Business
Survive a Summer Slump – Tips to Keep Your Business Thriving
May
Summer may bring an inevitable slowdown in business flow for various reasons (economic downturn, shifts in trends, and the like) but there are ways to handle the slow periods. While a lull in business can be challenging and stressful, they can ultimately be used for the benefit of your salon. Focusing on growth, reevaluating and improving your services, and planning for the months ahead can not only help you get through those slow months but can see your salon better prepared for the future.
Let us explore some ideas that can help you improve your business in the long run.
EXAMINE CUSTOMER TRENDS
Using slow periods to explore what services your clients buy and ones that they don’t is a great way to help you see what works and what doesn’t. You can use that time to identify up and down trends for various services, giving insight into what to market the most and when, or cause to adjust your overall services. Reviewing client reports should be something that you do with some regularity, but slow periods are a great time to take a deep dive.
UPDATE SERVICE OPTIONS
This pairs perfectly with examining client trends, because identifying what works and what doesn’t won’t do you any good unless you act. Consider what services your clients utilize the most often and what you might do to improve them or add to them; creating seasonal deals around what works can be a great way to draw them in during slower seasons. On the other hand, identifying what your clients don’t really seem to care about can give you incentive to scale back on those slower movers.
EXAMINE YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
Use slow periods to examine your social media traffic and the ways in which you market your salon. Consider what content gets the most traction and what falls by the wayside and shift your focus to what’s working. Showing off your work is a great way to get people’s attention, so put those before and after photos on all your social media platforms. If you’re only on one social media platform it could be time to expand to enlarge your marketing footprint and get more attention.
TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN
Slowdown can be a great time to expand your skillset. Learning better techniques or all new ones and making sure that your team is up to speed can help prepare you for future business or even allow you to add all new services to your menu. The more versatile your team is with its services the more you can potentially diversify your client pool. The more you improve the skills you currently have the more your clients will notice and sing your praises to others.
CREATE A LOYALTY PROGRAM
Everyone loves a good deal, and your clients are no different. Creating a loyalty program if you don’t already have one in place is a great way to keep your currently loyal clients returning more frequently. A referral-based program can also encourage clients to spread the word to their friends to get them into your chair, granting them rewards and deals while also potentially having a new client to do the same. Creating special loyalty incentives during slow periods can further boost its effectiveness, giving your clients reasons to book when they might not normally do so.
