As we begin to wrap up the year and look forward to a New Year we need to start considering how to keep our salons and spa’s busy during the slow winter months of January and February. Let’s face it now that busy season will be ending soon, our salons and spas and our team of service providers will be finding their books wide open or with many gaps. Typically these slow winter months can be a very stressful time for owners and service provides. We realize that these slow months and lack of booked appointments means one thing…a decrease in our bottom line or may I say to our “pocket books.”
Weather your find yourself a salon/spa owner, investor, or a service provider we all have one thing in common, that is come January and February the bills for our busy December/Holiday season will be arriving and the cash flow will be decreasing. Historically Salon/Spas struggle during these slow months as higher than normal expenses from their busy December months will have due dates for January and February. And our team of staff will be faced with the same challenge, higher bills will be arriving to their homes, after buying friends and family member’s holiday gifts, going out to holiday parties, and buying that “hot” New Years outfit.
So, let’s be proactive this year! Let’s create a plan to pre-book our guests for these slow months. Now, I know we discuss the importance of pre-booking with our staff year round. However, industry averages for pre-booking are as low as >>>>.
The key here is to get your team to realize that while they are in the busy months and making extra money they need to start thinking about what is coming next… the slow season… we need to remind them that all of those purchases they have made during December for holiday gifts, going out to holiday parties and again purchasing that “hot” New Years outfit that they put on their credit card will be coming due soon. Unfortunately if they don’t take control of their books now and get their guests to rebook for the slow months they may find themselves in a real bind.
We find one of the biggest reasons why our team doesn’t ask their guests to rebook is the fear of the word “NO”. Our team is fearful of rejection. So, let’s educate our team on some effective ways to ask their guest to rebook.
- “Do you want to rebook?” “NO”…. If your team is asking their guests if they would “like to rebook” they are probably hearing the word NO quite often.
- Give your guests a reason to rebook – Guests need a reason to rebook and come back, so teach your team how to give them a reason. Such as, “I’ll be on vacation during January or February and I want to make certain I can get you in for your services” or “We are offering a special if you book your next appointment in the first week or second week of January”. We must create urgency.
- Educate your guest – Teach your team that they need to educate their guests on how long their service will last them. Service providers need to educate their guests on exactly what they can expect from their service and how long it will look fabulous for them and when they will need to rebook to keep it looking amazing.
- Script please – Make certain you and your team develop a rebooking script that everyone on the team can use. Practice role playing as a team and help each team member feel comfortable and own the script. When our team feels empowered they will follow the systems and see great results.
Follow these helpful rebooking tips and get your team rebooking today!