August 2020, Business

Let’s Get Personal

August 1, 2020 | by Louis Silberman

How to WOW your prospects and clients through personalized marketing

We all have our favorite restaurants, but what makes us choose one over the other? Why do we go back, time and again, to Restaurant A when there are ten other perfectly good places nearby? For some people, it’s all about the food. They don’t care if a place is a hole-in-the-wall, as long as it serves the best burgers, tacos, pizza, seafood, paella, or fried rice they’ve ever eaten. For others, it’s about supporting small, local businesses—mom and pop-type restaurants where customers feel like family.

And for the rest, it’s more about the atmosphere. Dining out is an adventure to them, and they want to be in the know and feel a part of the trendy dining scene. They also want something they can’t duplicate at home. There are many reasons we choose one restaurant over another, but for me, it’s about the customer service experience (though food and atmosphere count, too)! Maybe that’s because I’m in the service industry, and I know what it takes to deliver top-level service consistently.

“Keeping detailed notes about all of your clients’ preferences, favorite products, likes, and dislikes, spending habits, etc. is crucial to personalized marketing.”

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My favorite restaurant in Dallas, hands down, is Nick and Sam’s Steakhouse. Yes, the food is delicious, and the atmosphere is elegant, but the thing that keeps me returning is how personalized their service is. For example, I always ask them to make a sangria cocktail for me—it’s not on the menu, and friends have teased me that it might be a “little” high maintenance. It consists of Pinot Noir wine, fresh berries, honey, lemon, and club soda. I remember the second or third time I went there. My special drink was waiting for me at my table with a card next to it and my name on it. How did they do that? Well, they wrote down my recipe in my customer profile! Now, that’s what I call going the extra mile.

How can you deliver more personalized service?

Whether you’re sending out an email or text with the latest news and specials, delivering a radio advertisement, posting on social media, or even talking about products and services to a client in the treatment room, choose your words as though you’re speaking to one person and one person only. Instead of saying “Age spots got you down?” (which sounds impersonal), you could say something along the lines of “Are you bothered by hyperpigmentation? Are you tired of spending time and money applying expensive foundations to cover up the spots you wish weren’t there?” Phrasing it this way allows the reader or listener to picture themselves in the scenario you’re describing.

A similar example is the good ole infomercial: Think of the difference between “Who wants to lose 30 pounds?” (impersonal) versus “How many times have you tried losing weight, only to find yourself heavier than when you started a diet? Are you frustrated because you have two sets of clothes, one that used to fit and one that seems like it will never fit again?” In the second scenario, you describe something that many people experience but phrase it in a more personal way so that they can relate.

Personalized Direct Marketing

Keeping detailed notes about all of your clients’ preferences, favorite products, likes, and dislikes, spending habits, etc. is crucial to personalized marketing. Consider these two emails: one says simply, “Sunscreen on sale this month;” the other states, “Hi Kelsey, I noticed you last bought sunscreen three months ago and might be running low. I’m running a 50% off special right now on your favorite XYZ sunscreenthe non-greasy one without scent, as I know you prefer that. Would you like me to set one aside for you when you come next week?” Big difference, right?

You can do the same thing with packaged treatment plans and products based on your customers’ preferences. For example, if they always book your anti-aging facial, offer them a special price on a series of five along with discounts on anti-aging products that compliment your services in-between visits.

In the Treatment Room

At Aveda Institutes, facials typically begin by the aesthetician offering clients their choice of essential oil (aka, a “sensory journey”). I love this idea because it gets the customer involved in their treatment, and it’s not just a treatment but a total pampering experience customized exclusively for them. You can borrow from this concept by giving clients a choice in the products you use: “Do you prefer citrus-based scents or minty?” You can also ask whether they prefer hot stone therapy, gentle or firm massage, talking during treatment or not, and even what kind of music they like to hear during facials. There are so many ways you can personalize their experience with you so that, every single time, they feel as though they’re your most valued client.

Summary

Competition in our industry is intense, and as we slowly begin to reopen after COVID-19, it will be even more so. Now is the time to step up your game, not relax into it! The businesses that will survive but thrive will be those that rethink their entire way of doing business. It’s going to take true grit and creativity to stand apart from the crowd, but it’s definitely possible. Go the extra mile to make your customers’ experiences truly memorable. And don’t forget to have fun doing it.

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