6 Simple Steps to Conquer Overwhelm

6 Simple Steps to Conquer Overwhelm

by | Jul 29, 2017 | Leadership and Personal Well-being, Salon and Spa Business Performance

We all feel overwhelmed at times. Too many things to do and not enough time to do them in.

The real problem with overwhelm is that when it strikes, it tends to bring you to a complete stop. You just don’t know what action to take next, and so you take no action at all and therefore nothing is achieved.
But there are some simple steps you can take to conquer overwhelm and it’s easier than you may think.

Step 1. De-clutter your environment.

If you are constantly surrounded by clutter you can quickly end up with brain fog. All that ‘stuff’ surrounding you can leave you feeling completely overwhelmed. Take some time to de-clutter your work area.
Sort through all the bits surrounding you but try to handle things only once if possible. Whether it’s a piece of paper or an email, read it and either take action, delegate it to someone else to deal with, or hit the delete button (or toss it in the rubbish) and get it out of your mind once and for all.
See, you’re feeling better already!

Step 2. Get a pen and paper and make a list of what needs to be done.

Don’t worry about what’s more or less important at this stage, just get it out of your head and onto paper. I guarantee you that this one action alone will take the pressure off and allow you to start thinking more clearly.
Once it’s on paper, you can’t forget about it and that’s liberating in itself.

Step 3. Break your big list up into 3 individual lists.

Grab some blank paper and draw up 3 columns.  Head them:
Urgent – Jobs that absolutely have to be done immediately or all hell will break loose.
Important – Jobs that need to be done pretty soon but can wait another day or two.
Not So Important – These are the jobs you’d like to get done at some time, but nothing major will happen if it’s not done in the next couple of weeks.
Once this is done, you have created a prioritised list and now you’re absolutely clear about what needs to be done first. Don’t give into the temptation to do those easy-peasy jobs that are in your Important and Not So Important lists – they can wait.
Stick with the items in your Urgent List and don’t get side-tracked.

Step 4. Evaluate your Urgent List for jobs that can be delegated.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’re the only person in the world capable of doing what’s on your list but that’s just your ego getting in the way of working more efficiently.
It’s generally much quicker to spend 10 minutes explaining what’s required than an hour doing the job yourself.
Put aside the ego and ask for help.  You are not the only person who can achieve great results!

Step 5. Take action on your Urgent Jobs.

Before you get stuck in, set yourself a realistic time frame to get each of the jobs done.  Write your expected finish date down beside each job so you can keep yourself accountable for getting things finished.
If necessary you can break each Urgent Job into smaller chunks and give yourself a to-do-by date for each of those segments.
Breaking big jobs down into smaller chunks takes away the fear of tackling a huge job!

Step 6. Re-evaluate your list each day. This is essential to stay on top of things.

Keep in mind that your lists are fluid.  There are your lists so you can move things around from list to list as things change.  You’re almost definitely going to find that some items will need to be moved into a different list at some point. Important items might have become Urgent or Not So Important items may not need doing any more.
Just get into the regular habit of spending a few minutes at the start of each day re-prioritising your items so you’re always working on the Urgent items first.
If you manage to complete all your Urgent items, move onto your Important items and start to delegate or take action on these.
And that’s it. I will guarantee that if you use this technique to de-clutter your mind and priortise your to-do list you’ll feel that overwhelm slide right away.
Oh, and don’t forget to put a lovely black line through each item as it’s completed. That’s almost the best part!

Why Retail Sales Can Make or Break Your Salon or Spa

Why Retail Sales Can Make or Break Your Salon or Spa

by | Jun 12, 2017 | Increasing Profit, Salon and Spa Business Performance

The fairy tale version of owning a salon or spa is that you learn your trade, start your own business, deliver outstanding treatments and gain a large and loyal clientele that will make you both rich and fulfilled.  This is the happy-ever-after version!

The truth, however, is that you learn your trade, start your own business, deliver outstanding treatments and struggle constantly to pay your bills, take home a wage for yourself and make any kind of profit to re-invest into your business.

