Maximize Your Downtime in the Salon

Contributed post by Nina Tulio

I want you to ask yourself these two questions:

  1. “What can I do to grow my business?”
  2. “Am I willing to do whatever it takes to get clients in my chair”?

The stylists that are successful are asking themselves these very questions. They are not waiting on the salon owner to promote them. They are not waiting for the salon owner to post about them on social media. They are not waiting for them to get them business cards, so they can go out and tell them where to go to networking events. They are taking initiative and they are doing all the extra things that they can do on their down time that will help them build their business behind the chair.

I have a few tips and tools that I want you guys to go through; like a checklist when you have downtime in the salon. Here we go…….

 

Tip #1

This is hands-down (and people laugh at me all the time) is so important, but this is one thing that you can always do when you have down time: Grab a rag, a towel, grab some cleaner and clean the salon. People ask why this is so important. It is important because this is one of the top five reasons why clients are leaving your salon: Cleanliness. It’s the #4 reason why clients leave a salon! They leave a salon if they feel that the salon is dirty, if they feel that their station is dirty, or if the stylist isn’t cleaning up hair after they are done before letting them sit down. They are going to find another salon to go to where they feel it is cleaner. So, you can never go wrong with grabbing a rag, grabbing some cleaner, and cleaning the entire salon and making it dust free.

Tip #2

Write out “we miss you” cards. Every quarter you should you should sit down (sit down with the salon owner if you are not an independent artist) and go through the clients that you haven’t seen in a while. On your point of sale system, there is a report you can print out that will show you this information. Send a postcard in the mail saying “Hi Susie! It has been so long since I have seen you. Come back in and enjoy a $10 gift towards your next experience.” You know, clients leave sometimes not because they had a bad time or they didn’t like hair. Sometimes clients just like to try new things. However, clients also feel bad when they leave, so they feel bad when if they want to come back. If you send them a “we miss you” card it lets them know that you are totally ok with keeping your doors open to them and allowing them back into your space. So, always write out “we miss you” cards every three months and get those people back that left for whatever reason.

Tip #3

Take time to plan out your social media posts. This is such a big, big deal. Social media is huge right now. Aside from referrals, it is the #1 way to attract new business. So, collect your photos, your before and after shots, create some before and after videos, make retail videos, or educational videos. Get all your content together and what you want to post on Instagram and Facebook and start making a library for all this stuff. Then… start posting it. Do Instagram stories and Facebook stories, do all these things that are going to keep you so active, present, and in front of your audience all the time. It is very time-consuming to grow a business on social media. So, you have to make the time and the perfect time to do this is when you have down time, because this is putting the energy in to getting new clients in your chair. So please focus on your social media when you have down time.

 

I hope that you use these tips you when you have downtime. Please don’t sit in the backroom. You are not going to grow your business or make any money back there. Of course, you need to take a lunch break, but I want you to continue to invest in yourself and utilize your time wisely.