Winters, especially for salons mean slow business. But spring can be your elixir. Post-surviving another midwest winter, people come to salons anxious to make a change and try on new spring colors for their hair and nails as they get ready for vacations, prom nights and graduations.
This blog is the money-making guide to make your pedicure chairs and hair studio a happy spring destination for clients. It includes:
PART 1:
- Why getting inspiration for a new season is important and where to get it?
- The why and how of keeping up-to-date with industry trends.
- How to keep your staff trained and high on energy?
PART 2:
- Marketing tips for your business
- Your money making guide before the prom season.
- Free email templates for your email marketing campaign
- Free text templates to send deals and discounts.
PART 3:
- Where to get new customers this spring?
- How to create a credible social media standing?
PART 1: Get you & your staff in the spring mood
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Take inspiration
Why is this important?
Because you’re an artist! Redefining someone’s appearance is a piece of art and art requires inspiration. In order to keep new ideas coming in, you need to feed your creative cravings.
Where to get inspiration from?
Fashion events-big or small are the best way to bring back knowledge and get inspiration for the upcoming season. There are so many events lined up at this time of the year that they can keep your calendar packed for weeks. Here is a list of top events to attend before spring:
Beauty events in San Francisco
Find the list of beauty events in your city here.
To fuel inspiration, all you need to do is look around you. Here’s what Alan Labos mentions in his blog,
“Street fashion, interior design, local musicians and artists, can be as much a source of inspiration as the latest collection from a major fashion house or a new product line from a beauty empire. Whether it is by reading the most recent issue of Vogue or taking time to notice fresh graffiti on the city streets, you never know where or when inspiration will strike!”
What next?
You need to ensure that your inspired styles look good on people in real life, i.e., on your customers. Runway looks often lead people into thinking “Who are they kidding? I’m never going to wear my hair or makeup like that.” People easily get intimidated by the way fashion is presented; with the model, the clothes and the lighting.
You need a real life example of how the inspired styles will look on your customers. You can try it on a staff or invite regular customers to come and experiment with their look on a discounted price. This will:
- give you a better idea of how a certain trend looks on different face cuts, compleixions, with varied hair colors, and on people of different ages.
- encourage other customers to try these styles on.
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Stay up-to-date
Why is this important?
Hairstyles, makeup, and nails change with every season. And you, as a professional need to be updated with them because:
- Your customers always know what’s trending. They’ll hear it from a friend or see it on a celebrity and instantly want to try.
- It’s a position of trust. Your customers look up to you for expert opinion. To be able to give that, you need to know what’s going on in the industry around you.
- It helps you stay on the cutting edge of business.
How to do it?
- Look out for what’s hot and who’s trending
“New trends come from an array of areas, which goes hand in hand with the latest technology. Public figures, stars, models, reality shows, magazines, in-house and distributor classes are some of the paths that have always worked. Recently, we added social networks like Facebook and Twitter to the list.”
MIKE O’NEILL
HAIR STUDIO 322
GLENMOORE, PENNSYLVANIA
2. Learn from your staff
“Several team members travel to Fashion Week, working backstage with various product lines. When they come back they share the top tips on hair, make-up and all the exciting stories with the rest of the team and our clients. This ensures that we are moving in front of trends and not behind them.”
D SCOTT BALL
THE CUT & COLOR ROOM
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
3. The Internet to the rescue!
Because we live in a small, relatively isolated town, the internet provides a huge amount of information regarding trends and new techniques as do trade magazines and DVDs, which can be purchased through stylist websites.”
KAREN ROBERTS
STUDIO K
LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO
4. Follow famous fashion blogs.
Blogs are produced by the most respected magazines which also have the biggest online presence in their countries so you usually get the latest and most up to date information for what is going on in the professional beauty industry through them.
Grant Romundt
Founder, ScissorBoy.com
5. Keep an eye on your competitors.
Think you spotted a trend but aren’t sure if it’s anything that will catch on? By observing what your competitors are doing, you can capitalise on emerging news, trends, and opportunities. Sure, staying ahead of the competition is key, but knowing what they’re up to is one part of coming out on top.
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Train staff
Your staff is your business’s workforce. These are the people who interact with clients behind the chair. They are your sales people, your culture, your service. Equip them with the current trends and hands-on tutorials before the season kicks in to ensure exceptional service for the clients every time. It is important they know how to greet clients, understand the treatments that are offered, and can suggest appropriate upgrade treatments when booking appointments.
You can either develop an in-salon training program or find one online.
Pro tip: Throw an office party to bond and get the excitement going:
Post-winter you might need to lift up your team’s spirits. Do that by throwing a staff party. Or simply invite them over for drinks. Right before you all set to work, it’d help you bond with your staff and be an energy boost for the next season.
