Business - Expert Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
prepare for theChristmas season? “
What should I be doing now to Liz McKeon
Beauty Business Expert
Tina Newman
National Sales Manager,
Beautybrands.ie
“By December 24th your Christmas business is done, so plan backwards”
“There’s lots of work to do if you want to get the best sales results for your salon at Christmas. First and foremost is to do some business planning. The key issue is timing; the date for Christmas does not change and by December 24th your Christmas business is done, so plan backwards:
“What are the peak number of clients, retail orders and gift vouchers that you can handle each day?
• Do you have adequate staff in place and fully trained? • How much retail stock will you need on hand? • Have you ordered novelty items? • What about pre-Christmas events, promotions and sales?
• Do you have Christmas gift cards, gift wrapping materials and space?
•What is your plan to maximise gift voucher sales and to ensure vouchers are redeemed in January / February?
“Over the last few years, there has been a growing trend for more people to shop online, so it might also be a good idea to review your overall e-commerce strategy and to look at how you can develop a more successful online Christmas business. Buying on-line for Christmas starts as early as September but the real peak starts from mid-November. This year we will expect to see a busy and a long buying period. Then, after Christmas will still be important to sell off over-stocked items at bargain prices.”
Lloyd Naaké Director, Airbase Make-Up
“The key to a successful Christmas is retail sales; you can make far more in retail sales than treatments.”
“Many suppliers have a limited amount of Christmas Gift Sets and they are sold on a ‘first come first served’ basis so don’t miss out. Set an amount that you are comfortable spending on Christmas retail stock and stick to it. Don’t over spend, but equally if the products sell well, order more in. You can always break gift sets down. The key to a
successful Christmas is retail sales. You can make far more retail sales than treatments.
“Start suggesting Christmas gifts / things for wish lists now. The more clients you tell about your Christmas promotions and products, the more you will sell. This is the one time of the year your clients aren’t just looking for themselves.
“It may be that you want to have bespoke gift boxes or bags for the salon that fit a multitude of different products. There are plenty of suppliers that can do this online, but you need to start researching and ordering now!
“Offer incentives for staff. Everyone is incentivised by the opportunity to earn a little more, especially at Christmas. Alternatively, offer the staff gifts or a team night out if certain targets are hit. Get your budgets for this in place now though before it gets busy, and let the staff know early so they can start selling to their clients.”
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“Take the time now to plan out how you are going to manage your team this Christmas”
“Every year we are faced with problems concerning our staff at Christmas. It seems almost an inevitable circumstance. However, by making sure we think carefully about how we manage our staff through this busy period, the number of problems experienced can be drastically reduced.
“There are many tasks around a salon that can be undertaken by non-skilled staff, making the best use of qualified therapists’ time. A number of salon owners I work with utilise family members and friends to take over duties such as washing, folding of towels, cleaning basic areas, etc, which can become an extra burden when we are trying to treat as many clients as we can over the busy Christmas rush.
“As more special deals are offered at this time of year, staff require more direction and more time to learn them all. Make sure everyone knows what the Christmas gift packs and treatment specials are; it is essential with many special gift lines, Christmas parcels and gift voucher packages that staff are fully trained in each treatment, that they know the products in each Christmas pack, prices are remembered and times for treatments are adhered to.
“The only way staff can be expected to remember all of this is if they are given the opportunity to prepare well in some in-house training sessions. Happy, energetic, well trained, involved and motivated staff equates to increased profits, less problems and greater staff retention.”
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