Make the most out of a low season

Low seasons are the worst. For the experienced salon owner who has been in business for years, this is just another routine, but for someone less experienced, it can be a nightmare. They rarely occur overnight, however, low seasons may be unpredictable. You may have had a productive previous month and everything was going well, until you begun to notice a steady decline in bookings and sales. Right now you are probably asking yourself: “What can I do?”

Plan - do not panic!

Slow seasons may be caused by a number of factors, such as a spring or summer break, the beginning of a new school year, or even weather-related factors. Instead of panicking, grab a cup of coffee and begin planning! A successful salon owner needs to be dynamic and creative when brainstorming a thought-out strategy for bringing in more clients. Here are some questions you should be asking yourself:

What may be causing this? - During a low season, take note of anything that may have a negative impact on the number of bookings and sales. If it is weather related, start planning marketing campaigns for when it passes, or take some time off!
How to get back in the game? - Knowing the cause of a low season can help you plan ways to get clients back to your salon. Host events, offer new services, freebies, or launch SMS and email marketing campaigns in order to stimulate the customer flow.

Create a calendar for the best days to promote your salon, and start planning ahead of time - click here to read more.

Staying in the spotlight

Let’s face it - during low seasons, your target audience might have a lot going on, which may keep them from visiting their favourite salon. However, it is up to you to remind them that they deserve some time to relax as well! Simply creating a post on social media, encouraging customers to book a visit will not do the job.

Start by creating a variety of content to post onto your social media pages (Booksy's Social Post Creator will come helpful here). This is an excellent idea for staying prevalent in your customers’ day-to-day. Publish articles on the benefits of some of your services or share videos of you or your staff performing a treatment. This approach gives clients insight into the functioning of your salon and it shows your level of expertise.

After posting interesting content pertaining to your work, create a tempting value proposition for your customers, such as:

Specialised offers - send personalised offers to specific client groups, such as working moms, bearded men or people who have birthdays in a given month. Booksy salon management software lets you group and manage customer data with ease.
Competitions - encourage clients to take part in interactive competitions at your salon. Be as creative as possible and make sure that the prize appeals to all of your clients - it could be a gift voucher or a free service pack.
Events - what better way to entice clients to visit your salon than by hosting an event? Offer discounts on popular services, free gift bags or a meet-and-greet session with the staff. Bear in mind that planning your get-together should be done well before the low season, so clients can make time for it in their busy schedules. Anything from a back to school celebration for parents, to an after New Year’s party - with so many ideas available, your salon will be a perfect beauty and relaxation escape!

Take a well-deserved break!

Although planning your next steps for stimulating client flow is important for your salon, do not forget about taking a much needed break. Constantly working on full steam can quickly wear you out. A slow season is the perfect opportunity for you to take a break from work and help you regain your strength! However, this does not necessarily mean temporarily closing your business.

Salon owners may choose to keep their businesses open under the care of a responsible manager, but for those that worry that something may go wrong, Booksy, hair & beauty salon software, is the ideal tool for the job. You have remote access to every employee calendar, work time reports and daily statistics - even if you are halfway around the world. Additionally, all of your sensitive data, such as client contact details, personal notes and statistics are all under lock and key.

Even though low seasons are dreaded in every industry, they provide the perfect opportunity to plan out your next move - and with the help of reliable solutions like Booksy, tracking, managing and running your beauty salon becomes stress-free.