likely have a loyal customer base—people who come to you for massages on a regular basis. Doesn’t it make sense that you reward those customers who continually bring you business?
Loyalty programs have become more and more popular over the last few years. Companies ranging from restaurants to grocery stores and even sports teams are rewarding their most loyal customers. And starting a loyalty program can benefit you and your massage therapy business as well.
There are many different ways to operate a loyalty program and reward your customers for coming to you. The following are four ideas that you can use to start your own loyalty program.
- Punch Cards: This is one of the most basic and inexpensive ways to create a loyalty program. All you really need is to design a small card (similar to a business card) and hand it out to your loyal customers. Whenever they come to get a massage, you can sign (or use a hole punch) to mark the card. When they reach a certain amount of massages (usually about 10), they get a free massage (or some other benefit). The downside to this is that a customer could easily forge your signature or use their own hole punch to mark the cards. If you go with this option, you should have some way for you to keep track of how many times you have marked their card.
- Points: This method is a growing trend that many retailers use. Basically it works by you giving your customers a certain amount of points every time they get a massage or buy something from you. They can then redeem those points for a massage or merchandise when they reach a certain amount. Usually this involves you purchasing cards (similar to credit cards) that you then give to your customers. The cards keep track of how many points the customer has and when they use them. The downside to this method is that it can be fairly expensive because the cards will cost more and you will probably need to have a computer that can keep track of people’s points for you.
- Money Back: This is another method that is growing in popularity. When people come to your salon to get a massage or purchase merchandise, a portion of the money they spent (usually anywhere from 1-5% usually) is stored on a card (similar to a credit card) that they can use later to “purchase” a massage or “buy” merchandise. The downside to this method obviously is that you are making less money per transaction.
- Discounts: Another way to reward loyal customers is to simply offer them discounts. You can print out certificates that might say something like “Take $10 off your next visit” or “Buy one lotion and get one free.” You can then hand these certificates out to any of your customers, though it is probably a good idea to limit them to only your most loyal clients, otherwise you will make less money.
Customers want to know that you appreciate them. One of the best ways to do this is to start a loyalty program because it not only rewards your most loyal customers, but it can also make customers who only come in once in awhile want to come to you more often.
Do you have other suggestions about how you have rewarded loyal customers? Have an experience setting up a loyalty program that you’d like to share? Please comment and help others in the industry.
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