Things used to be sooo much easier!

The internet and social media didn’t exist and you didn’t have to contend with other salons competing energetically for your clients. On top of this, the beauty industry has also undergone a pretty intense revolution in the past 15 or so years with the introduction of more potent (and more expensive) products along with high-tech equipment now needed to deliver the level of results clients expect to get.  In other words, everything just costs more; and so more revenue needs to be generated to cover those higher costs.

All in all, the fairy tale version is done and dusted and newer, better strategies are now needed to generate more revenue and hopefully bigger profits that will help you to thrive and grow in your business.

 

And that’s where retail sales stride into the profit equation.

 

When you sell a service you are, in fact, selling your time.  But time is finite and so it’s important to understand that retailing can actually return 2-3+ times more profit (depending on the markup of your salon or spa retail range) for the same amount of time invested in producing a sale.

Both services and retail have a base cost but the important difference is in the time it takes to generate the sale. As an example, if you provide services for an hour and earn $75, you would make around $37.50 (average) in gross profit. However, if you sell a skincare product for $75 (with 100% markup) you would also make $37.50 in gross profit.

The difference, of course, is the time taken to generate the same amount of profit – 1 hour to deliver services vs 10-15 mins to sell a retail product.

These figures will vary a little from salon to salon due to the cost of labour and products as well as retail mark-ups, but there is absolutely no doubt that retailing is a far superior way to generate gross profits.

So now that you’re convinced you to need to sell more retail, what happens next? Here’s an overview of points to consider.

Recruitment – If retail sales are important to your long-term success (and they are), hire people who are not only good technically but who also have a proven sales record. Many therapists and stylists hate to sell. They are simply not comfortable with the process for a variety of personal reasons, so make sure that you focus on the retail capabilities of your new hires during the recruitment phase.  You will struggle big-time to convert someone who hates selling into even a mediocre retailer.

Training – No-one can sell something they know nothing about. Make sure your team members know your product ranges inside and out. Also, ensure they use these products personally as team members generally sell more successfully if they truly believe in the products they’re selling.

Targets – We all work better when we work towards a target. Keep your sales targets realistic and achievable and help team members to improve the skills they need to achieve them. Once they reach their targets, reward them appropriately.

Product Range – No matter how fantastic a product range is, if it’s too expensive or too cheap for your clients, you will find it hard to sell. Also, look for a range of products that offers your salon or spa a 100% markup and is not readily available online.

 

In summary, retailing should never be treated lightly in your business as it can literally make or break your business financially. Remember, the profits from retailing can far outweigh the profits from providing services and so it deserves your full attention and planning.

 

How to Deal with No-Show Clients in Your Spa

How to Deal with No-Show Clients in Your Spa

by | May 5, 2017 | Client Attraction and Retention, Salon and Spa Business Performance

No-show clients can leave you feeling like you want to pull your hair out on your good days, and completely throw in the towel on your bad days. They’re the bane of nearly every salon and spa owner’s life, and to top things off, the problem seems to be getting worse and not better.

In this article, let’s take a look at why no-shows happen and importantly, what you can do about it to lessen the impact on your business’s bottom line.

Research seems to indicate that there are a few stand-out reasons that help to explain client no-shows. Hopefully, once you understand why they’re happening, you’ll be able to create effective strategies to minimise no-shows in your salon or spa as much as possible.

1. Clients simply forget.

Yes, it can be as simple as this. The salon clients of today have a great deal on their minds. When there are other important things going on in their lives, it’s easy to forget an appointment for a brow shape or bikini wax. It’s not that the client doesn’t want to have their service, but it’s just not high on their list of important things to do.

How to handle it: Always set up some form of appointment reminder. Give your clients sufficient notice of their pending appointment so that if they discover they can’t make it, it won’t leave you with a gap in your appointment book that is unlikely to get re-filled.

