As the festive season and summer rush approaches, salon owners face a critical period of heightened demand. With clients eager to look their best for Christmas parties and summer holidays, it’s crucial to prepare your salon for a surge in business.
Here’s how to set your salon up for success so you can have your best season yet!
1. Forecast demand and optimise your staffing levels
The first step is to forecast demand during the lead-up to Christmas so you can optimise your staffing levels during this time.
To do this, use your salon software’s reports. It should enable you to easily look at previous busy periods to give you a benchmark to work with.
Look at metrics such as appointment volume, peak times, and stylist performance. This historical data will help you understand when you’ll need additional staff and which times require more coverage.
This will give you a great starting point, but remember to plan for flexibility, too. Create a flexible staffing schedule to accommodate high client traffic. You could consider offering additional hours, and attractive bonuses, to your team during this time, and make sure everyone is aware of the schedule well in advance to avoid last-minute surprises.
2. Enhance your client experience
It’s important to ensure that your salon is equipped to handle higher volumes of clients without compromising service quality. This might include stocking extra retail products or streamlining your reception processes.
When it comes to making clients feel special while also making the most of the surge in appointments, leverage your client history notes to personalise the experience for each client who walks into your salon, such as offering seasonal add-on services so they can treat themselves, or recommending gifts for their loved ones such as Christmas pack vouchers. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Remember to give them a good reason to rebook for the new year, too. Making sure your team is rebooking clients before they leave your salon secures future revenue for your business.
3. Optimise your inventory management
The lead-up to Christmas is a time when you don’t want to run out of stock, or over-order. Analyse your sales data through your salon software’s reporting for inventory to determine which products are most popular during busy periods so you’re making decisions based on data rather than guesswork. Increase stock levels of these high-demand items, and seasonal items such as Christmas packs, to avoid shortages.
Make sure you order products and supplies early, too. Check with your suppliers about potential delays or shortages and adjust your inventory plans accordingly.
4. Run seasonal promotions
The lead-up to summer is a great time to run seasonal promotions. Craft special offers for the Christmas and summer periods, such as Christmas gift packs, holiday packages or summer hair treatments. Promote these deals through email newsletters, text message campaigns, social media, and your salon’s website.
This is a great way to attract new clients to your salon, as well as retain existing ones.
5.Streamline your operations
When you’re expecting a surge in appointments, finding ways to save your team time and streamline operations will help ease the pressure.
Leveraging software features like online booking will reduce the amount of phone calls or messages your team needs to spend time on by allowing clients to book their appointments online.
Selling vouchers online is another way to increase your revenue generation during the Christmas period while also saving your team time, as clients can purchase gift vouchers online and receive their vouchers automatically, without your team needing to touch the sale.
Another way to save your team time trying to fill last-minute cancellations and gaps is by using AI-powered marketing, such as Kitomba’s REACH.ai integration. It finds empty gaps in your appointment book and sends personalised emails and text messages to clients who best fit the available slot and don’t have a future appointment booked, saving your team hours on the phone, while keeping your appointment book full.
6. Track your performance metrics regularly
Regularly review your KPIs such as average dollar per client, service time, and client retention rates. Your salon software should be able to provide real-time insights into these metrics, helping you identify areas for improvement and adjust your strategies as needed.
7. Prepare for unexpected challenges
Things won’t always go to plan, so it’s important to develop contingency plans for potential issues such as staff absences, equipment failures, or supply shortages. Having a plan in place will help you respond quickly and minimise disruptions and stress.
Keep a close eye on real-time data in your salon software during the busy period. This will allow you to make quick adjustments to rostering, inventory, or promotions as needed, ensuring you stay on top of any challenges that arise.
Have your best season yet
Preparing for the busy Christmas and summer periods involves more than just increasing staff and marketing efforts. By leveraging your salon software’s features and reporting, you can gain a deeper understanding of past performance, optimise your strategies, and ensure a smooth and successful busy season.
Implement these tips to boost efficiency, enhance client satisfaction, and maximise revenue, setting your salon up for a prosperous and enjoyable peak period.
With thoughtful planning and strategic use of your software, you’ll navigate the busy season with confidence and deliver exceptional experiences to your clients.
By Tracey Hughes, Kitomba Salon and Spa Software international ambassador. Tracey is an educator, speaker, Hall of Fame inductee, 4x Educator of the Year winner, recipient of 4x Excellence in Education, and 10x Salon of the Year awardee.
