The Secrets of Great Client Service for a Lash Studio

What makes a client choose a particular artist or a particular lash studio? The quality of the work, of course, reviews of the artist or studio, their social media, prices, and a lot more. In this article we’ll cover another crucial factor: the level of service. How do you make sure a client leaves your studio 100% happy and recommends you to all her friends? What tricks are there for creating the most comfortable atmosphere for clients? Let’s dig in!

Convenient online booking

Good service should start before the visit itself. Many service businesses still book by phone and fill out a paper log. It’s an outdated system where it’s easy to mix up dates, hard to track regulars, and hard to analyze how the business is doing.

The best online booking services: Acuity Scheduling, Square Appointments, Vagaro, GlossGenius, and Booksy. These let you add a “Book” button to your website, Instagram, and elsewhere, and they automate reminders. All of them also let you create so-called “client cards.” In them you can record every detail of the last appointment (which effect you did, the volume, thickness, and length of the lashes) and notes about the client herself.

For example, what she does for work, the last funny story she told, and what color shoes she’s planning to buy! At her next visit, she’ll be delighted to hear you ask: “So, did you find those perfect red shoes for your friend’s wedding?” It sets a positive tone for the conversation and makes the appointment even more enjoyable for her!

Cleanliness and a well-organized workspace

A crucial factor, without which none of the others matter. Don’t forget to air out your room regularly. The cleanliness and freshness of the air affect how you feel, your mood, and your productivity (and of course the client’s comfort).

It’s best to avoid strong scents. However lovely your perfume seems to you (even if it’s Chanel No. 5) or your room’s air freshener (even a pleasant sea breeze), not every client will like those smells. And don’t forget that cleanliness and order aren’t only about the absence of dust and grime.

Your room can be spotless, but if your materials are laid out messily or there’s stuff on every surface, it creates the impression of a dirty space. You can’t explain how a lash artist’s station should look in two sentences, so we put together a separate article on it. Read what an ideal lash stylist’s station looks like here.

Keeping your space clean and cozy

Keeping the floors and space clean matters, but you don’t need clunky shoe covers to do it (they don’t really protect against bacteria and viruses anyway, tear easily, and can let water through). A nicer touch: offer clients disposable socks. They won’t rustle unpleasantly and let the client avoid lying in their shoes for a couple of hours.

Another (and probably the best) option is to offer clients slippers (and keep them clean). On Amazon you’ll find plenty of options for every taste! A few of them:

Treats for your studio clients

If a client arrives a little early and you need a short breather, offer them a small snack. Coffee, tea, water, candy, and healthy snacks (for anyone who’s really hungry but doesn’t eat sugar) are a great addition to perfect service. A lash appointment averages around 2 hours. In that time anyone can get hungry, so it’s worth spending a few minutes on a cup of tea and settling in for a pleasant experience.

A separate tip: don’t use white plastic cups for cold drinks. They look cheap and unaesthetic. For a small price, any big store has stylish disposable cups that are much nicer for a client to drink from. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s exactly these small things that shape a client’s impression of the studio.

Show care for your studio’s clients

In conversation, avoid bossy directives like “coat rack’s over there,” “coffee machine’s here,” and so on. It’s much better to personally show them everything they need. That way the client feels like a welcome, wanted guest.

The secret to top service: reading a client’s mood and emotions

This is about so-called emotional intelligence (yes, on top of everything, a lash artist should also be a good psychologist). It’s the ability to recognize your own emotions, manage them, and read the emotional state of those around you.

Developed emotional intelligence lets you not give in to destructive feelings, not get into conflicts, and not take on others’ negativity, which is very useful for everyone in the beauty industry.

We won’t be pioneers in saying all clients are different. One client needs to vent, and a salon visit is a kind of therapy for her, while another prefers to stay quiet, lost in her own thoughts.

A professional lash artist should be able to read a client’s mood in the first few minutes so the appointment is as comfortable as possible. How do you develop your emotional intelligence? Start with these books:

Service touches for lash artists

A genuine desire to meet the client’s needs. In conversation, show your investment in a perfect result! If the client sees the spark in your eyes and your desire to do amazing lashes, that energy passes to her. Before the appointment, always study the client’s features carefully to choose the right effect. Read more about effects here.

Using “you-statements” in conversation. A little psychological trick to win a client over. Talk not about the product’s properties or a treatment’s specifics (“I know a cat eye will suit you” is an I-statement), but about the benefit the client gets (“With this effect your eyes will look so expressive!” is a classic you-statement).