Ensure your reminders include 2 things:
a. A request to reply to the reminder. If they don’t need to reply, then it gives the client the opportunity to say she simply didn’t receive it.

b. Your salon policy on late cancellations and no-shows. If there’s no penalty for not turning up, where is the incentive to do the right thing? E.g. Failure to arrive will result in a 100% charge for your service. 6 hours’ notice is required for rescheduling. Thank you.

2. Clients think that you don’t care if they don’t turn up.

I believe this is more common than many people realise. Scenario: The first time the client doesn’t show, her therapist says nothing and nicely asks her if she’d like to make another appointment. The client now believes that it was no big deal that she just didn’t turn up, and so keeping her future appointments at your salon or spa becomes even less important to her.

How to handle it: Let me share a quick story with you. One salon owner I spoke with was having real issues with a particular client who regularly missed her appointments. Eventually, the salon owner broached the topic with the client and her response was, “Oh, I thought you would be okay with it because I knew it gave you time to have a cuppa and catch up on some paperwork”.

Clients don’t always understand the impact this behaviour has on your business. It’s up to you to have your no-show and late cancellation policies written and displayed. You must educate your clients about your expectations when it comes to salon policies and etiquette.

 

3. Clients believe that getting an appointment with your salon is easy-peasy.

If clients believe that getting an appointment with your salon is as simple as picking up the phone and asking for their preferred time and date, then they’re not going to be too concerned about missing an appointment. In their minds, getting another appointment will be no big deal.

How to handle it: Always give the impression to your clients that you’re almost fully booked in advance – even if you’re staring at your appointment screen with only 1 appointment booked in for the week ahead. If the client believes you have tons of free appointment spaces, then she’s not going to be too worried about getting another appointment time and will believe that you need her more than she needs you.

Never tell a client she can ‘pick any day and any time’ because you have ‘loads of empty spots available to choose from’. Instead, use the following technique when taking your appointments to always give the impression that you only have limited free appointment times available.

Client: I’d like to make an appointment, please.
Salon: Terrific. Would either Tuesday or Thursday suit you?
Client: Yes, either day is okay with me.
Salon: Fantastic. I have 2 spots available on Tuesday at 10.30am or 3 pm. Which one is best for you?
Client: I’ll have the 10.30, please.
Appointment made.

This approach allows you to stay in control of your appointment schedule, plus gives the strong impression to the client that you have a busy salon and appointments with you are valuable.

Now, I appreciate that it won’t always be this straightforward, however, the strategy is to offer up only a choice of 2 things for the client to choose from. A choice of 2 days and then a choice of 2 times on the preferred day (generally 1 in the morning and another in the afternoon).

If neither day or time suits your client and she requests a different day, say something along the lines of “Let me take a look and see what I can do for you”, pause for a few seconds and then say, “Yes, with a little re-arranging I can fit you in on Wednesday morning at 11”.

This sends the right impression to the client, and that is that she is booking into a busy, sought-after salon and should value her appointment time. She is far less likely to forget about an appointment that will be hard to replace.

 

4. A better offer popped up at the last minute.

This is something that happens quite often with younger clients; it seems to be a generational phenomenon. Simply not showing up to a prearranged appointment has become the norm in their private lives and has now crept into their dealings with their service providers also.

How to handle it: Make these clients aware of your salon no-show policy. Have it on your website, service menus, salon signage, and reminder messages. Charge for missed appointments to show you mean business.

 

5. There was a last-minute emergency.

This happens to all of us at some time when something totally unexpected crops up. It’s up to you to decide if the ‘emergency’ was real or simply a convenient excuse to try and wriggle out of paying for the missed appointment.

How to handle it: If you believe the emergency was real and you have a policy of forgiving the first offence, then let the client know that as it was her first no-show you’ll let it go this 1 time, but future no-shows will require a payment.

On the other hand, if you have a client that has repeated ‘emergencies’, then it’s time to get tough. One way to handle this is to ask the client to prepay for her services. Make it non-refundable and let her know that if she doesn’t turn up, she won’t get her money back or a replacement appointment.

