As we get through this holiday season, we are gearing up for our industry’s favorite time of the year: Busy Season! Let’s discuss a few key things every salon needs to prepare to maximize profits in this important period.
Prepare: Make sure all tanning systems are working properly. This is also a great time to do detailed bed-cleaning while your tanner traffic is still lighter. Do any beds need re-lamping or are close to needing lamps? How is your pricing structure? Just prior to Busy Season is the best time to make pricing adjustments or increases. Give your salon a facelift, make sure everything is perfectly clean and ready and your salon supplies are well-stocked. Initiate your advertising plan ahead of time; it can take a few weeks to roll out a new ad campaign, so you should have it scheduled well in advance.
Education: By this time, you should have chosen the products you will be stocking for the upcoming season. Make sure you have selected lotions at various price points that really help serve the needs of your salon’s specific clientele. Most lotion and product manufacturers offer free in-store and online training, as well as ongoing support to ensure that your staff has the key elements to sell every item on your shelves. Check with your product distributor to see what support your lotion manufacturer offers.
Every salon is in business to make money! Prepare your facility and staff to take on the 2024 season and make it the most profitable yet.
Staffing: This is probably the biggest difference between an average salon and a super salon. You should always strive to keep your staff motivated and self-sufficient but in the upcoming months, this is more important than ever. Do you have enough staff? Do some shifts require more than one employee? Retail sales opportunities can be easily missed if you are not staffed correctly and your team is busy just cleaning beds and checking guests into tanning rooms. Going into season, make sure that you have not only enough staff, but key people scheduled on key shifts to maximize profitability.
Salon Tours: There is no time more important than now for your staff to review and practice their salon welcome tours. With lots of new tanners coming in at the beginning of the New Year, many of whom might have not used your facilities before, it is important that your staff knows how to greet them and show them the key features of your equipment, products and packages. Making your new guests feel at ease and welcome in your salon will make the difference in whether they consider visiting your competition, instead.
Promote: Specials, coupons, social media ads: Busy Season is the time when salons spend the most money on advertising and promotions. But are you turning those coupons and promotions into sales dollars when guests come in to redeem them? I suggest creating corresponding add-on packages and reviewing these with staff so they know exactly how to handle a new customer with a coupon and to upsell these coupons into larger packages and memberships. It costs money in advertising to get them into your salon – now, it is up to your staff to ensure they continue to visit, purchase add-on products and upgrade their memberships. Review and role-play with your staff the different possible scenarios that could arise when a customer brings in a coupon or mentions an online promotion, and teach them how to overcome any objections.
Every salon is in business to make money! Prepare your facility and staff to take on the 2024 season and make it the most profitable yet. Every person who walks through your door is an opportunity – make sure your team is educated and utilizes all the ways to capitalize on that. Remember, success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.