It’s best to keep it simple and concise so the client doesn’t feel something’s being pushed on them. More examples: “I don’t recommend removing extensions yourself! You absolutely have to come in!” versus “If you want to keep your natural lashes safe and sound, you should come in for a removal.” Feel the difference? Your client will feel it too.

Using the client’s name. The simplest trick that works 100% of the time. When someone contacts you for the first time, ask and note their name in their client card. And also the names of their relatives, friends, and even a neighbor (if the client brought them up, of course!). Next time, the name will show automatically in the card, so you definitely won’t mix it up. And yes, the client will be pleased you remembered them and the people who matter to them. They’ll feel special!

Showing expertise, subtly. The key word here is “subtly.” Don’t launch into how many great courses you’ve taken, how good your reviews are, and why you’re better than other artists the moment they walk in.

The client will see all your training certificates on your wall anyway, your reviews on your website or social media, and they’ll compare you to others themselves.

Your expertise should show in detailed but clear answers to the client’s questions, in choosing the right effect and technique for her, and of course in a beautiful result at the end. Extra self-flattery like “nobody does lashes like these but me” or “absolutely all my clients leave happy” can scare a client off and make them suspicious.

Checking in during the appointment. A lot of clients, especially first-timers, are shy about mentioning discomfort. A simple “Are you comfortable?” or “Everything okay?” can save the situation! But don’t ask too often, so the client can relax and fully enjoy the appointment.

On photographing lashes

Besides shooting before-and-afters with the client’s permission, there’s another way to get content, free advertising, and loyalty even without your involvement!

If you set up a nice photo spot where a client can take a couple of selfies with her new lashes, the number of Instagram photos tagging your studio will noticeably grow. The key is a beautiful backdrop and good light! For that it’s worth buying a special lamp, easy to find on Amazon. Many of them even let you adjust the light’s warmth, which helps you (and your clients!) create perfect shots!

You can also hang a nice banner in the photo spot with your studio’s name or Instagram handle, so everyone knows exactly where the shots were taken.

A bonus: learn how to photograph lashes after the appointment, how to pick the perfect angle and light, and how to edit! Download our free guide and stand out from the competition with a wow portfolio!

Don’t forget aftercare tips at the end of the appointment

A lash stylist should make sure the client is happy with the work not only right after the appointment but throughout the wear of the set. The client probably can’t remember all the tips you give at the studio, so as a little bonus you can gift them a lash brush and an aftercare card. Download a free client aftercare card here.

How to build a loyalty system

To attract and keep clients and stand out from the many competitors, you need something unique. Something that truly sets your studio apart, like a rewarding loyalty program. Built right, it can be a win for both clients and your business.

Let’s look at a few ways to keep clients with a good loyalty program.

A discount system. It’s important to show regulars you’re genuinely grateful for their loyalty and for choosing your studio. You can do that, for example, by giving regulars a bigger discount than other clients. The more often a client visits, the bigger their discount. Terms like these also show occasional clients they could pay less if they stay loyal to you.

A points system. A points system differs from a discount one in that the discount depends on the client and the total of their past purchases. After a visit, the client earns a certain number of points based on the cost of the service. They can use those points to pay for part of their next appointment. To rack up a decent number of points, a client has to spend meaningful amounts regularly, which is great for the business owner.

Punch cards. Like a points program, punch cards motivate clients to keep coming back, but here the client gets a guaranteed big discount, which creates the effect of tangible value. You more often see this in coffee shops, like “every 5th coffee free.” But it’s proven itself well in beauty too.

You don’t have to make the fifth or sixth appointment fully free, but a discount will strongly motivate a client to come back. And if the punch card is personalized, that only increases the odds of seeing the client again.

A few punch-card examples for lash studios below:

Feedback after the appointment (ATTENTION, VERY IMPORTANT!)

When a client leaves the studio, their service doesn’t end there. You absolutely need to get their feedback on the visit. It’s best to do this twice: right after the appointment and a week later, to find out how their lashes are “doing.”

Today there are dedicated tools (Google Forms, Typeform, SurveyMonkey, and others) that let you build a survey and poll clients online. The client just clicks a link and fills it out.

You can send the feedback request with the survey link to clients by email, in a social media post, or through messengers. This helps you collect valuable reviews that help you attract new clients.

So, we ended up with 15 tips to help you deliver perfect service in your lash kingdom and, most importantly, stand out from the many competitors. Remember that all these small hacks together will help you earn the loyalty of clients who never want to switch studios or artists again!