New Business - Quiet Period

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Ruby19

Active Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
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Location
Halifax
Hi,
I opened a new beauty therapy salon in November last year and for the first 6 months I have been fairly busy. I was expecting that the Summer months would be a bit hectic but at the moment it seems to have gone a little quiet to the extent where I have got my first day without an appointment coming up,

I am only a small salon and at the moment I am the only therapist.

Is it normal that a new business can go through quiet periods even during times you would expect to be busy? It seems that I have a week or two where I am hectic followed by quieter periods, almost on a cylcical basis.

Can anyone give me any ideas on how to improve my appointment book without going down the line of having to give offers or should I be considering this option. My reps have always told me not to do offers as it can look desperate.

Many thanks for your help.
Karen
:confused:
 
Hi,
I opened a new beauty therapy salon in November last year and for the first 6 months I have been fairly busy. I was expecting that the Summer months would be a bit hectic but at the moment it seems to have gone a little quiet to the extent where I have got my first day without an appointment coming up,

I am only a small salon and at the moment I am the only therapist.

Is it normal that a new business can go through quiet periods even during times you would expect to be busy? It seems that I have a week or two where I am hectic followed by quieter periods, almost on a cylcical basis.

Can anyone give me any ideas on how to improve my appointment book without going down the line of having to give offers or should I be considering this option. My reps have always told me not to do offers as it can look desperate.

Many thanks for your help.
Karen
:confused:

the honeymoon period of you being a new salon will have worn off with the clients so you need to find new ways of getting your name out there.

Have you done any advertising or leaflet drops.

One thing I am doing at the minute is I have just created a summer news letter that I am going to send out to all clients with details of what treatments are popular for summer.
 
Hey

I am the same but only been open two months. One reason for quiter weeks is always bank holidays. My week before is manic and then the week of it is sooooooo quiet. Also this week has been half term.

Offers dont make you look desperate if you do them in the right way. I offered a free basic manicure with a 60min facial and got an amazing response, and now the offer has finished people always book te facial and manicure together becasue they liked how it flowed.

hth xxx
 
Dependant on where your business is situated have you aproached large local businesses to offer your services and maybe a saving for their staff,or offer on site stress busters such as IHM or upright neck and shoulder massages. You could also ensure you have your postcards/info of salon with you wherever you go and leave them absolutely everywhere (toilets, cafes, doctors etc- company permitting).

Another idea is to offer an incentive scheme to your loyal clients when they refer a friend- word of mouth/recommendation is always best as we know.

Interest evenings/taster sessions generally go down well too- you could demo one of your most popular treatments etc (non surgical facelifts/tanning) and offer a saving if booked on the evening.
Many people dont start their hols until july time (school timetable etc) so may be holding off until then, I would expect it to get busier. I remember when I anticipated a slow january cos of christmas and all, but actually took almost more money than I had in any other month!

Try working in association with hairdressers and swap flyers/pricelists etc, as this is free advertising.If you do nails, you could maybe offer a swap of services to promote walking adverts of your business.

Goodluck xx:)
 
I have found my appointments seem to go up and down with the weather !

Whenever its warm and sunny I seemed to be fully booked and when it goes cold again everyone dissapears !

I try to do offers at least once a month. At the moment im offering 20% off waxing. Offers do usually work for me.

When I moved into current salon I offered 50% off for first two weeks and 80% off the clients that took advantage have become regulars.
 
I just think if you are quiet that it's better to do an offer and risk looking desperate than keep up a good front and then go bust. Lets face it you are a little desperate at the moment with a whole day without clients.

I would do an add on to a treatment as an offer as suggested but I would do something like a free eyebrow shape with a facial as it costs you hardly any time and no money in product, or a half price manicure with a pedicure.

Everyone does offers even high class brands like Dior and Channel do promotions and end of season sales. In my opinion discounted business is better than no business and it just gets people in the door to see what they would be getting for the full price.

xxxx
 
Many thanks for all the help and advice. There are a few useful ideas to take on board.

My quiet day ended up being quite busy for one reason or another (walk ins and retail sales).

I am definately going to try some offers. Are there any more ideas for good offers that have worked for you? I have tried add ons and discounts in the past with mixed results. I have found that discounts seem to work better than offers.

What advice can you give to target the clients that haven't been in for 3 - 6 months?

Karen
xx
 
As previously suggested by oey, a newsletter is a great way as it reminds them of your services, you can do a summer promotion/retail offers and also thank your clients for helping them to build your business.
 

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