They were unhappy
They told you, or they left a review.
9:41
Cards
Le Comptoir
Loyalty card
Fleuriste Lila
Loyalty card
Studio Camille
Loyalty card · Mrs Dupont
Studio Camille
Loyalty card · Mrs Dupont
7 / 108 / 101 visit = 1 point
Show this code at the till
Scanned · +1 point
Tuesday 3 June
9:41
Studio Camillenow
It's your birthday! 🎉 20% off just for you today.
Tuesday 3 June
9:41
Studio Camille
Studio Camille
-10 %
Offer unlocked
A code received after your last visit (€70 spent). To use on your next visit.
Use my code
The method
Customer loyalty
They haven't left,they've forgotten you.
Your customers space out their visits without saying a word, and one day they stop coming. The message goes out at the right moment, to the right person, without you having to think about it.
A rare message, with a reason to be sent: we nudge, we don't pester.
The loss you never see
Your customers don't leave angry, they leave forgotten
They found cheaper
Price had the final say.
There's not much you can do about it.
They simply forgot
No trace, no alert, no feedback.It's reason no. 1.
A forgotten customer leaves no trace. They appear in no report, but they weigh heavily on your results.
What it really costs
Nobody does this sum, and yet
2fewer visits
60 €the average spend
50customers affected
6 000 €less over the year
None of these customers is unhappy, none has left,and yet the money is no longer there.
Example observed in hairdressing and beauty. At yours, the three numbers are different, the mechanics are the same.
What it brings in
A returning customer costs far less than a customer to be found
It's the sum the big chains have been doing for twenty years, and that almost no small business does.
To go and find a new customer
Advertising, prospecting, introductory discount, time spent. And nothing says they'll come back a second time.
To bring back a customer you already have
One message, at the right moment. They know you, they know where you are, and they spend around two thirds more than a new customer, because they trust you and have nothing left to check.
Five per cent more customers retained
and profit climbs by a quarter, sometimes far more. It's the best-known finding on the subject, and it holds for a salon as much as for a chain.
One dormant customer in three comes back
when contacted properly. The other two won't, but they cost nothing: the message has already gone out by itself.
A customer list loses one customer in six every year
without anyone deciding it, neither you nor them. It's the normal erosion of a customer base nobody follows up.
What we do
Every message has a reason to be sent.
Never a bulk send, always a message that makes sense.
When they haven't come back
A useful message to rekindle the link and give them a good reason to return.
When it's their birthday
A personal touch that marks the occasion and strengthens the relationship.
When their reward is almost within reach
A little nudge at the right moment to help them reach their goal.
When something went wrong
React quickly, apologise if needed and put the experience right.
When their due date is approaching
A well-timed reminder so nothing slips through.
When they've just left happy
Prolong the good feeling and encourage them to come back soon.
It's never a bulk send to the whole list.Every message has a reason to be sent to that person, on that day.
Loyalty
Nine mechanisms, and not the ones you'd think
Simple, visible, measurable actions to bring the right customers back.
01
Card already started
- The customer starts with a head start.
- A card already started gets completed far more often.
02
Points per visit
- Per visit when all your customers spend roughly the same, per euro when baskets range from one to three times the size. Either way, the rule fits in one sentence the customer understands first time.
- The reward must be reachable in a few visits. Too slow is the number one reason people give up on a scheme.
03
Reward in kind
- A treatment, a product, a coffee, a free service. A benefit you can read in a second. What you give in kind costs you its cost price, not its selling price.
- What you give away costs you your cost price, not your selling price.
04
Service redone
- A colour that's not right, a cut that missed, a repair to do over. You redo it in a quiet slot, free or half price as you decide, and without argument.
- It costs an hour of an empty slot and it saves a customer you would have lost.
05
Nudge on your cycle
- Not a standard delay: yours. We measure how long your customers usually take to come back, and the message goes out just before the habit is lost.
- It's the setting that makes all the difference between a useful nudge and an advert.
06
Unexpected gesture
- Nothing to do with points: a free coffee for the one who waited, a treatment added without a word, a repair not charged. Never announced, never promised, so never owed.
- A gesture nobody expected leaves a far deeper mark than a promised perk. Announced in advance, it does nothing at all.
07
Referrals
- The customer who brings you someone gets something, and so does the newcomer. A customer recommended by someone close already arrives trusting you.
- To be kept in check: the reward must stay reasonable relative to the purchase, it's the law.
