Saturday is full, Tuesday is empty, and a client who used to come every month has not been in since August. You only notice when you page back through the book. Keeping regulars comes down to a few habits, and none of them needs more than your phone and a notebook.
Know when each client is due back
Every regular has a rhythm. Find it in your records, not your memory.
- Keep a client book: name, phone number, service, date, stylist and price. A notebook works; so does a spreadsheet.
- Note what was done, such as the style, the length or the clipper guard, so the next visit matches even with a different stylist.
- For each regular, count the days between their last few visits.
- That gap tells you when they are next due, and when they are late.
Example (made-up clients):
| Client and service | Last three visits | Usual gap | Next due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achieng, knotless braids | 3 Aug, 14 Sep, 26 Oct | 42 days (6 weeks) | 7 Dec |
| Duncan, fade | 5 Oct, 19 Oct, 2 Nov | 14 days (2 weeks) | 16 Nov |
Decide what "late" means, for example a week past the usual gap. Then Duncan is late from 23 November and Achieng from 14 December, and those are the clients to message first.
Braids have a natural deadline too. The American Academy of Dermatology advises wearing braids for no longer than 6 to 8 weeks, so a reminder at six weeks is good hair care, not just selling.
Keep one number for the whole salon too. Each month, count the clients who had been in before and divide by all clients served. If 60 of last month's 100 clients were returning, your return rate is 60%. If it falls two months running, look at reminders, prices and stylists first.
If you record your sales in Risiti, its customer list shows who comes how often and who is late for their usual visit.
Remind them on WhatsApp without being pushy
Ask first. Kenya's Data Protection Act, 2019 (section 37) says you need a person's express consent before using their details for commercial purposes. The 2021 regulations count marketing messages as commercial use and expect an easy way to opt out. So at the end of a visit, ask: "Can we send you a WhatsApp when you're due?" Write the answer in your client book. (This is general information, not legal advice.)
Send one message, at the right time. A day or two before the client is due, write to them by name, mention their last service and stylist, and make it easy to say yes or no:
"Hi Achieng, it's nearly six weeks since your knotless braids with Nduta. Shall we keep you a slot this Saturday? Reply STOP if you'd rather not get reminders."
Send it during working hours, not late at night. If there's no reply, leave it until the next one is due. Chasing twice in a week is where friendly turns pushy.
Use the tools in WhatsApp Business. Labels sort your chats, for example "Due this week", "Booked" and "Braids". Quick replies store messages you send often, such as your price list, directions or deposit details (WhatsApp). Broadcast lists suit news like holiday hours, not personal reminders, and they only reach people who have saved your number, up to 256 contacts per list (WhatsApp Help Center). So ask every client to save the salon's number.
Make booking by WhatsApp simple
- One booking number, one diary. Whoever answers WhatsApp writes the booking in the diary at once. Two people booking from memory is how double bookings happen.
- Confirm everything in one message: service, stylist, day, time, price and any deposit. Save it as a quick reply and fill in the blanks.
- Book the next visit before the client leaves. "Same time in six weeks?" is easier than chasing later.
- Remind the day before, and ask for a reply.
A confirmation might read (example prices):
"Booked: knotless braids, shoulder length, with Nduta on Saturday 14 November at 9 am. Price Ksh 3,500. To hold the slot, please send a Ksh 500 deposit to our Till. Reply YES to confirm."
Put your price list where clients can see it
Unclear prices cause arguments at the till and put people off booking.
- Put the price list on the wall by the door, and save it as a quick reply.
- For services that vary, give a "from" price and say what changes it: length, thickness, whether the client brings the hair.
- Add your services to the catalogue in WhatsApp Business, which shows a price and description for each item (WhatsApp).
- When prices go up, tell regulars before their next visit, not at the till.
Risiti also gives you a free website at risiti.ai/your-salon-name with your services and prices, opening hours, where to find you and the M-Pesa numbers to pay. Bookings arrive on your WhatsApp, and a QR code on your poster brings people to the page.
Track what each stylist brings in
Ask stylists to post every client in the staff WhatsApp group as they finish: client, service, price, cash or M-Pesa. At closing, add up each stylist's lines. Once a week, compare three numbers for each stylist: clients served, how many were regulars, and takings.
Example (a made-up week):
| Stylist | Clients | Regulars | Takings (Ksh) | Per client (Ksh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nduta | 14 | 9 | 31,500 | 2,250 |
| Makena | 16 | 4 | 24,000 | 1,500 |
Makena saw more people, but Nduta's clients spend more, and a bigger share of them come back. Ask Nduta what she does differently and share it with the team. If you pay commission, the same numbers settle pay without arguments: at an example 40%, Nduta earns 31,500 × 0.4 = Ksh 12,600 for the week.
Keep client numbers in the salon's book, not only on each stylist's phone. Then the salon can still reach its regulars, and keep their service history, if a stylist moves on.
What to do about no-shows
An empty chair costs real money. If two braid clients a week don't show, at Ksh 3,500 each (an example price), that is Ksh 7,000 a week, or Ksh 28,000 over four weeks.
- Confirm the day before and ask for a reply. No reply by evening? Call.
- Take a deposit for long services such as braids, locs or colour, by M-Pesa to your Till or Pochi la Biashara. Say before they pay what happens to it: for example, cancel a day ahead and it moves to the new date; don't show up and it's kept.
- Keep a waiting list of clients who want an earlier slot, and message them when someone cancels.
- Count no-shows per client. After a second no-show, ask that client for a deposit every time.
- Be fair about emergencies. One missed visit doesn't make someone a bad client.
What to do today
- List your 20 best regulars with their last three visit dates, and work out each one's gap.
- Start asking every client at the end of a visit whether they want reminders, and note the answer.
- Set up labels and three quick replies in WhatsApp Business: price list, booking confirmation, deposit details.
- Put your price list on the wall and online.
- Ask stylists to post every client with the price and how they paid.
- Write down your deposit and cancellation rule, and send it with every booking.
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology: hairstyles that pull can lead to hair loss
- ODPC: Data Protection Act, 2019
- ODPC: Data Protection (General) Regulations, 2021
- WhatsApp Help Center: how to use broadcast lists
- WhatsApp Blog: labels and quick replies, January 2019
- WhatsApp Blog: catalogues for small businesses, November 2019