Believe it or not, the most profitable salons make the majority of their retailing and gift voucher profit in the one to two months before Christmas.  To get a massive influx of income during the holiday season, my suggestion would be to watch the big salons and learn!  See what they do, how they do it and copy.  Note - Obviously don’t copy their promotions and adverts word-for-word…! What I mean is copy the techniques you see them using then customize them to work in your business.

For example, one of the strategies you’ll see them using that you can copy is selling gift items or impulse buys.  If your salon is currently only selling traditional beauty treatment products like facial creams or cleansers or shampoos & conditioners, why not move a little outside of that comfort zone and package some of those products with aromatherapy candles or relaxation CDs. Christmas shoppers love the thought of being relaxed and beautiful at the same time.  BUT that does not mean you can smash together two products without rhyme or reason. The products need to match in some way, complement each other, if you will.

On the flip side of that coin is if your business ONLY sells non-traditional beauty products, you could add in something more traditional to grab their attention that they’re not expecting. Yes, holistic therapy products, organic facial exfoliators and chakra recordings might be what your consumer has grown to expect if this is you, but what happens when you offer them MORE than they expect? A hike in how much you sell could be what happens because consumers love to be surprised and offered more than they bargained for especially during the Holiday season.  Maybe your customers would be interesting in home spa kits or luxury soaps?  Take a peak in the window of the big salons and see how they bundle things together and what’s in their gift baskets.

And on that note about gift baskets, it is important to visit the presentation of the products you choose during ANY holiday season. While the other 10 months of the year you can use the manufacturers bottle as your sole means of presentation, during the two months before Christmas that just doesn’t cut the mustard. Consumers want more, more, more AND they want you to show them which products are the best buy for their money. You see, items packaged for Christmas in a nice basket with a beautiful bow and a Christmas tag must be worth the money, right?

Convenience is what a salon is selling when they package products for a quick sale. If you know your facial cream works best with your facial cleanser, package the two together with a “complimentary” relaxation CD and voila, sales will skyrocket.

Now that doesn’t mean you have to discount the items to create something worth the value… How about buying in a few body sponges or fluffy towels and including them in the basket for free then selling the rest at full price?  Your client still gets great value for money, as the basket is a ready-made gift, packaged beautifully with a few freebies.  And you get full profit to maximize your Christmas income.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Most salons & clinics are familiar with retail displays. They are simply the shelving units or areas in your business that hold whatever products you sell.  This might be traditional hair or beauty retail items like moisturizers or shampoos or they might be holistic or healthcare items like aromatherapy oils, naturopathic remedies or even yoga CDs.  The question is not what to sell  - that’s simply whatever best compliments the treatments and services your salon or clinic offers - but instead HOW to sell it.

Are YOUR displays working for YOU? There is a very good chance that your retail displays are laid out in a manner that is not conducive to shopper and their shopping habits.

Did you know that the majority of customers turn to the right when they enter a store?

The placement of retail display racks is crucial to the sales you earn from those products. The retail displays located closest to whenever your clients spend most of their time while they are with you need to be your specialty items and not your core items that customers consistently buy.

Lets use a hairdressing example. The core items that you stock are the ones your clients consistently purchase the most of.  So that’s normally your most popular shampoos, conditioners & styling products.  No matter where you put these, so long as they are out in plain sight and you mention them to clients while they are there, these will sell.

But what about all the specialty items a hairdresser might sell?  Like home toners for brassy blondes?  Or grey coverage shampoos?  Or masks for the ultimate hair nourishment?  These are items that clients are unlikely to pick up unless they specifically came in looking for them.  But they are the items that they’ll be most intrigued by if they happened upon them.  So put them in their face.  Put them center front on your most prominent shelving unit.  Relegate your popular items to the bottom shelf.  Clients will still buy them but they’ll also browse your specialty items.

The result?  All your usual sales plus lots of odds & ends you wouldn’t normally sell.  This way, your clients must pass by every other display in order to find the product they are searching for. On the way, they may just pick up a few of those diversified products we talked about before.

Taking a closer look at impulse buys, there are several ways to retail those smaller cost items you sell. This does not mean the gross margin is not huge, just that the cost to the customer is not large enough to make them FEEL the difference on their bill even when you’re selling the items at full price.

For instance, a beauty salon may choose to market fingernail polish next to the till. These polishes could have a markup of 50%, which means a fantastic profit for the salon, but the total cost may only be a few dollars or pounds to the consumer. The impulse to the client when they see the latest gorgeous nail colours is to add on the fingernail polish, especially after a great manicure or pedicure, without even thinking about the price because they know it’s just a nail polish and will be cheap. But for you, it’s a 50% profit!

