Source: Aveda

As summer fades away, salon owners begin having visions of scented candles and holiday gift baskets dancing in their heads.

Everyone knows it’s the busiest time of the year in salons, but are you maximizing profits during this season or simply getting through it?

We talked to two owners and managers who’ve mastered the art of preparing for and profiting from the busy holiday season.

Nina Sherrod, salon manager at Alan Murphy Salon in Houston, and Heath Smith, co-founder and director of operations at two Ruiz Salons in Austin, Texas, share their strategies.

When to Start Holiday Planning

At Ruiz Salons, Christmas comes in July.

“We start to assess holiday gift sets from our manufacturer and distributor in July to determine buy-in quantities, and create a plan for bringing in outside boutique and gifting options to fill in the offerings and excite the guests,” Smith says.

“We always attend multiple gift markets to source unique lifestyle items that represent our brand and help drive sales,” he adds. 

Alan Murphy is also thinking holiday long before the season arrives.

“As soon as August hits, we look at scheduling to see if we need to hire additional support staff for the holiday season and evaluate inventory,” Sherrod says.

She says setting the staff’s schedule early in the season helps eliminate absences.

“Then they can plan their events ahead of time and there are no surprises,” she says.

To help client flow, the salon opens an extra day during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas, allowing guests extra time to see their favorite service provider.

By looking at sales from previous holiday seasons, Sherrod says they get a sense of what they’ll need more of.

“And we also look at new products that weren’t in holiday last year but have done well,” she says. “For example, Invati Brow Serum has been a hit for us this year and will make a great stocking stuffer.”

Strategies for Driving Sales

For driving holiday sales, Smith says they have one important rule: Only buy items and gifts they find exciting.

“If we’re not excited about the products, we’ll never get our team excited,” he says. “Successful sales begin with successful buying. If you’re not buying things your team will go crazy for, then they simply will not recommend them to their guests.”

Source: Aveda

Smith also says it’s important to consider the guest and the team when creating a holiday marketing calendar.

“For every promotion you’re offering your clients, there needs to be an internal promotion or focus for your team,” he says. “The team is often overlooked during holiday—don’t forget to incentivize them as well to support all sales goals.”

At Alan Murphy, a large focus table showcases gift sets, which are put on display as early as the end of September.

“We also put a display at our color processing table with smaller gift sets and lit holiday candles that guests can look at while they are processing,” Sherrod says.

While their guests look forward to the gift sets every year, they also love customizing their own.

“Last year, I stuffed tissue paper in our Aveda bags and clipped them onto our travel-size products tower, so guests knew they could customize their own set,” she says.

The Alan Murphy team also made posters outlining the gift sets and put photos on stylists’ mirrors with QR codes, allowing guests to browse on their phones while they’re in the chair.

“Then we can just grab what they want and have it ready to go when they check out,” Sherrod says.

At Ruiz, the holiday inventory is available October 1.

“Remember, the salon’s gift season is out of sync with the traditional retail industry,” he says. “Our guests need to see our holiday merchandise in October and November in order to make their purchases based on the normal client pattern.”

Clients will see the gift sets and holiday retail in October, return to the salon before Thanksgiving and make their purchases.

“Putting items out in December is too late—you’ll miss your opportunity, so start early. Also make sure you’re teasing customers year round by stocking your store with items that help support your business as a place to find interesting gift items.”

Inventory Tips

But how do you know what guests are going to purchase come holiday season? At Ruiz, it’s about creating exceptional gift sets clients can’t resist.

Source: Aveda

Smith says, “Candles and bath products are great—the more ‘giftable’ a set is, the better it will sell. Try to find gifts that already come boxed or wrapped for the guest,” he advises. “The easier it is to give, the more compelling it is for a customer to buy it.”

Smith also advises starting with a small budget and growing it each year.

“Be conservative with your buying, but buy enough to stock your shelves,” he says.

Audrey Murphy, owner of Alan Murphy, says she errs on the side of extra inventory when it comes to ordering holiday inventory.

“It’s better to have more, and make sure you run small promotions throughout the season that you promote through social media,” she says.

Marketing Musts

Gift sets are wonderful, but they’re going to sit and collect dust if clients don’t know they’re there.

Both Smith and Sherrod send strategic email and text blasts and social media messages to let clients know about new merchandise.

“We also strategically hone in on internal, in-store, marketing,” Smith says. “We focus on the high-volume foot traffic that seasonally exists in October, November and December.”

At Alan Murphy, clients can still enjoy curbside pickup and also look forward to an annual holiday party with once-a-year deals.

“At the party, everything is 20 percent off and we have a gift card promo—for every $100 they spend, they get another $20, so an $100 gift card would be $120,” Sherrod says.

“We usually do $6k-$8k in retail sales that night and some guests buy gift cards to cover their services for the year,” she adds.

Source: Alan Murphy Facebook

Guests buy in bulk at the retail party, especially the liter gift sets from Neill.

And the salon sees a 25 to 30 percent bump in retail in the month of December—a win-win.

Smith says excitement is the currency that drives great promotions at Ruiz.

“Usually we are successful when we are able to buy items that are never-before-seen,” he says.

Combining this strategy with exciting incentive programs for his team results in success.

“Over the years we have given away airline tickets, televisions, iPhones, etc, for high-performing stylists who help drive holiday sales,” he says. “But always back any incentive program through your P&L to make sure it’s affordable. We usually plan about 10 percent of revenue from retail to drive the incentive program.

“The more creative you get and really plug in to what the team wants, the more excited your staff will be, and the more they will focus on your offerings.”

And that makes for a happy holiday indeed.