Don’t worry. We know you’ve a lot going on. So here’s your cheat sheet to throw a fabulous salon party!
How to throw great salon parties: by Nailsmag.com
1000+ ideas for salon party on Pinterest
Throwing a salon party: by Salon Today
PART 2: Market like a pro
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Act in time: Offer occasion-specific deals
Timing is important. Always pay attention to what big event is due in the coming weeks and prepare for that.
Case Study: Money-making guide for Prom
- The afternoon slots go first. Getting a fancy up-do at 9 a.m. means a long time before the evening’s prom, and afternoon hours also fit better with teens’ busy schedules
- Weekends can be busy. You might have to ask your staff to stay back on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Every year brings new trends for prom hair-dos. Encourage girls to bring a photo of what they want to be done with their hair.
Pro tip: Giving a combo facial and hair styling offer or a one-on-one free offer before prom can be a good idea to attract teens.
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Reach out to your regulars
Why?
Your regulars are happy, satisfied people who trust your services and visit you regularly on a monthly or even weekly basis. These are the people to target first as you already have their trust.
How?
1. Start an email campaign:
Shoot an email to them announcing what’s new this season in business and inviting them over for a service.
Here’s a sample from mailget:
2. Send out deals via texts:
Offer discounts and deals by sending texts to these clients.
Why?
Around 90% of text messages are read within three minutes. That’s because mobile devices are everywhere and people tend to keep them with them at all times and regularly check them. In fact, 90% of Millennials sleep with their phones within arm’s reach.
How?
Ready to use text templates:
- [Salon Name] – Today only! Get a FREE [service 1] with any [service 2]
- Keep the feet happy this spring with [discount]% discounts on pedicures at the [salon name]
- Be the first to know about discounts and offers at [salon name]! Click here to subscribe: [link]
Find 42 more ready-to-use text templates here.
3. Offer referral discounts
Word of mouth publicity is huge. According to some studies, about 80 percent of salon owners say most of their clients are from referrals. Ask these satisfied clients for more referrals and reward them for the same.
Incentives for customers for referral program:
- Offer a discount on certain services or offering a free service after a fixed number of referrals.
- Give a small gift bag of salon products after fixed number of referrals or after their first referral.
- Give the existing client a free salon product or service or a discount on their next visit, and you can give the new customer a discount on a certain service or product.
4. Learn from the best
Following successful industry leaders and learning from them can go a long way. They must be doing something right that you can put to use for your business too.
Here’s Vogue’s list of best salons for 2016. Watch the pros at work and learn.
PART 3: Get new customers
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Get listed on Online directories:
Getting more customers directly peaks up your salon’s revenue. And which salon owner doesn’t like more profits and revenue. Stay up to date with ways that different salons are employing to get new customers. Recently salons have started getting listed on Reserve with Google to grow their business in their neighbourhood. It is a new search and book platform by Google that allows your customers to book your services directly from Google search. To know more, click here.
2. Increase reach via Social media
- On social media, your FB page or twitter profile or Pinterest board represents your business. Make sure these profiles are killer. Ask customers to post before after pictures, reviews, etc. on these pages to create a good impression of your salon on other customers.
- Start a blog. Provide your customers with valuable and intriguing content. They’re sure to come back for more.
- Engage with them online. Start discussions. Provide deals and interact with your customers. Social media is where customers share their true viewpoints. You can get reviews, honest feedback and complaints.
Next read: Want to increase sales this spring by getting more customers? Get listed on Reserve with Google now!
Trying some new ways to increase salon sales this spring? Do share in the comments below. 🙂
References:
- http://www.mikal-salon-software.com/apps/blog/show/43812300
- http://www.singleplatform.com/blog/2016/3/11/spring-your-salon-spa-into-success
- https://www.paulhylandsalon.com/there-s-something-magical-about-spring
- http://www.nailsmag.com/article/95728/how-to-throw-great-salon-parties
- http://www.salontoday.com/article/22926/how-does-your-staff-translate-trends-into-new-services-for-your-clientele
- http://www.lydiasarfati.com/the-importance-of-in-salon-training.php
- http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/prom-season-a-busy-time-for-twin-city-hair-salons/article_6039ae62-57d1-11df-8e21-001cc4c03286.html
- https://simpletexting.com/industry-guide/sms-marketing-for-spas-and-salons/
- https://www.signs.com/blog/implementing-referral-program-increasing-referrals-salon/
- http://ironworksartscentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/pagebreak.png
- https://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/CardDigital/13550641/chop_it_like_it_s_hot_printable_art_funny_salon_wall_decor_printable_d
- http://www.youbeauty.com/beauty/the-reality-of-runway-hair/