If she balks at paying up front, chances are she was most likely not going to show up anyway, and you would have been left without income for that time.

Note: Unless you have a very secure system, I advise against asking for a credit card number to ‘hold’ against her appointment. There is some doubt over the legality of doing this. Best to simply process the payment in full over the phone at the time of making the appointment, and either send an electronic receipt or issue it to her when she arrives for her appointment.

 

Other strategies to consider:

*All large bookings, such as bridal parties, should be asked to pay a substantial and non-booking fee. A large party no-show will heavily impact on your revenue.

*Always follow up every no-show with a phone call. This lets the client know that her no-show was noticed by the salon. If she hears nothing from you, she’ll assume that it was no big deal and is more likely to repeat the behaviour in the future. The call shouldn’t be nasty or aggressive, but a way to let the client know you noticed her failure to turn up.

*When you introduce a no-show penalty, be aware of the fact that there’s a very good chance you may lose the client if she thinks she may need to pay for her missed service. This is not always a bad thing, especially if the client is actually no-showing regularly.

* Train your team members how to talk to their clients about appointment availability in your salon or spa. People always value what they have to fight to get.

  

It’s important to always give the impression to clients that you are a much sought after salon or spa with limited appointment times available. When this happens, their appointments with you become more valuable and they’re much less likely to forget to attend.


Is It Ever Too Late To Woo Back a Missing Salon Client?

Is It Ever Too Late To Woo Back a Missing Salon Client?

by | Apr 12, 2017 | Client Attraction and Retention, Salon and Spa Business Performance, Salon and Spa Marketing

Missing Salon and Spa Clients

How long is too long when it comes to trying to woo back a missing salon or spa client? That’s a really tricky question, but let’s take a look and see what can be done. To be honest, I’m all for an optimistic approach to re-activating a missing client. After all, what harm can you do? The worst-case scenario is that the client won’t come back and remains a missing client. But the best-case scenario is that she’s been waiting for just the right opportunity to come back to your salon or spa because she wished she’d never left in the first place. But before we get into how to woo our missing salon clients back, let’s take a quick look at why you lost them in the first place. Clients can be a funny bunch, but the truth of the matter is that you and I are both someone’s client too, and I wouldn’t mind betting we’ve done much the same thing in the past as your clients are doing to you – disappearing in a puff of smoke for what seems to the salon owner for no good reason.

Why Salon and Spa Clients Leave

So, when we wonder why our clients leave us, all we really have to do is look at what made us do the exact same thing to someone else. If we take a quick look at the research statistics, it seems that clients leave for a bunch of different reasons, but some are much more important than others. These reasons include: • They didn’t think you cared about them (I’ve been part of this group). This makes up for a whopping 68% of lost clients so this one is definitely not one to be ignored. • They weren’t happy with a product or service they’ve received (I’ve been in this one too). This is a lot less at only 14%, but still definitely needs some attention. • Because they are lured away by a competitor. Another 14% gone here. Could we have avoided this with better communication? • They move away. This is just a tiny 3% and I don’t think we can force them to stay in the area to suit us. • And sadly, 1 % pass away (I’m hoping to stay well clear of this reason for moving on!). Ok, so it’s pretty clear why clients jump ship. A massive 82% of clients who leave do so because they didn’t feel that you cared about their needs or they weren’t happy with the service/goods they received. But surely the good news is that now you know this, you can do something about it. Prevention, is after all, better than cure. Don’t you agree?

