There’s no doubt that a typical salon’s highest service and retail sales happen over the holidays, and there’s many an owner who watch the numbers tally each December and wonder what it would be like if that was the norm for the rest of the year.

Maggie DiFalco, owner of Maggie The Salon in Pembroke Pines, Florida, is having that exact experience this year, and she’s attributing it to bringing Phorest Salon Software on board.

“My numbers in December are the highest of the year, but we’ve seen our 2018 numbers increase to the point we were did December totals in April,” she says. “When new clients come in we ask them what brought them to Maggie’s, and they say it’s because it’s so easy to book an appointment.”

DiFalco’s website is connected directly to the online booking feature, and she says today’s guests don’t want to call to book an appointment. “They want to book when they want to book and they demand less hassle,” she says.

With a reputation management system built into salon’s software, DiFalco’s current guests get an email inviting them to write a review—and a host of strong online reviews is a magnet for new clients.

“Within a few weeks, we had more than 100 new reviews on Google and that’s boosted our SEO,” DiFalco says. “Now, when someone searches for a salon in Pembroke Pines, Maggie’s shows up at the top of the list.”

Not only is DiFalco seeing more new guests, but she says her team is selling more service upgrades and retail to the guests in the salon. When DiFalco signed on with Phorest, she says the company conducted a workshop, showing her team how to use the software’s app on their phones during the consultation and service.

“Instead of working off a ticket, they enter client notes into the app, as well as their specific product recommendations and when they’d like to see the guest next. During the consultation, stylists can easily add a conditioning treatment or hairline highlight to the booked service along with the prices,” she says. “We have two front desk members that who the recommended products so they are on the counter when the stylist brings the guest up to check out—it makes it easy to review the products right at check out.  I know it sounds like a simple thing to do but we would always get so busy—now it’s like clockwork and our retail numbers are up 30 percent.” 

Every Monday morning DiFalco gets areport on last week’s totals, including retail and service totals, new clients, clients that booked online, and clients who booked online when the salon is closed. “They are also big on a number they call Care Factor,” she says. “Instead of looking at retail as a percent of service sales they look at how many guests each stylist saw that day and how many pieces you sold.”

DiFalco also appreciates the motivational support the software provides the team. In April, Phorest ran a Grow With Us campaign, issuing a challenge to salon client teams each day. “For example one day they’d encourage everyone to prebook every client, and the next day they’d invite the team to pick a shampoo and talk about it to every guest,” she says. “It was 30 days of challenges for 30 days of growth and the team really responded.”

At this rate, DiFalco is encouraged her team just may keep last year’s December numbers relevant all year long.