08
Gift card
- Five sessions paid in one go, a voucher given to someone else. The customer has already paid, so they come back, and a gift card also brings you someone who didn't know you.
- Little-known advantage: on a card usable for several services, VAT is only due when the customer uses it.
09
Subscription where it makes sense
- A fixed amount each month, and reserved perks: a wash included, a blow-dry a week, a discount on products, a priority slot. The customer comes more often because they've already paid.
- Only for repeat services and a stable spend. For a tradesperson or an optician it makes no sense, and we won't suggest it.
What we won't do at yours
Four things that damage
more than they bring in
They sell very well, you see them everywhere,
and they cost dearly those who put them in place.
The permanent discount
for regulars
The new price becomes the norm.
The margin drops, and so does the perceived value.
Points too slow
to earn
The reward seems out of reach.
People stop trying before they've even got interested.
Bronze, silver
and gold tiers
They create rankings and frustration.
The downgraded customer spends less than before.
The bulk send
every week
A message without a reason has
no place in the relationship.
A badly designed loyalty scheme doesn't bring more people back:it rewards those who would have come back anyway, and costs you the discount on top.
The reminder nobody else sends
For some services, no letter ever arrives
Four people in France out of five don't service anything until there's a problem. And neither the state, the insurer nor the manufacturer warns them.
The boiler service
Compulsory for every boiler from 4 to 400 kW, heat pumps included. The year runs from 1 January to 31 December, no anniversary date.
No fine for the householder. However, in the event of a claim, the insurer can refuse to pay out.
Chimney sweeping
A single national rule since 1 October 2023. Twice a year for a shared flue, including once during the heating season.
Same logic: the risk isn't the penalty, it's the uncovered claim, and there are nearly four thousand carbon monoxide poisonings a year.
The roadworthiness test
First test in the six months before the fourth anniversary of first registration, then every two years.
A €135 fine, up to €750, and the vehicle may be impounded. Above all: no notice is ever sent, the owner has to remember on their own.
It's the one kind of reminder where the business owner feels no awkwardness at all: they're not selling, they're doing a favour. And for you, it evens out the year, because these appointments shift to the quiet months.
The object that no longer brings anyone back
A card at the bottom of a bag reminds nobody of anything
It's had its day, and it has a flaw nothing can fix:
it only speaks if the customer remembers to take it out.
Yesterday
Paper card
It gets lost, forgotten, and commits nobody.
ATLAS®The 10the visit free
- It only speaks if the customer remembers to take it out
- Forgotten in another jacket, so no stamp
- You don't know who has one, or how far along they are
- It never warns you that the customer has stopped coming
Now
Digital loyalty card
Always in the phone, always useful.
9:41
OK
ATLAS®Loyalty
8 visits out of 10
Only two to go before your free treatment
Next rewardFree treatment2 visits to go
Your next appointmentSat 14 June - 10:00
Show this pass
at every visit
at every visit
- Always in the phone, so always within reach
- The points count themselves, no more forgetting, no more mistakes
- You see who comes back and who drops off
- It sends its own reminder when two visits are left
And that's just one of the advantages of a well-designed loyalty scheme.Let's see what really works.
What protects you
Contacting your customers again is regulated, and that's a good thing
Clear rules for healthy practice.
Consent, asked for at the right moment
A customer gives you their number for an appointment,
not to receive offers.
Every message carries a link to stop receiving anything.
The phone rules have changed
Reminders go out by message, not by call.
Always possible to point back to the consent given.
It's just for reminders, never for anything else.
The mediator you have to name
An independent consumer mediator must be named, whatever the size of the salon.
Like a chain of trust that protects everyone.
Your data stays yours
The list is yours, hosted in Europe,
exportable whenever you ask.
You sign nothing that stops you leaving.
What it looks like at yours
You don't nudge a garage's customers the way you nudge a salon's
The right timing isn't the same from one trade to the next, and it's what makes all the difference. Four examples.
Hairdresser, beauty salon
The customer who used to come every six weeks is now at ten. The message goes out in the seventh, before the habit is lost. It's the trade where the drift costs the most.
Garage
Service, roadworthiness test, tyres: three appointments a year nobody reminds them of. And fewer than one driver in five stays for the lowest price: what brings them back is having the work explained and being asked for their go-ahead before it's done.