Presentation is another huge factor in the profitability of a retail display. If the customer sees dust and dirt, they will instantly believe these products have been left sitting for a long period of time which means NO ONE wants to buy them. Lighting is also important here. Lighting should be natural and bright enough to showcase the products on the retail display, as well as the cleanliness of the shelves.

Once the retail displays are in the right location, lighted well and sparkling clean, tell the customer more about why they NEED the product. Utilizing small product cards to explain the benefits of the products is a great way to keep the customer in the shop longer. The information card needs to offer meaty information, not a bunch of fluff that the consumer will toss out of their mind in an instant.

So, mission for this week (should you chose to accept it!) is to go into wherever your retail area is and look at it with new eyes.  How is it laid out?  Are the right products in the right places?  Do you have little information cards out?  Is it all clean? How is the lighting?  Putting some thought into your retail displays can vastly alter the sales you get.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Advertising a hair salon, clinic or spa is essential, just as working with top professionals or having the best prices. Your allocated marketing budget should ideally be at least 10% from your total budget.  And it should on both maintaining loyal customers and attracting new ones on a regular basis. Now if you think you don’t need to spend money to advertise your salon, spa or clinic, you’re completely wrong. It doesn’t matter the fact that you have the best people working in the salon, or the products you use, it’s all about letting people know what you can offer.

Especially if you are new in the business, setting the budget for advertising your hair salon, health business or beauty clinic, can be quite difficult. It’s hard to decide how much money will be used for the equipment, rent, retail products, professional products and many business owners leave the marketing plan at last.

However, your marketing plan is one of the most decisive factor in your future business success, one that cannot be ignored. This is why I thought that a basic guide on how to spend wisely on marketing your salon, spa or clinic would be useful for many of you.

1.    Make a list with your marketing goals and the existing budget. For example, let’s say your first goals would be to introduce your new hair salon to the local community. For small budgets, the most convenient method to advertise the new hair salon could include a newspaper advertisement or flyers that you can make at home.

2.    Decide on a balanced approach to your marketing and remember to keep track of the return of investment (ROI). Small budgets don’t allow mistakes, so make sure you analyze everything before spending. Choose the best media to advertise your business, keeping the message fresh, attractive and on-target.

3.    Be creative! Even if you don’t have a allocate salon budget, this doesn’t mean you can’t be creative in order to obtain the same impact. Traditional, low-cost ads can always become hot stuff is you manage to keep them live and fresh, think about the features that make you salon unique on the market. Feature something NEW or FREE in the marketing material (whether we are talking about a newspaper ad, flyer or brochure) and you can get the attention of prospect clients.

4.    Free stuff - Established hair & beauty salons or clinics used to attract customers with gifts or services. However, when you have a low budget and you don’t want to make any compromises regarding the quality of the gifts, is there any solution? Of course, it is: free consultations won’t cost you a penny or free gifts with the purchase of in-house products or services just require a small investment. The gifts don’t have to be expensive; they just have to reflect the perceived value to the customer.

5.    Internet advertising is in the trends and costs ten times less than traditional advertising media! The Internet is still the best way to advertise a salon with a small marketing budget. While generally you get what you pay for, something is better than nothing - a budget website can be created for about $100, and you can write your own email newsletter. It is a great way to promote your products, services and special offers without spending a fortune.

For many business owners, setting a marketing budget can be a true challenge. However a good plan and wise choices can help you establish a solid position on the market and underline your unique vision without spending loads of money.

So what are your experiences with marketing budgets?  Post a comment below and share your top tips!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Your local car sales yard probably offers FREE yearly checkups in order to bring in consumers and convince them to buy a new car. The key word here is free.

Consumers love to be offered complimentary products or services and will come flocking in through your doors if they know they can leave with something and never spend a penny. Of course, the key is to offer them a product or service that will have them coming back for more.

What product or service is up to you.  But regardless, the marketing tactic remains the same. Just because you see a business marketing tactic used in a business that has NOTHING to do with your service, does not mean it cannot be adjusted and changed to work for you!

Most importantly, when you are selecting what to use as a ‘carrot’ to attract new clients, make sure its something that doesn’t cost you anything (or a minimum very little).  Ie something you can keep on giving away without adverse affect to you - But with enough value that its going to attract new clients in.

Let’s say you are running a successful spa but profits are down and you have no idea how to drum up new business. As you drive to work one morning, you notice the gym is offering a discount on memberships to boost their own sales.

