Now that the holidays are behind us, it’s time to begin preparing for the season. You might be a bit unsure about what you can expect from one year to the next, and that is completely understandable.
In prior years, you probably had a regular pre-busy season “routine” – you might have determined which promotions you would offer and when, created sales goals, established marketing initiatives and began hiring seasonal staff. As we continue to navigate what seem to be ever-changing times, having the proper tools in your toolbox will not only enable you to operate efficiently, but will also help to ease some of the anxiety you might have at this time of year.
One of your most valuable resources is your staff. Regardless of whether they are veteran or seasonal, a key to your salon’s success during a busy season will be having a well-trained team. A quick-to-learn and easy-to-use software program that can automate tasks will undoubtedly become one of your biggest assets.
Having the proper salon operation tools at hand will help to ease some of the anxiety you might have at this time of year.
Scheduling busy season sales promotions ahead of time is important. Now is a perfect time to determine if you can pre-configure within your software the specials you want to run during specific date ranges throughout the upcoming months. When completing this back-office type configuration, for those product-related promos such as a buy-one-get-one half off, make sure you can set up reorder points and quantities for inventory items so that you don’t risk running out of stock when the time comes.
You will likely have first-time guests at your salon during the busy season, so make sure that you are able to electronically collect their demographic info, email address and cell phone number along with their preferred method of contact. Creating a positive initial salon experience and effective follow-up marketing will result in turning a large number of these guests into repeat customers.
Ask yourself these simple questions: Does our salon management system provide the ability to display descriptions of products and equipment so that staff have the details needed to upsell lotions or upgrades? Does it allow us to outline policies for each of your levels of EFT memberships, and automatically calculate first-draw dates and prorated dues? Providing task automation and arming your staff with information throughout every transaction will ensure efficiency at the time of year when it’s needed most.
Educating tanners about your equipment is imperative – does your system allow you to set up a survey for automatically determining a skin type for your guest based on their responses? Can you configure high-intensity alerts for units that have just been re-lamped? Can you set up regulations in terms of the minimum age to tan and the time that must elapse between sessions? How about creating recommended exposure schedules for each equipment type? Anything you can do to automate your employees’ tasks will be a win-win for everyone!
It’s also a good idea to peek at your reports from last year’s busy season. Were there particular tanning systems that were used extensively and created wait lists? If so, you may want to look at adding another unit to your equipment mix. Be sure to reference your current lamp usage within your software for all your units as well, so that you know ahead of time if any will need re-lamping and can proactively place a lamp order.
Having the right tools in place to operate your business will not only ensure that you will have the best season possible, but will also ease your mind and give you the confidence you need to focus your efforts on growing your business to the next level.
