Did you know that some stylists make 30% of their income in the last 60 days of the year? There’s a mad rush to get everybody in because nobody wants to go to Thanksgiving with grey roots.
So then the holiday season must be profitable because the volume is high, right? Wrong. Many stylists work 12 – 14 hour days behind the chair to try to accommodate everyone.
But you should actually be working less and making more during the holidays, not killing yourself in November and December so every guest gets their roots touched up.
The holidays are a beautiful time for all of us and there are a lot of ways to maximize this season while taking a lot of time to enjoy the holidays. Let’s take a look at what to do in the last 60 days of the year to maximize this incredible opportunity.
Optimize each guest’s appointment
How can you maximize each guest’s appointment to increase your bottom line and still improve their experience? Optimize each guest’s appointment…and don’t be afraid to get creative.
Offer specialty, holiday-only services, like a pumpkin spice conditioning treatment. It can be incredibly simple: maybe the conditioner you use has nothing to do with pumpkin, but you diffuse cloves, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice in the background. Add in some of the seasonal body lotions and head scrubs for an upgraded service price.
Make it something they can’t say no to. You don’t have to discount this product or make it a steal, just something special. And, if you made an extra 10 bucks on each of the five guests you see in a day, you’d make an additional $250 this week!
Every guest will say yes, because it’s fun. We like to get caught up in the season and take advantage of special things.
Here’s how to phrase it:
“I know you’re in just for your cut and color today, but I wanted to let you know we’re a fun pumpkin spice latte treatment for fall. It’s hydrating because pumpkin is soothing for the scalp and moisturizing for the hair, especially during this season. It’s only $10. Do you want to do that today?”
Offer specialty retail bundles
Capitalize on your high volume by offering specialty retail bundles. Nothing is discounted; it’s just taking advantage of the high volume opportunity. Here are a few ideas:
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Feature a winter hydration pack on your station. At every visit, bring up the dangers of winter hair hydration, especially if you live in harsh climates with extremely cold winters.
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Put together a customized retail promotion or treatment package to help your clients take care of their hair during this busy season.
People like to spend money during the holiday season, so offer these opportunities to allow guests to treat themselves.
Level up with lessons
If you have the time, think about the opportunities you can offer while maximizing the experience and your high volume. Lessons are a great opportunity here. Maybe it’s blow-dry styling lessons or your top tips to create the perfect updo fast for their holiday parties.
Here’s how to phrase it.
“I’m offering [type of lesson] lessons this holiday season. I’m certain you have holiday parties to go to, and it can be hard to replicate the in-salon style when you’re at home. I have an extra 15 minutes at the end of your appointment, so if you’d like, I’ll incorporate a blow-dry styling lesson into your style today for $15. That way, when you go home, you can [curl/flat iron/get volume] in your hair the way I do. Would you like to add that today?”
Think about your target market and how you can serve them even more during this holiday season.
Ask for reviews
Consumers today trust an online review source as much as a referral from a personal friend.
Think about it. When you want to go to a new restaurant in town, what do you do? Check the Google and Yelp reviews because you want to see if the community chatter shows the restaurant is amazing.
People want to see that chatter for you too. You need to have online reviews that don’t live on your online booking site or Groupon profile because no one will find them there. Reviews need to live on Facebook, Yelp, or Google My Business to count.
Take advantage of high volume to ask guests for reviews. If you’re worried you’ll make your guests uncomfortable, think about it this way: If you saw a makeup artist who did an amazing job and you had a good time, would you be offended if she asked you to leave her a review at the end? No way. We’re impressed, right?
It’s your guest’s choice if they want to take action or not, but you need to plant the seed. If you want someone to take action, you have to ask for reviews, especially during this peak season.
Go old-school
We’re currently living in the digital era, but, as a society, we’re ready to come back to human connection. That’s why there’s a huge push to old-school marketing right now, especially handwritten cards.
When you go through your mail every week, you look through the magazines, go through the junk mail, and toss most of it in the recycling. But when you pull out a colorful envelope with an actual stamp and your address handwritten on it, it’s like a little present in the mail. It’s usually the first thing you open because you are excited about it, right?
That’s the experience you need to create for your guests. Not a generic postcard, not something preprinted, but a handwritten card.
If you think it would take too long to handwrite cards, think again. It would take you too long to rebuild a clientele if you didn’t do these things to retain your business.
The holiday season is an amazing opportunity to grow your business and income while working less, not more. Put these strategies into play today to make the most of this holiday season!