MENU
SEARCHShortcuts' Paul Tate helps offers 7 strategies to help salons boost their holiday sales.
For many salon owners, quite a bit of thought goes into planning for the holidays. And why not? With 20 to 40 per cent of annual sales coming in the six weeks leading up to the festive season, savvy salons know to be prepared. So, while you start writing your wishlist for Santa and thinking about how you are going to decorate the salon, start also plotting how you are going to get on everyone else’s gift list. You know what I mean:
Wife – complete top-to-toe makeover package, with goody bag. Check.
Grandma – luxury manicure. Check.
Mother – relaxing massage sans children. Check.
Father – three hot shaves in three months. Check.
Need I go on? You’ve a whole range of packages you can offer for anyone on the list – single services, bundles of services, retail bundles, gift cards and more – that you can promote and make your client’s lives easier with a quick and easy shopping process. When planning, consider the following:
Plan Your Offerings: We’ve got a few no-brainers on the list, like gift cards and retail bundles, but think strategically about other items you can offer that your clients may want now or in the New Year. Ask your clients what they think their loved ones might want – a blow dry party with friends, a New Year makeover or pampering session, etc.
Also, think about your own goals as a business. If you want more referrals to build your slower stylists, perhaps you offer to send a $20 promotional gift card to a friend of a client who spends $100 or in December. You get a referral. Your client looks generous with a $20 gift card. Your client’s friend gets a free gift card. Everyone is a winner.
Present Your Brand: Above all, make what you have to sell look pretty. People would much rather give their loved one a nicely packaged basket of goodies, with a candle or similar from your local supplier beautifully wrapped. And no one wants to do it themselves.
Same goes for gift cards. Consider having them professionally printed and present them in gift card holders. Contact your software supplier to see if they do branded gift cards that link directly with your point of sale. Shortcuts certainly does.
Give It Your All: Once you’ve decided what your specials for the season will be, start planning how you will promote them across as many platforms as you can: email, SMS, social networking, direct mail, in-salon signage, local websites and blogs, and even by leaving cards at other local businesses like your favorite cafe.
Go Viral: Start working on a series of posts that you can schedule across your Facebook and Twitter accounts that offer a mix of ideas for the season – fun memes, offers and calls to action to get people visiting your salon. The more varied your posts, the more chance you have of catching the attention of a wider audience and being seen on your clients’ friends’ pages.
Window and In-salon Dressing: Mix up the festive feeling by using your retail gifts as decorations. Place them in key positions around the salon and in your windows so people can browse at their leisure, not just in the rush to pay and leave before they get a parking ticket.
VIP Evenings: Make your clients feel special with invitation-only events where you can showcase your talented team and the services you offer alongside one-off deals available for that evening only. Target smaller groups that you can identify via your software, such as your older, high spending clients or the young, funky ones who love colour. Link up with your neighboring businesses to co-market and encourage your clients to shop local.
Keep Looking to the Future: Okay, you are going to be frantically busy leading up to Thanksgiving and beyond, preparing promotions and then delivering services, but don’t lose your long-term focus. Keep an eye on what you are going to do after the holidays. Over those six weeks you will see practically every client you have, so why don’t you give them a thank you on the way out – a card offering a special deal in January or February? And a bonus if they pre-book in December! It might be an added value service or, if you know it will work for you, a discount on color or cut. Whatever it is, make sure it is enough so you avoid that dreaded business slowdown after all the parties are over.
Paul Tate is CEO of Shortcuts Smarter Business Technology, which provides intuitive online and offline support to salons and spas across the world, offering solutions in nine languages to more than 13,000 clients in 46 countries. For more information, visit www.shortcuts.net.