A light bulb should immediately come on over your head. Why not try to offer a stress relief membership complete with relaxation classes, health education and, of course, a wealth of spa values? The gym may have nothing to do with your health business, but they know how to make money and increase their profit.

Marketing is a cut throat business and with so many choices, the consumer needs to be given a unique opportunity in order to choose YOUR product or service over those of your nearest competitor. Taking ideas from businesses unrelated to you and changing that idea just enough to fit into your business mold can make you more money and increase the number of clients you see every day.

Nearly every business in your local area is competing for the same money in your client’s pockets. Taking an idea or two and adapting that marketing idea work for your business makes great business sense.  It is making the best business decision for your profits, your clients and your money.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

A great place to start is looking at the volunteer organizations in your community and how they raise funds.
Very often these organizations are cash strapped and very limited in how much they can spend on promoting themselves.  Which means they need to learn how to make money off “the smell of an oily rag” so to speak! The means they are usually a great source of light-bulb-type ideas on how your business can get some extra income, without spending a fortune.

One of the biggest fundraisers a local organization can have is a raffle.  And there’s absolutely no reason why a hair salon, therapy clinic, beauty salon or day spa can’t get new clients and make more money the same way.

So what is a raffle?  A raffle is where your business offers to the customers a special package of treatments, services or retail products for a fraction of their value.

For example, if you run a beauty therapy salon you might package together a facial, manicure, pedicure, massage and body wrap.  All together this treatment package might cost you $50 to do but its actually valued at $300.

So for your raffle, you charge your clients only $2 each per ticket.  Both new, prospective clients and current, regular clients purchase lots of tickets because they love the treatments you’re offering and its fantastic value.  For just $2 they could win a $300 therapy package.

Now the key is to sell more tickets than your cost.  So if it costs you $50 to do all those treatments, you need to sell a minimum of 25 tickets.

And yup, you’ve probably guessed by now that every ticket you sell after those first 25, is pure profit you can put in your pocket!

If you’ve got a smaller budget or tighter purse strings, the best bet would be to start with a smaller package or even multiple small packages.  You run a raffle one a week, one every two weeks, whatever the schedule you feel is best for your business.  Then promote, promote, promote!

Your clients walk through the door and they see balloons, they see confetti, they see fairy lights and they’re immediately drawn to the basket you’ve made with all the vouchers in it.  Then they see the small $2.00 price tag for the ticket to win the big package!  After 20 or 30 customers buy the ticket for that package, your costs are paid for and all of the extra proceeds are going into your pocket as profit.

Raffles have been used by many businesses, organizations, and non-profit organizations for decades.  In fact once you’ve done a few of these and you know you’re going to sell lots of tickets you could give a portion of the proceeds (after costs of course) away to charity.  This would really show your clientele that you are in touch with the community.

If your salon, clinic or spa normally only holds five customers at a time everyone feels they have a huge chance of winning.  Each of those people thinks that you’re directing that spectacular giveaway toward them.  They don’t think about the fact that 100 more people may come in during that week, and that each of those people have the same chance of getting that special package.  All they know is that they are just spending $2 and they have a chance to receive a facial, sample products, a foot massage, a manicure (or what ever you’re giving away) for a very small price.

PLEASE NOTE - In some countries you are required to have a licence or be working for charity to do a raffle.  Please do check raffles without a licence are allowed in your country before using this idea.  If you find you can’t do this, you might want to try doing something like running a competition in a local paper or in store.  Make sure to get everyone’s names and email addresses, then they go in the draw to win the gift basket/package.  Another fab way of getting more new clients!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Your client list can be organised in many ways.  One of the most popular ways of categorising them as A level, B level, C level and D level clients.

What this means to you will be different depending on what you want the most out of your clients.

Your specific idea of an ideal A level client will be different to anyone else’s but for arguments sake, lets just say that your ideal client:
-    Books in 2-3 appointments in advance
-    Provides you with at least 2 high quality referrals each month
-    Pays full price for all their purchases and appointments
-    Purchases the retail items you suggest and then uses them in the manner you advise.

If this is the case, your B level client is still a valued one but perhaps they don’t rebook but just call up a week or two in advance to book their appointment.  And they don’t actively refer their friends and colleagues to you but will tell people if they remember.

Your C level client only books appointments every now and again, hardly purchases anything and sometimes tries to haggle prices with you.

Your D level clients are obviously your least valued clients.  They are the ones that your stomach sinks when you hear their voice on the phone.  They are the ones that will without fail expect a discount, the ones that never do as you ask, who are always late, who speak snappily to you, who you generally just wish would go away.