How to Get Missing Salon Clients Back

But let’s get back to those clients who’ve drifted away already. What’s it going to take to get them back into your business? Well, if someone on your team really messed up, nothing short of a miracle is going to get them back but, as I said before, there’s no harm in trying. For these MIA clients, you need to do some research to find out what services they had in your salon or spa, and then set about tailoring a really mega offer to bring them back in. Let me be clear. A crappy $10 salon voucher is not going to cut it! The goal here is to GET THEM BACK into your loving embrace. Not to make any profit from them this first time back. Communication has to be clear and the offer generous if they are going to consider returning. A quick email or SMS will be promptly deleted, so I’m going to suggest you go with the good old snail mail. A well-worded and personalised letter accompanied by a great offer is what you need. Keep the restrictions to an absolute minimum to help get them back. And what about those others who are gone but not forgotten. Well, once a client is outside her normal return time, you need to take action. She may well have just been away or a little short on money, but she might also have gone for her first visit to another salon. If this is the case, you are on your way to having another MIA client so don’t take any chances. Get in touch with her and tempt her back in with a nice offer. Something tailored to what she’d enjoy so she’ll find it hard to refuse. Personalisation is key to communication with missing clients. Showing them that you know who they are and what they had when they were coming to you. The offer itself depends on the amount of time the clients has been missing (the longer the period the better the offer required) and the value of the client to your salon. After all, a client who spends $100 a week with you is worthy of more than a client who spends $25 month. To help ensure you are aware of when clients go missing, be sure to run your missing clients report regularly and then take action promptly. Sitting and worrying what went wrong won’t bring back your clients, but the right action taken swiftly might just bring them back before they’ve been gone too long.
5 Essential Strategies to Generate More Salon Profit

5 Essential Strategies to Generate More Salon Profit

by | Feb 16, 2017 | Client Attraction and Retention, Increasing Profit, Salon and Spa Business Performance, Staff Management, Recruitment and Retention

I’m often asked this question by salon and spa owners, ‘How can I increase my revenue (turnover)?’ In fact, if staying in business and taking home a decent personal wage are the goals, the question should actually be ‘How can I make more profit in my business without working any harder than I already do?’ 

Almost every salon or spa owner I’ve met is already a very hard worker who puts in longer hours than nearly all their employees. They’re often the first in to open the doors each day and the ones left to lock up each night.

If this sounds a lot like you, then working harder is not something you should have to do, however working smarter certainly is!

Taking time out of the everyday grind to work on business growth strategies is an activity some salon owners are not that comfortable with.

After all, if they’re working on their business, they have to pay someone else to care for the clients, and that is often a frightening prospect on many levels.

But the truth is that working productively on your business by developing your marketing ideas, planning staff training sessions, investigating new service options, or developing a more streamlined roster, amongst many other things, can actually be the best use of your time.

Yes, you may earn an additional $50 by providing that client service yourself but a well thought out marketing strategy might bring you an additional $5000 instead. It’s really all about using your existing working hours more effectively.

If you’re in the rut of working too many hours in your business rather than spending some quality time working on your business, then read on to discover effective ways to break the cycle of chasing revenue instead of making a profit.

Remember, revenue is just the money that goes into your register and this figure means very little at the end of the day, especially if every dollar is consumed by expenses.

Instead, you need to focus your efforts on is how to keep as big a portion of your revenue as possible, because this becomes your profit (and the only thing that really matters in the long run).

Here are 5 profit-generating strategies that you should implement into your beauty business asap.

 

Strategy #1 – Start making a profit from your salon services.

This is a no-compromise strategy. Every service you provide must make you some profit, and to ensure this you must first know what each service costs you to provide. Guessing is not good enough.

Forget about what the salon down the road is charging or what your suppliers tell you is the ‘normal average selling price’. These figures are meaningless to your business.

The salon down the road may be slowly going broke because of the way they do business and the supplier has absolutely no idea about what your unique expenses actually are.

So, the only person who can work out a profitable selling price for your services in your business is you.

Consider the labour cost, the product cost and the consumable cost to work out a service cost price. Then, before you decide on a selling price, remember that you also have to cover every other expense your business generates also (rent, utilities, marketing, etc.), and only then can you set a selling price that will ensure you make a profit.

 

Strategy #2 – Start charging what you’re worth.

Stop attracting those cheap-skate, discount-seeking clients who will never make you a penny in profit. You know the ones I mean. They’re the clients who only materialise when you’re selling something with a discount attached to it.

