MENU
SEARCHGot a time of the week that's a little slower than you like? Group 3 Marketing's Bart Foreman shows you how to fill your book during your slow days.
Bart Foreman, president of Group 3 Marketing
There has been much chatter on some of the various electronic media including the SALON TODAY LinkedIn site about slow days. Everyone has the perfect solution, ranging from new product introductions to better stylist training, yet we don’t see these ideas as addressing the issue of slow days. In fact, many of these schemes do little to address the problem and actually cause salon owners to lose sight of the problem.
Slow days, those dead and dreary days when chairs and cash registers are empty, have nothing to do with the quality of your services. They have everything to do with your marketing.
Traditionally, salons have used their midweek slow times to have men’s or senior specials, usually focused on discounts. These discounts have some impact but are getting old and outdated. And clearly, if so many salons are complaining about slow days, the discount model is not the perfect solutions and a new marketing model is needed.
The strategy is two-fold:
FIRST, use this time to bring in NEW CLIENTS to your salon to try your services
SECOND, move a group of current weekend clients that may not be the most profitable to slower days, opening up more high traffic times for additional clients who may be blocked out of appointment times.
Here are some ideas:
Open Up Your Book: Expand what you are doing for current slow day clients like seniors and men. Rather than one day for seniors, why not expand this to three mornings from opening to 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. Many seniors are on fixed incomes and tend to have fixed schedules so give them some flexibility.
Calling All Men: Promote your services to men on slow days. My local salon puts out a sign Mondays through Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. offering men’s haircuts for $20 and funnels these clients to the newer stylists to keep them busy. The owner says men are more loyal and like the extra attention they get on the weekdays.
Experiment with Bundling:After 2:00 p.m., create incentives to pick up some female clients who may be more price-sensitive and try to bundle a service and product together. Rather than discount a haircut by $3 or $5, offer a free bottle of shampoo that may have about the same cost base as your discount. You maintain the same profit margin and increase the value of the experience because the guest walks out with a free bottle of shampoo – a more highly perceived “deal.”
Enrich the Experience: Promote the idea that your weekday services are more relaxed and make them even more enticing by including some simple add-ons to enrich the experience – a hot towel, a neck massage, or for a guy, perhaps a free brow wax. One salon owner says that once a male guest has a brow wax, he’s yours for life.
Make slow days a thing of the past. You’ll increase your revenues, get your younger, newer team members more engaged (and keep them busier) and maybe even open up some prime-time chairs for new guests.
After moving to Colorado and teaching at a cosmetology school, Allison Stock joined Zandi K as a stylist, eventually becoming part of the Leadership Team, Education Team and Master Bridal Team. Today, as Director of Operation, Stock is Owner Nicki Wenz's right hand, managing human resources and operations, education and career development, and coaching and culture.
The company's Concealed Bead Method is raising the bar for what professional extension education can deliver.
Scott maximized her micro-salon by transitioning from stylist to strategic owner, focusing on recruiting and station-sharing. By prioritizing her ownership role over behind-the-chair work, she grew her team to six stylists within the two-chair, 150-square-foot space before eventually moving to a larger facility.
The former CFO of Perdue Farms and owner of Hardy Seafood, Terry Owens delivers a wealth of wisdom and strategies for entrepreneurs in his new book, "Business is Simple."
After scaling her single-location salon business, SALON TODAY 200 Honoree Amy Pal recently sold her six-location Whip Salon for seven figures. Using the six Ps for maximizing a business's value, she's ready to help her peers do the same.
Buried inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are federal solar tax credit changes that deserve your attention now. Two of the credits that matter most to commercial property owners, the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, are still available, but only if you move fast. A third, the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Deduction, has a hard termination date that is closer than most people realize.
Up to 40% of hair stylists ghost the salon interview stage, leaving owners trapped playing endless phone tag with uncommitted applicants. This data-driven report breaks down why traditional job boards create recruitment friction and reveals the modern messaging strategies high-growth salons use to get pre-qualified talent to actually show up. Learn how to transition from cold calling to high-conversion conversations that protect your time and fill your chairs.
Sponsored by Beautista
Spit fests, hostile threats, and even an overachieving matchmaker--SALON TODAY readers share their craziest client tales and how their team handled these tough situations with professionalism and grace.
Keeping your appointment book full when clients are in vacation mode takes more than a good Instagram post. It takes a plan. The 2026 Summer Marketing Calendar from Meevo gives salon, spa & med spa owners a month-by-month roadmap with sharp themes, key opportunity dates, and campaign ideas specifically designed for the beauty & wellness industry. Here’s to your summer season working as hard as you do!
Sponsored by Millennium Systems International
AI is transforming the beauty and wellness industry, and the future is about empowering people, not replacing them. Discover how Phorest AI helps salons, spas, and med spas across North America respond faster, personalize every visit, and keep human connection at the heart of the client experience.
Sponsored by Phorest
Owner Michaella Blissett-Williams credits her General Manager Gloria Hortua with [salon] 718's year-over-year, double-digit growth and says she's been able to scale the company to eight locations because she can rely on Hortua to manage daily operations.
Shine Time: Aluram’s High Shine Line Delivers Moisture and Shine with Clean Ingredients
Sponsored by Aluram
Elyse Rogers is an uplifting presence at The Headroom who makes the team feel heard even in stressful situations. Owner Danielle Cherewyk sings her praises in this installment of Meet the Manager.
Despite a slight and predictable decline in client traffic for Q1, resilient pricing power is driving year-over-year revenue growth in salons. The KIM Report's Alain Audet reviews the data and what it's telling us about the state of professional beauty.
Same-store revenue grew just 2% for the second straight year—and new guest visits declined across every segment of the industry. The 2026 Benchmark Report reveals where growth is actually happening, which verticals are pulling ahead, and what the data says about where your business stands right now.
Sponsored by Zenoti
Hair restoration is entering a new era driven by regenerative science. This paper explores how Exosome technology is transforming treatment outcomes by targeting hair loss at a cellular level. Discover why EXOGROW is leading this shift.
Sponsored by Dermapenworld
A salon brand is much more than a logo. In this thought-provoking blog, Leon Alexander, Ph.D., walks you through the difference. SALON TODAY suggests sharing this article with your team and leading a discussion at your next huddle, asking the team to define your business's brand.
