How to manage the festive rush this Christmas

 As the rush of Christmas was all crammed into one month last year after the November Lockdown, this year we have finally got a real run-up to Christmas and the festive season is in full swing!

I would imagine by now that you are already in Christmas mode in the salon, festive decor, xmas songs on repeat and everyone in high spirits but above all this, is your salon schedule fully prepared and being used to it's potential to help you manage this Xmas rush? First things first and that is:

Sort your Schedule

By using Salon Tracker your life is made a whole lot easier because it takes out all the hard manual work and does it for you! If you have Salon Tracker already, make sure you are utilising your online booking link as best possible. I.E having a book now button on your website, having the link in your instagram bio and on facebook and then actually promoting it. Make posts, tell your clients in the Salon and tell them to tell their friends too - it'll work wonders for your calendar! 

Not only can clients book online using their own customer account but your staff can all have their own user log ins for our Siteview app (which can be downloaded from the app store) to view their calendars and also make appointments for existing customers. This means you can view your calendar and organise your time appropriately for the big rush, leaving you less stressed!

Stock up!

There is nothing worse than having demand for stock but not having any stock in. Christmas time is the best time to sell your retail products because everyone is wanting to get their hands on last minute stocking fillers and simply just to treat themselves! 

Using Salon Tracker, you can track and monitor your stock levels of every product so you can see easily what you are running low of and need to reorder so there will be no room for mistakes. 

Keep your staff motivated!

It is important not to lose sight of your hard working employees over this busy period, they are the ones that have kept the Salon going and without them, you'd probably be in a very sticky situation. Simple things such as making sure they have their breaks and are not too over worked, bringing in treats such as sweets and chocolates to keep them going and more importantly, a works Christmas do! After all the hard work and hours your team have put in the thing that will keep them going the most would be looking forward to letting their hair down at a party or event to celebrate.

Build on client relationships

It is important now more than ever to build on your relationships in this period because it is more than likely you will see customers in the Salon you have never seen before and if there is something that is enticing them to coming again they will return which therefore increases your customer retention and overall your long-term sales and profit. The best way to approach this is to create a loyalty scheme such as for every 5 visits made to the Salon you will receive 20% off or a free retail product! 

Furthermore, using Salon Trackers marketing suite you can filter out specific groups of customers such as high spending customers and customers with birthdays coming up and offer them a discount which will make your customers come back into Salon again and build a loyal relationship. 

Time is money

Make your no-show policy clear and well-know. In these busy periods, you cannot afford to let no-shows happen, especially when you have had to turn down customers as you had no appointments left. 

It is estimated that no-shows cause the hairdressing industry 1.2 million pounds every year according to recent research powered by flossie. 

Profit is something you don't want to be missing out on so here's several ways you can try and put a stop to no shows:

• Utilise your SMS marketing reminder and no-show texts on Salon Tracker. You can set your SMS reminders to go either 2 days or 1 day before and can also send a text if your client is a no show. This text can include information of charges they will incur for being a no-show therefore deterring them from doing it again. 
• Make your cancellation and no-show policy well known. Have it printed in the Salon, all over your social media and actually enforce it. If your client is a no-show, request that they pay the money you missed out on.
• Take deposits. Using Salon Tracker you can add deposits onto treatments so that the customer pays a set amount before the booking. If a customer has already paid some of the bill, they are less likely not to show up because they will lose out on money.

We hope that these tips have given you a clearer insight into managing the Salon over the next couple of months and if you would like to trial the software free of charge for 2 weeks, simply enquire here and a member of the team will be in touch!

Salon Tracker x