In business, as in life, we get what we aim for. If you want to attract more profitable clients, stop making every marketing offer into a discount-fest. Find better ways to position yourself by offering value to your clients instead of discounts.

If you’re offering professional services in a professional environment, then you deserve to ask a professional price for them. It’s important that you don’t undervalue yourself if you don’t want your clients to undervalue you.

 

Strategy #3 – Reduce your salon wages expense.

One of the biggest expenses in any beauty business is undoubtedly the wages. Now, while you definitely need staff to deliver the services to your clients as your business grows, what you don’t need is them standing around for hours on end making cuppas, chatting and dusting the product shelves for the 6th time that week.

So, what should you do if this is happening in your salon? The answer is ‘measure and monitor’. Understanding the productivity of each team member is vital so you can determine how many hours you need them to work on your roster. Things you must monitor as a minimum are:
 How many dollars per client they generate,
 How many dollars per week they generate,
 How many clients per week they service,
 How much of the revenue they earn is going back out in their wages? (Hint: If it’s more than 35%, you need to find out why.)

You need to understand all these figures for each staff member and then take appropriate action to reduces excess wages where needed by amending your roster.

If you’re not already doing this, I recommend you start straight away.

Minimising unnecessary wages will often make the difference between taking home a pay packet or not for yourself.

 

Strategy #4 – Make more money from each salon client.

If you can’t get more clients into your business, then you have to make more money from each client. Easy to say, I know, but not that hard to do when you put your mind to it.

The obvious solution is to have a price increase, especially if you’ve been holding off for far too long because you believe your clients might not want to pay a little more.

The fact is you are in business. You are not a charity!

Your clients also know this but the longer you hold off having a much-needed price increase, the more the clients won’t like it when the time comes.

With this in mind, work out your true costs (see Strategy #1) and set a price for your services that will make you a fair profit.

Regular small price increases are less likely to upset your clients’ budgets than a huge price increase once every couple of years.

Another method to lift the average client spend amount is to up-sell additional services.

So many of your clients would happily purchase more if only they were asked to (nicely of course).

Your clients may be missing out on services they’d thoroughly enjoy and benefit from because no-one has told them about a new and improved service, or an add-on service that would complement the service they’ve booked in for.

Here’s a FACT. If you don’t ask you don’t get. Talk to your clients about the services they might be interested in trying and make a goal to upsell to every client.

And what about selling courses of services. This is always a good idea as it not only provides good value for the client (generally with a bonus service included), but you get a lovely chunk of money up-front that keeps the client returning to you over a set period of time.

Courses rock when it comes to making more profit and you should seriously think about how to maximise your sales using them more often.

Finally, how’s your retailing?

Are you monitoring and measuring it?

Do you have some goals in place?

Something that many salon and spa owners don’t know is that retail sales can offer 2-3 times more profit for the time invested than delivering services.

Learn the art of retailing and teach your staff how to retail as well. This one strategy alone will make a huge and positive impact on your profits.

Strategy #5 – Reduce your general salon expenses.

Every dollar you outlay on unnecessary expenses is a dollar out of your profit (that means less in your holiday fund).

If you haven’t looked at the reports your accountant sends you each year, take a big gulp of something to calm your nerves and go find your last expenses report (I promise you will live through this experience, although you may come away feeling a little traumatised and in need a little nap to fully recover).

Now you have that report in hand, read through your expenses list.

What jumps out at you?

What appears to be way higher than you thought it would be?

Are these expenses ones you can do something about?

Some expenses are a necessity and impossible to budge but others can be culled or reduced without any ill effects to your business.

What expenses are a good investment (like quality coaching and training) and which ones should be minimised?

You’re bound to discover you’re spending way too much money in some areas, and this knowledge will allow you to reduce some of your expenses and therefore increase your profits.

 

And there we have it. 5 simple but effective strategies that will put more profits into your pocket without working any harder or longer. Be brave and do what’s needed so that you can enjoy your business knowing there’s a payday for you at the end of the week also.