Shopkeeper
The points earned live in the phone, not at the bottom of a bag. You finally know who your twenty best customers are and how long it's been since you saw the others.
Restaurant owner
The lunchtime regulars you don't see any more, the big parties from a year ago. A message at the right moment beats a promotion sent to the whole list.
What you tell us
Six things we hear as soon as contacting customers comes up. They deserve a straight answer.
You tell us
Atlas answers
I know my customers inside out.
1You know the ones who come. The ones who stopped eight months ago, nobody has in mind, and those are exactly the ones we go after.
I don't want to pester my customers.
2Neither do we. A rare message, at the right moment, with a clear reason to send it. No bulk send on a Friday evening to the whole list, and a link to stop receiving anything.
The cardboard card has always worked.
3It works as long as it's in the pocket. Forgotten in another jacket, it doesn't fill up, and above all: it never warns you that the customer has stopped coming. That's what it will never be able to do.
GDPR is too complicated.
4Collection is done properly, with consent asked for at the right moment and unsubscribing in one click. It's done for you, and the contact details stay yours.
I don't have time to follow up.
5That's exactly why you're not the one doing it. You set the moments once, and you never touch anything again: the messages go out, you see who comes back.
My customers will come back if they're happy.
6It's the most expensive belief in the trade. Seven departures in ten have nothing to do with satisfaction: the customer was happy, they just had other things on their mind.
Funding
Part of it may not come out of your pocket
French regions fund the digitisation of small businesses. Precisely the tools this page is about.
30 à 50 %
of the spend covered, depending on your region and up to a ceiling
0 %100 %
What gets funded
The management software, payments, scheduling, automation. No brochures, no advertising.
The rest of the bill
A normal business expense: subscriptions and services are tax-deductible, VAT reclaimed.
And a loan, if needed
From €5,000 to €100,000 for your move to digital, with no security required. It's a loan, it has to be repaid.
The trap, and there's no way back
The application must be filed before anything starts. A signed quote, a deposit paid, and the application is inadmissible.
So it's the first thing we look at together, before we even talk about what we install.
A rule shared by almost all public grants
What we do with you
- We look for what's available in your region
- We help you put the application together, and file it in time
- We follow the review with you, right up to the decision
- We work with your accountant, never in their place
We help you put the application together: the request remains yours, and you're the one who signs it. Your tax affairs are your accountant's, and we don't replace them. No grant is guaranteed: schemes change, so do the conditions, and some regions have none.
Free assessment
1What brings you here?
You can pick more than one.
2What's your trade?
Type the first few letters, or write your own.
What would you like to improve?
Pick what sounds like you, or put it in your own words.
3How can we reach you?
Reply within 24 working hours.
Would you rather we
Your message is ready
Your email app has just opened with all your answers already written. All you have to do is send it.
Nothing opened? Write to us directly and we'll pick it up from there.
The other parts of the method
Reviews that come in by themselvesAn up-to-date Google listing, recent reviews, replies drafted.Online presenceFill the gaps in the diaryOnline booking, automatic reminders, freed-up slots offered.SchedulingSee who drops offThe customers you haven't seen, on the same screen as everything else.DashboardsAnswer when you can'tMessages sorted, calls taken, replies drafted. You check, you send.Bring in AIGet paid without chasingQuote, signature, deposit, invoice, reminder: the whole money chain is here.Get paid in 2 clicks
The customer loyalty modules
Digital loyalty cardTheir card lives in their phone, found by their number.From €39 a monthViewYour customers bring you more customersThey mentioned you on Thursday: one link, and their colleague comes in.From €35 a monthViewWin back customers who drift awayCustomer gone quiet or service due: the reminder goes out on its own.From €19 a monthViewBring a new customer backA customer who came once becomes a regular.From €19 a monthViewScheduled texts and emailsBirthday, review request, seasonal offer: they go out by themselves.From €24 a monthViewSign up a customer in two clicksTen awkward seconds saved, one customer kept.From €0 a monthViewWelcome message to the customerThanked, recognised, invited back. Not a till receipt.From €39 a monthViewGift cards and session bundlesThe remaining balance, the message, the date, all in their phone.From €45 a monthViewMonthly customer subscriptionA fixed amount, clear perks, the freedom to stop.From €59 a monthViewBirthday message to the customerBirthday, celebration, special occasion: the offer arrives on the day.From €49 a monthViewWin back a lost customerNothing reminds them you exist any more. Except this.From €45 a monthView