We recently asked several of our Cabinet of Thought Leaders how they ensure a smooth holiday season, including any best practices for retail or service promotions.
Chloe Masters of Vista Belle Salon in West College Corner, IN, sets the stage for the holidays by communicating with her clients and building trust year-round.
“I think talking with your clients about something you truly believe in is the key. That creates trust with your clients. For example, right now, we are doing hair and scalp treatment services through Milbon. Whenever I have a client in, I just talk about it, and they say, ‘Oh, I want to book that.’ It’s the same thing if you have a promotion.”
Jarrod Aldama of Steel & Lacquer in San Francisco, CA, finds himself “geeking out” – as he puts it – on flash promotions. He and his business partner like to offer a few go-to promotions that their service providers can draw from should they have a gap in their books, extra time at the end of a service, or time to do another service.
“Service providers in an employee-based company can feel at the mercy of what the salon allows, so it may be beneficial for the team to create back-end flash promotions during the holidays that the stylists can pull from. We tell service providers, ‘If you see the opportunity to get a guest to experience a new service, and you have the time to do it, these are your authorized flash promotions.’ I think giving stylists options and permission to do a discounted experience or promotion on retail is a great way to grow new service providers.”
Cindi Quin-Ventura of Katherine Drew Salon in Livonia, MI, admits she’s never done well with holiday promotions. Instead, she concentrates on using the momentum of the holidays to get her clients to pre-book into the new year – specifically for the slower months.
“I give everyone in December a reason to come back in January, February, and March by offering them a free ‘something.’ I don’t discount our services because January and February are already slow, but I offer a free hair mask, which costs me a couple of bucks, and on my service menu, it’s $20. For me, it’s getting those people during the holiday season back in.”
Niki Davis of ND Artistry of Jacksonville Beach, FL, recently discovered standing appointments in Rosy, which she looks forward to using during the holidays and beyond. She’ll work with her front desk team to save time while booking clients for several months by using the feature.
“I have a lot of clients who want to book multiple appointments; then, they sit at the front desk for 15 minutes to schedule things out. Now, with standing appointments, they’re done in maybe five minutes. They might have to change an appointment occasionally, but at least they are on the books. Then I’m 100% booked all the time.”
So, what holiday best practices or successful promotions have you done? Please share in the comments section below.
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