 

6 Easy Ways to Increase Your Spa Client’s Average Spend.

6 Easy Ways to Increase Your Spa Client’s Average Spend.

by | Jan 30, 2017 | Salon and Spa Business Performance

First off, let’s get clear about what I mean by ‘Client’s Average Spend’?   It simply means the average amount of money each client spends in your salon or spa at each visit.

 A quick and easy way to measure this is to:

1. Calculate how many individual client visits you had over the past month (If the same client visited 2 or 3 times, these are counted as individual visits).

2. Work out your gross revenue from services over that same month and

3. Divide it by the number of client visits to your salon.

The calculation looks something like this example…

680 unique visits over the month of January divided into the gross revenue for service sales of $40018 = $58.85 Average Client Spend for services.

You can do the same calculation for retail sales. 680 unique visits (all visitors and not just those who purchased retail) over the month of January divided into the gross revenue for retail sales of $5610 = $8.25 Average Client Spend for retail.

Add these 2 figures together and you have the Total Average Client Spend of $67.10. Voila!

Why do you need to know these figures first?

Because unless you know what your starting point is, you won’t know whether or not your strategies are working positively for your business.

So, start to record these figures straight away so you can monitor your progress.

 

Salon and Spa Services

So, let’s take a look at some worthwhile strategies for increasing your Average Client Spend for services.

1. Get into the habit of researching the client’s past service history during the appointment process (easy to do if you’re computerised).

Look for treatments she may have had in the past, but hasn’t asked for. This provides an opportunity to offer your client the chance to book for the extra service that she didn’t mention. It might be something small like a brow shape or lash tint with her facial, or an underarm wax with her leg wax.

Often the client actually does want these services but simply forgets to ask for them and then you’re left either not being able to fit them in or squeezing them in and keeping your next client waiting. Neither option is ideal for customer satisfaction.

2. Suggest suitable extras to the client at the time of the booking that she may not have experienced before.

Nearly all services have other services that would enhance their outcome but unless the client is offered these, she is often not even aware of their existence.

Things that come to mind would be perhaps an LED treatment as an extra with her facial, gel polish with her pedicure, or even a brow tint with her lash tint.  

The list of extra options is only limited by your imagination.  Get brainstorming on your list.

3. Suggest a more advanced treatment to the client.

Instead of booking your client in for her usual $85 facial, why not introduce her to your $105 facial by talking about the additional benefits.

What about IPL hair removal instead of waxing or sugaring?

Perhaps your client would appreciate a hot stone massage instead of the regular massage she’s always had in the past.

If there’s a more advanced treatment, make sure to tell your client about it and what the additional benefits to her would be.

 

Salon and Spa Retail

Retail is conservatively 2-3 times more profitable to your salon than services for the same amount of time invested. You need to tap into this little profit gem to boost your revenue.

4. The best time to sell an additional product is when the client agrees to buy the first one.

Explain how the two (or three or four) products work synergistically to boost the results.

Never make assumptions about what your client can afford to purchase. That’s her decision to make.

Your job is to introduce her to the products that will help her reach her desired outcome.

5. The best way to sell the first product is to pinpoint what the client’s biggest problem is through asking good questions and then suggest something that will provide a solution.

Whether it’s a cream to prevent ingrown hairs between waxing appointments, a heel balm that the client can use between pedis, or a serum to boost her collagen levels, you hold the key to your client’s happiness.

If you don’t suggest a solution, your clients will go elsewhere to search it out.

6. Tempt your clients to buy that little extra item with a first-class impulse purchase display right on your front counter.

Make it something everyone would love to have and keep it affordable. These two things will ensure your clients spend that bit extra as she’s paying her bill.

 

And there you have it. 6 super-easy ways to get your clients to spend a little more money each time they’re in your salon.

You may not realise how profitable this simple strategy can just yet, but if you get just an extra $10 from each client, it could result in tens of thousands of extra dollars in revenue each year for your salon or spa.

And that’s nothing to sneeze at!