Plan, plan, plan… and then plan some more.
Thinking ahead will not only help grow your business by planning more effective promotions and activities around annual or local events, for example: Mothers Day, Easter, or something for your town’s summer fair.
Buy a year planner (preferably one that you can write on and wipes off so you can change or amend things if you need to), and stick it on the wall in your staff area for everyone to see.
Then start planning:
– Highlight all the public celebration so you can plan for them well in advance (see our article on it here).
– Speak to your colour house and find out when they release their seasonal collections for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter and mark those on your calendar. That way you can plan colour change consultations with your clients as the new collection material is released.
– Think about periods that would be great for retail: just before summer for sun protection ranges; Christmas for christmas hampers; autumn for repairing treatments with the weather changes. Mark these on your planner and speak to your retail provider to see how they can help you and what product packages they can offer. Then set up incentives for your team focusing on these ranges.
– Look at how business has been over the past couple of years and identify any trends of quiet weeks throughout the year. Look at ways in which you can boost business during these periods: use ‘deal of the day’ sites to get extra clients through the door and then try to up-sell treatments or retail; run a consultation week to encourage clients to get booked in; target your client clubs and invite them in for special discounts on personalised services.
– Research local events such as Christmas fêtes and summer fairs, town parades, exhibitions, music festivals etc. and put them on your calendar and see if you can get involved to increase awareness of your salon and target new new clients.
Have a go at putting together your own calendar and let us know how you get on.