1. Dress up your shop
Everybody loves to get into the party spirit the closer we get to the year end. Regardless of religion or ethnicity the end of the year involves a lot of celebration and gift-giving. Decorate your salon in a manner suitable for your particular clientele. The focus should be creating a spirit of love and care, two of the most essential ingredients to growing a business. You salon is literally ‘on promotion’ therefore make sure clients experience a promotional energy when in the salon.
2. Fire up your staff
It is good to remember that up to 50% of your annual turnover could be generated in the last three months of the year and staff need to be aware of the abundant opportunities the ‘season of spend’ will bring. The ideal way to get staff fired up and focused is to hold a mini-conference or maxi-staff meeting to get them motivated and excited. In addition to motivation staff need direction (the how factor) to optimise each and every client visit.
3: Plan staffing levels
It is crucial that you plan month by month what staff are working and when. This is particularly true at the busiest time of the year. It is unwise to allow staff to take leave towards the end of the year and to then turn clients away because you are understaffed. Any extra time staff work during busy times can be re-imbursed during quieter times.
4: Plan your clients’ appointments
You should already be pre-booking your major clients to make sure they have their appointments right up to the end of the year. Try putting salon signage on mirrors ‘to avoid the disappointment of not being able to get your next appointment please make your next booking before you leave the salon’. For those clients going away for the holidays make sure they have enough home-use products to last them until they return.
5: Extend operating hours
To take a leaf out of the ‘retail sector’ extending trading hours at this time of year definitely results in more turnover.
Obviously this depends on demand as well as the number of walk in clients the salon attracts. Salon signage is a clever way of letting your clients know you ready, willing and able to accommodate them all.
6: Make sure you don’t run out of stock
There is no need to invest vast amounts of money in stock ‘just in case you need it’. Based on the previous months’ sales or use-up-rates make sure you have enough stock to cover you for two months instead of the normal one month. It is not a bad idea to lay in extra stock of fast-moving items. It is also a good idea to have a reciprocal arrangement with other salons in you areas to help out in an emergency.