Have visions of yourself collapsed on the floor at the end of the holiday season because it is so overwhelming? You’re not alone. A lot of salon professionals have been there, and it truly is exhausting.
Planning is one of the most critical pieces of having a successful holiday season, and part of that planning includes making the most of the tools at your disposal. That’s where the tech-trifecta of Rosy Salon Software, Salon Ninja, and Girl Fridays come in.
Salon Ninja is Rosy Salon Software’s marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) partner, which provides – among other things – client generation funnels to keep your chair filled all year. There are also Virtual Assistants through Girl Fridays that help take any level of burden off of your team. It all works together with Rosy’s scheduling and point-of-sale features to ensure smooth operations. These three tools can help you have a successful holiday season and generate a lot of revenue within your business while quashing the chaos synonymous with this time of the year.
The Care Factor
Have you thought much about your care factor lately? There’s the care factor for your team, your clients, and everyone in the business. There are so many different multitudes of what that looks like, but you do need to ask yourself, “How can I give the same experience, even to the person on the phone, when I’ve got someone standing right there in front of me and so much going on?” It’s essential to provide a great guest experience to everyone, including those on the phone and others when face to face, in an environment that doesn’t feel stressed or hectic.
“If you’re allowing interruptions in the salon during the day, your care factor is going down.” – Christa Stephens – Girl Fridays
One of the best ways to provide truly great service to everyone is by taking some of the burden off of your team. Instead of so many people congregating by the front desk while waiting for the receptionist to get off the phone, provide other ways to check people in and out and answer the phones remotely, eliminating the constant ringing. That’s where Curbside check-in and chairside check-out through Rosy come into play. If you take on a Virtual Assistant through Girl Fridays to handle the calls, your reception team can now act as concierges and move about the salon, directing traffic. Your team can check people in by text and then check them out and help rebook the client via iPads at workstations while the stylist moves on to the next client.
Seizing Opportunity
During the holidays, people are looking to book services they have never tried before and are more open to trying out a new location. Getting their attention starts with what your website and social media look like and any new client specials you can offer them.
With Salon Ninja, they can help do everything from designing your website to generating new leads for you. When a new lead or “opportunity” comes in – it goes through your website or social media to your Virtual Assistant, who can reach out to that person to bring that new lead into your business.
“Technology is allowing us to do a lot, but the icing on the cake is the personal communication.” – Derek Hull – Salon Ninja
As the holidays tick closer, take some time to plan so that your operations run smoothly and your team can offer the best possible customer service. Here are some of the things to keep in mind when planning your holiday season:
- Consider your holiday hours, whether you’re closing certain days or expanding the schedule to accommodate the increase in appointments, and adjust now in your salon software. Then, update anywhere you’ve listed your salon hours, such as on Google, your social media channels and website, and in your salon. Send your clients a text or email communication announcing your holiday hours. Next, mark a day after the holidays on your calendar to change everything back.
- Go through your scheduling software to review the automation features that can save you time, such as online booking, appointment reminders and confirmations, thank you notes, receipts, etc. If you need help with any of these features, reach out to the team at Rosy.
- Review your numbers from last holiday and create service and retail goals for your team for this year.
- Hire a Virtual Assistant through Girl Fridays now, so there’s time to train them before the holidays. They can take over the phones for the busy season or act as a backup for the overflow.
- Consider using your front desk team as a concierge. That way, your clients get a better experience with a heightened “care factor.”
- Use the internal team chat with your salon team and Virtual Assistant via lead connecter on iPads in the salon.
- Ensure no stylist misses a holiday gathering because they’re so jammed-packed:
- Review the current forms you use and consider which ones you could make digital to send out to your clients prior to their appointment.
- Use virtual consultations prior to the client’s arrival to help keep the appointment on track.
- Consider requiring a card on file through RosyPay for any service for the holidays. That way, new and existing clients know that your time is important and that you enforce your cancellation policy. This feature can also help streamline the checkout process.
- Plan a “wrap” party with your team after the holidays to review your numbers, talk about the season and what worked and what didn’t, and then start planning for the next holiday.
“Utilizing the three tools together can help you get through the holiday season successfully instead of struggling through it. Unless this is your very first year in the salon, you know exactly what is coming. There is no better time to get ahead of things than right now!” – Lori Obiedzinski, Rosy Salon Software
Technology can be a big help as you plan for and work through the holiday season. Let Rosy Salon Software, Salon Ninja, and Girl Fridays help things go smoothly for you during the busiest time of the year.
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