Paul Tate is CEO of Shortcuts Smarter Business Technology, which provides intuitive online and offline support to salons and spas across the world, offering solutions in nine languages to more than 13,000 clients in 46 countries. For more information, visit www.shortcuts.net. - See more at: http://www.salontoday.com/blogs/guest/Encouraging-Good-Reviews-211419171.html#sthash.y840WqNS.dpuf
Paul Tate is CEO of Shortcuts Smarter Business Technology, which provides intuitive online and offline support to salons and spas across the world, offering solutions in nine languages to more than 13,000 clients in 46 countries. For more information, visit www.shortcuts.net. - See more at: http://www.salontoday.com/blogs/guest/Encouraging-Good-Reviews-211419171.html#sthash.y840WqNS.dpuf
Paul Tate is CEO of Shortcuts Smarter Business Technology, which provides intuitive online and offline support to salons and spas across the world, offering solutions in nine languages to more than 13,000 clients in 46 countries. For more information, visit www.shortcuts.net. - See more at: http://www.salontoday.com/blogs/guest/Encouraging-Good-Reviews-211419171.html#sthash.y840WqNS.dpuf
Discover how to create a true “WOW experience” for every client by first building a culture where your team feels engaged, empowered, and inspired. Drawing on Calvin Stovall’s Iconic Framework, this blog explores how salon, spa, and clinic leaders can strengthen culture, elevate customer experience, and build a business that stands out for the long term.
Sponsored by Phorest Salon Software
The wellness industry is growing fast, and salons and barbershops already are an important part of it. In her first blog, Tracy Rado shares where the wellness dollars are heading, and how salon's can grow with this movement.
While salon sales are increasing, owners often feel they're working harder for the same or less profit. Leverage Q2 data from The KIM Report, Alain Audet reveals some of the structural changes that are dampening your growth and why your region and your salon size matters.
Weaknesses in your business are amplified during the Holiday Season. Spark Pro Global's Lucy Randall shows you five things to do now to have the strongest holiday season yet.
In Kati Whitledge's latest blog, she shares how salons have moved away from dress codes and embraced appearance standards. But by removing strict dress codes, some businesses may have unintentionally lowered their appearance standards. Whitledge helps you explain to your team why an appearance standard is important and how to smoothly implement a new appearance policy.
The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is a non-refundable tax credit for for-profit businesses that provides a financial incentive for eligible employers who offer health insurance coverage to their employees. Leticia Skrabut, Esq., walks you through how to claim that credit.
Developing strong work habits early in one's career supports long-term success in the salon industry. Jesse Linares offers new stylists his top five tips.
Most salon owners have no idea what these numbers are. You can hit record sales and still have a profit problem. The difference comes down to four numbers almost nobody was taught to track.
Sponsored by Strata Salon Systems™
A five-area audit every owner-dependent salon needs to run. You built something that looks successful. Now find out if it can survive without you.
Sponsored by Strata Salon Systems™
Every month you put off fixing the problem, it gets bigger, more expensive, and harder to solve.
Sponsored by Strata Salon Systems™
At Janet St. Paul Studio for Hair and Beauty, Director of Operations Natasha McMillen helps bring her wife Janet St. Paul's vision to life, elevating every system from education to operations.
Expand your color service menu with the Pinstripe technique. Brooks and Brooks' Marlon Hawkins walks you through the technique.
The strongest salons, spas, and med spas know which numbers tell the real story of their business. In this practical guide, Phorest breaks down the five essential KPIs every business should track to improve retention, boost revenue, and make smarter decisions with confidence.
Sponsored by Phorest
At Bella Style Salon in Slidell, Louisiana, Director of Operations Angela Meyer tackles inventory, team management, and guest relations. Read all about her in our latest Meet the Manager.
Starting at Impressions front desk in 2006 when he was 19 years old, General Manager Paul Petrowsky is a seasoned professional who owner Sarah Taylor says is responsible for much of her own success.
Planning is in full swing for the most anticipated events and promotions for the 2026 holidays. As owners share their favorite ways to celebrate, they prove that a carefully planned event can also build culture, increase client loyalty, boost sales, and set a business up for a successful 2027.
When things run amok at Mane Attraction Salon, Owners Chris and Jenny Knudsen say General Manager Sami Hernandez is their go-to resource and ultimate sounding board. Meet Sami in this installment of Meet the Manager.