Your D level clients are the ones that take up the most of your time but give you the least money.

In contrast your A level clients take up the least of your time but give you the most money.

Have a think about the clients in your clinic, spa, beauty business or hair salon.  You might have different qualities you value compared to the ones I’ve just suggested but the result is the same.  You will have clients who are wonderful and then ones that are a pain in the neck.

The idea behind this ABCD client concept is to get you starting to think about what type of client you want more of and what type of client you want less of.

As soon as you’ve finished reading this article, there is an exercise I would like you to do.

Get a piece of paper and divide it into 4 sections.  Put A in one box, B in the next one, C in the next one and D in the last one.

Then list all the qualities in the A box that your A level clients have.  Then list all the qualities in the D box that your D level clients have.  And then do the same for B and C.  It is easier to start with A and D by the way.  B and C will then just follow.

The next step is to imagine what your business (and your life) would be like with just A clients.  Imagine how much you would enjoy what you do.  Imagine how easy it would be.  Imagine how much you would just love seeing each and every client.

Then brainstorm.  Brainstorm where your A clients hang out.  What they do during their days, what they do during their free time.  Where you and your marketing needs to be to get more of them.

By the way… if you do this and then you realise you have some E clients.  Fire them.  Next time they try to book in, you are busy.  Give them the name of another business in the area that they could try to book with, but unfortunately you are fully booked.

Don’t be scared to turn E clients away and as you get more A clients, your D clients as well.  If they are really that bad, then they will take up so much of your time that you will be making a loss on their appointment.  Which means there is no point.

If you don’t enjoy dealing with them AND they take up lots of time AND you are making a loss on their appointment because of it, then stop taking their bookings.  You are in charge.

And remember… what is your D client, is someone else’s A client.  Everyone runs their business differently.  Everyone has a different personality.  How some clients behave with you will be completely different to how they behave with someone else.  So let them go find a business where they are valued.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

You see your competitors falling all around you. You know and understand that you need to lower your cost and lower your budget in order to stay afloat. However, the first mistake in keeping a business alive during tough economic times and global financial crisis is cutting your marketing budget.

Big businesses separate their expenses into those they can control and those that are a necessity. Controllable expenses can include everything from the brand of coffee served in the office to the brand of toilet paper in your restroom. Necessary expenses, well, those they can not be cut in any way. And if you want your business to get through the recession, that includes marketing.

Cutting out your marketing budget is one of the most dangerous things you can do for your business. If you don’t market to the clients that are out there those clients are not going to know the products and services you have to provide to them as a consumer. While the news screams recession not every consumer is without money.

Marketing is the only way you were going to get new clients and keep your profits coming in.

So how do you market in a failing economy? Great question! Marketing in a failing economy where you need to cut expenses simply means marketing harder and marketing smarter.

Old marketing style - sending out mailers (cost $200)
New marketing style -emailing clients (cost $0)

Old marketing style -sending out postcards (cost $100)
New marketing style - phoning your clients (cost $0)

Use low cost options like following up with clients on the phone. Or completely free options like emailing your clients about an offer rather than posting a mail out. Using low-cost or free marketing means you stay afloat because you can reduce your expenses while still keeping clients coming in. Plus if do it well enough, you’ll not just ’stay afloat’, you’ll grow and thrive.

Times of financial struggle are not the proper times to put your business at risk by ceasing all marketing campaigns. These times require innovative thought and ingenuity. You can continue to build your business even if you do not have the marketing budget you use that have. All you need to do is concentrate on low cost and free marketing techniques and you can build your client base despite the news reports of a global financial crisis.

Look around you, are your competitors failing? Maybe they chose their marketing budget as the first place to cut costs! Don’t allow a dip in the economy to cause your business to go under. Perseverance is the key and low cost or free marketing can make it all work.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

However, some businesses will find the silver lining in the cloud and they will fly.

The businesses that will survive during tough economic times are the ones who employ a successful, ‘get smart’ marketing campaign. These businesses will look at what they are doing everyday, analyze which marketing techniques work and which don’t. Then focus on the marketing techniques that will bring in the profits and those only.

The key to this style of marketing is to not get greedy. Let us say for instance your business does a marketing campaign which includes mailers or flyers. The marketing campaign costs $200 and returned $500 in sales. The total profit for this marketing campaign is $300.

Many businesses may look at this and think ‘gosh, I don’t want to spend the money it will cost me just in case’, or ‘gosh, that isn’t much return’. But the smart ones, look at that profit exponentially.

