October - Stylist and Salon Newspapers
October - Stylist and Salon Newspapers
October - Stylist and Salon Newspapers
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Create a Holiday Crush <strong>and</strong> Reap the Benefits of the Season<br />
Better Business<br />
Neil Ducoff<br />
Now is the time to begin marketing your<br />
salon or spa for the end-of-year rush.<br />
Preparing for the holidays requires planning<br />
if you want to reap all the benefits a successful<br />
holiday season can offer.<br />
That’s why now is the time to focus on the<br />
essentials of holiday planning: from service<br />
<strong>and</strong> retail, goal setting, to retaining all those<br />
valuable first-time clients. And don’t forget to<br />
plan your best gift certificate strategies, from<br />
promotion to redemption.<br />
To make the most of the holidays, first<br />
consider historical performance. What kind<br />
of numbers has your salon or spa posted in<br />
the past?<br />
Decide which areas need improvement:<br />
preliminary marketing, phone coverage,<br />
technical consistency, anything at all. Which<br />
services, products <strong>and</strong> technicians are traditionally<br />
in great dem<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> are therefore<br />
overburdened during the<br />
holidays? And perhaps the<br />
most important question is<br />
what to do about it all.<br />
Your holiday strategy<br />
will consist of several<br />
components. For example,<br />
you need a product plan,<br />
including merch<strong>and</strong>ising,<br />
sales scripts, packaging<br />
<strong>and</strong> promotional objectives.<br />
Likewise, you need<br />
a comprehensive service<br />
plan. Consider whether<br />
the holidays represent an<br />
appropriate time to launch<br />
new services, or to stick<br />
with what works.<br />
And if service sales really go through<br />
the roof in the next few months, are there<br />
enough technicians on your team to satisfy<br />
client dem<strong>and</strong>? Historical data will be your<br />
best guide for determining where to set your<br />
holiday sights.<br />
Holiday Merch<strong>and</strong>ising <strong>and</strong> Gift<br />
Certificate Strategies: The word “merch<strong>and</strong>ising”<br />
usually conjures images of a sparkling<br />
display case at an immaculate desk, or of<br />
forward-facing items placed three inches apart<br />
on the shelves. Those are important practical<br />
elements of a merch<strong>and</strong>ising plan, but there<br />
are external less known elements that are just<br />
as important.<br />
The first thing you must merch<strong>and</strong>ise is the<br />
business itself. A shiny, happy salon is attractive<br />
to clients. But a shiny, happy salon is not just<br />
about keeping the floors swept <strong>and</strong> displays<br />
dusted. It begins behind the scenes, with the<br />
things clients don’t see. It begins in the back<br />
Now is the time to<br />
focus on the essentials<br />
of holiday planning:<br />
from service <strong>and</strong> retail,<br />
goal setting, to retaining<br />
all those valuable<br />
first-time clients.<br />
room <strong>and</strong> weekly huddles, where team members<br />
establish codes of conduct, dress, interaction<br />
with clients, customer service initiatives…<br />
when you stop to make your list you may be<br />
surprised at how many things are on it.<br />
Hectic holiday schedules make it even<br />
more interesting. So it’s especially important<br />
to establish rules of conduct for dealing with<br />
frazzled, time conscious clients. Some will be<br />
delighted with everything the salon offers; others<br />
decidedly won’t be. Either way, the holiday<br />
season is a time for infinite patience from salon<br />
owners <strong>and</strong> team. Client perception will determine<br />
whether the business truly capitalizes on<br />
holiday client traffic.<br />
How to Retain Those First Time Holiday<br />
Clients: All first time clients challenge<br />
many salons <strong>and</strong> spas, but first-time holiday<br />
clients even more so.<br />
Ah, the holidays. For many in the retail<br />
<strong>and</strong> service industries, there is no substitute<br />
for—<strong>and</strong> no way to live without—the financial<br />
boon provided by consumers possessed by the<br />
spirit of giving. Some salon <strong>and</strong> spa businesses<br />
are absolutely dependent on the gift certificate<br />
driven cash influx they usually<br />
experience in November<br />
<strong>and</strong> December.<br />
Then the clients come<br />
<strong>and</strong> here begins the real<br />
test: what happens to these<br />
clients? Do hundreds or<br />
even thous<strong>and</strong>s of firsttime<br />
faces disappear? A few<br />
questions <strong>and</strong> keystrokes on<br />
the phones <strong>and</strong> at the point<br />
of sale can capture enough<br />
information to give you an<br />
edge on turning them into<br />
repeat visitors. The important<br />
first step, which many<br />
businesses forego, is asking<br />
the questions.<br />
A gift certificate, with no follow-up plan<br />
for retaining the client, is not worth the paper<br />
it’s printed on. Coordinated marketing campaigns<br />
cost money, sometimes in significant<br />
amounts. The reward for this investment is<br />
new client traffic. Once the clients start to arrive,<br />
a salon or spa is charged with converting<br />
them into loyal, raving fans. If this does not<br />
happen, the business would have fared much<br />
better marketing to its existing client base,<br />
which costs significantly less than new client<br />
acquisition.<br />
A Holiday Hypothesis: How many<br />
gift certificates will your salon or spa sell this<br />
season? What will be their average value, <strong>and</strong><br />
for which services? Generally, salons <strong>and</strong><br />
spas will see about 75 percent of holiday gift<br />
certificates redeemed. The average number of<br />
clients retained varies greatly, <strong>and</strong> depends on<br />
many factors, including which services they<br />
experience. Clients that redeem certificates for<br />
luxury services are less likely to return, because<br />
they consider the visit a treat; it’s nice as a<br />
gift, but not something they would normally<br />
indulge themselves in.<br />
Let’s Look At Some Numbers: Let’s say<br />
your salon sells 100 gift certificates. Of these,<br />
75 percent are redeemed. Of those 75 clients,<br />
35 percent come back for another visit. The<br />
business nets 26 new clients.<br />
Sadly, those numbers are probably generous<br />
for many salons <strong>and</strong> spas. Redemption<br />
percentages fluctuate, <strong>and</strong> most salons retain<br />
closer to only 30 percent of first-time clients.<br />
So the question is, if a salon only retains<br />
roughly 25 percent of its gift certificate<br />
customers, is it really worth the hassle <strong>and</strong><br />
expense? Some business owners do not<br />
hesitate to say that it is. It’s important to reach<br />
as many clients as possible. Others feel the<br />
funds invested in concept, design, production,<br />
mailing, paperwork <strong>and</strong> tracking are better<br />
spent elsewhere. Both points are valid. Either<br />
way, the trick is turning clients that you pay for<br />
via marketing expenses into paying clients via<br />
referrals <strong>and</strong> a greater share of their personal<br />
business.<br />
If you play your cards right, each generation<br />
of first-time clients will produce another,<br />
as they refer <strong>and</strong> purchase gifts for friends <strong>and</strong><br />
acquaintances.<br />
Neil Ducoff, founder of Strategies <strong>and</strong> author of the upcoming book “No-<br />
Compromise Leadership,” developed the team-based pay concept<br />
more than 30 years ago <strong>and</strong> developed a company that trains <strong>and</strong> coaches to<br />
ensure businesses implement the program successfully. For more information,<br />
visit www.strategies.com.<br />
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OHIO STYLIST & SALON | OCTOBER 2008 | 7