Christmas is a special time for family, friends and loved ones to come together and celebrate. It’s a big part of your clients social calendar, with family dinners, work parties, and short getaways on theirto-do lists. You can guarantee each one wants to look their best. This is where you step in.
Steps to get your lash business Christmas ready
Preparing your salon for the festive season is the best way to make sure you make the most out of the busy eyelash extension rush. So, we’ve gathered some of our favorite Christmas marketing and business tips to help get your lash salon ready for this peak period and stocked up with all the best products to keep your clients happy in the lead up to December 25th!
1. Reassess last the previous year’s data
To plan ahead, you ought to revisit your previous year's sales data and bookings. Outline the sales from the previous Christmas and peak periods, what were the problems you faced or which services and products sold better? What marketing tactics did you use, did they work? Did you have a sufficient supply of stock and enough staff to cater to your clients? Bear in mind the bookings against the cancellations; maybe for this year, you will have to define clear cancellation fee guidelines, waiting list rules, and follow-up services to avoid commotion or losses. It is imperative to understand your sales, marketing, and management tactics from last year to improve and prepare.
2. Ramp-up your marketing tactics
Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motors, quoted, "Stopping marketing to save money is like stopping your watch to save time."The Lead up to Christmas is not the time to slow down your marketing or social posting - but actually time to ramp it up! Starting early with Christmas marketing activity is the best way to ensure you make the most of the busy period..
Send newsletters, emails, and use your social media pages and SMS to promote your services, urging them to make their appointments well in advance before you are fully booked out and miss out on the festive deals. Get your clients excited about the festive season by offering them exclusive deals/discounts. You could even send customized holiday cards to your clients to add a personal touch. Remember, the earlier you create the buzz, the more people you will reach.
3. Christmas décor
What is Christmas without a bit of fanfare? Light up the Christmas tree, fill up the stockings, hang some festoons, and spread the holiday cheer. We may be exaggerating a bit here, but you get the drift. You don't have to go over the top with the decorations, but creating a holiday atmosphere is excellent for your business and boosts your team's morale. Create a fun Christmas playlist to play in the background or even have staff wear holiday inspired outfits. Whatever it is, it will make your clients feel happy, merry and bright when coming to have their lashes done.
4. Offer Christmas-inspired merchandise
Don’t forget to liven up your salon with a range of fun Christmas packaging, packs and gift sets. Create a space where customers can come and shop for gifts, especially if you offer a range of beauty services, like hair, makeup, lash extensions and more.
- Create a corner for the special merchandise; you could offer a drink or some Christmas cookies to welcome your clients.
- Introduce gift cards, holiday packaged hampers, and exciting loyalty programs to soft sell to your clients.
- Create a selfie corner in your salon to encourage your clients to take a photo and share it on social media with an assigned hashtag. A unique hashtag could boost the popularity and reach of your salon.
Whether cross-selling or upselling, attractively packaged gift packs or add-ons specifically for the holiday season bump up sales because they make the products more desirable, convenient, and have a higher brand recall.
4. Stock up your inventory
With a sure fire earning opportunity coming your way, you wouldn't want to lose it to understocking your inventory. Anticipate your customer flow, the services that would be more in-demand, e.g., maybe your clients would wish to have Russian volumes this holiday season instead of their quintessential classic lashes, and how prepared you are with your plan.
One way to ensure you have enough eyelashes, glues, cleansers, brushes, and bags well stocked up is to order them now. You don't want to hear back from your suppliers that they have sold out. Consider the shipping period and delivery time, and ordering them in late October or early November would be ideal.
5. Prepare your staff
Your business is as good as your staff. It would be best to outline the roster for your team before the crazy silly season hits like an avalanche. Ensure that your staff are familiar of your salon's opening and closing hours to avoid any heated showdowns or last-minute staff shortages. Direct them to take their annual leave before or after the busy period.
Given the work pressure, the holiday season demands, keeping your staff motivated by creating rosters with adequate breaks between their appointments is imperative. Make sure their overtime work hours are compensated for as per the Labor laws of your state. You may even want to consider the fact that with increased traffic, you will need additional help. Hiring an extra pair of hands will ease the pressure to do the trivial but important errands like tidying up the salon, bookings, answering calls, etc.
Look after your staff's well being because, without a motivated team, you may struggle to hit your targets. Acknowledge their hard work and treat them with rewards and incentives to encourage them to work for themselves and at the same time reach your business goals.
Christmas, although a fun time for merriment and celebrations, can also be a very busy time of the year. Staying on top of your everyday business tasks combined with additional Christmas activity can seem like a huge mountain to climb. However, with the tips above, we’re sure you’ll feel prepared and ready to take the silly season head on with fun and flair.
To stock up your salon this Christmas, make sure to browse our range of Prolong Lash lash cleanser concentrate items, foaming cleansers, oil-free serums and oil-free makeup to ensure you have everything you need to keep your clients happy this Christmas.