For example, if you walked into a business and that business owner offered you a tree for $200 but that tree had five hundred $1 bills on it, how many would you buy? Any sane person would buy every tree in the store because with every purchase there is an instant $300 profit.

This is the same way you should look at a marketing campaign that makes you money for your clinic, salon, spa or therapy practice. Though $300 in profit may seem small, if that marketing technique works over and over again those profits will add up.

Now let’s take the same idea and make a bigger…

Your $200 mailing provided $300 in profit. What if you took that mailing an expanded the number of people who received that marketing information? You can focus and even streamline your marketing techniques by sector of the population, age, and economic background.

Sending out the same $200 worth of mailers to a young population with a really good introductory offer for your hair, beauty or alterative health or therapy services will provide your business with $300 in profit. And then you could send out the same set of mailers to an older population with a certain offer discount aiming in that mailer toward the needs they have and again you’ll see $300 in profit.

Do you see the pattern here? The more mailers you send out that make a profit, the more money you’ll have in your bank account and the less you will feel the global financial crisis.

If you want your health or beauty business to succeed in tough economic times, then focus more on what you can do and the profits you can make and less on what the media are saying. This will keep your business alive while others are failing.

With words flying around the well-being business community like ‘global financial crisis’, ‘recession’, and ‘bad economy’ your clinic or practice needs to find a marketing and advertising campaign that fits within your budget and still provides a substantial profit.

Whether you do beauty, therapy, homeopathy, life coaching, hairdressing, or any other any holistic or complementary therapies, you can profit by simply changing your thinking. By thinking that every dollar of revenue above and beyond that which you spend, is a worthy profit. Even smaller profits repeated over and over are nonetheless profits.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Of all the industries out there, the health, hair and beauty industry has the most to gain from the festivities in their salons and clinics. When a beauty therapy salon decks their customer service area out with lights and balls and tinsel and gift bags, it is a real draw to bring business through their doors. Then when hair salons, masseuses and hypnotherapists offer real live gift bags with products that relate to their services, their revenue also increases.

In short, no matter what specific business you have within the industry, the glitz of Christmas will not only bring customers in your door, but it can be the beginning of a long-term relationship in the future.

Christmas brings a sense of excitement and you can play off that to attract more patrons and increase both your service and retail or product revenue. Christmas is a fun time and that is what has to be portrayed to the customer. People like glitter. People like to feel good about where they are. When customers come into a facility that sports hairdressing, tanning, or spa rooms, they come to relax and feel good about the experience. The glitter of Christmas decorations will enhance that experience.

So without consciously even thinking about it, your clients then start wondering if their aunt, or brother or sister might like the gifts you’ve got out on display. And then once they’re in the swing of shopping, they buy more products because it feels good.

Almost anything can be a potential gift but putting items together into gift bags are a fantastic draw to bring in new clients and to increase revenue. Group them together as “his” or “her” products, pop them in a nice bag or box and you’ve got a ready made gift.

Plus if you make sure your label is on everything and if you group together items like a bottle of shampoo, or some beauty cream for the face which the potential gift-receiver might use regularly, they can get hooked on that product and want to return to “buy” the next bottle of shampoo or container of beauty cream themselves later

Celebrate Christmas with all the glitz, glamor and excitement of Christmas decorations. Enjoy the influx of clients and patrons and give away as much as you can to lend yourself as much as possible to the season. Play off it and let the tinsel blow in the wind and the dollar bills flow in.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Here are a few things you can do to make sure your health, hair or therapy business’s Christmas party is a success…

Firstly, showcase you best selling treatments and services. Set up a testing station to encourage guests to sample your most popular products. Make sure there is someone available to answer questions and to demonstrate how to use various items. Give away small favor bags containing samples of some of your lesser-known products to help your customers become familiar with them.

Introduce potential new clients to your staff by holding a clinic allowing guests to experience some of the hair dressing and/or spa treatments you offer, especially those unique to your establishment.

The second thing you can do to make sure your party is a success is to maximise sales opportunities. Anything that can be given as a gift needs to be available for purchase. Be sure that your inventory is well stocked in advance so that guests can buy everything they sample. Invent creative ways to make your products and services attractive as Christmas gifts. You could also have pre-made gift baskets, decorated with holiday ribbon available for quick and easy gift buying, and set up a gift certificate center with a list of services you offer that can be purchased for that special someone.

Thirdly, make sure to keep it fun. Create a holiday atmosphere with festive decorations, Christmas music, and light refreshments. You want to offer established clients a fresh experience, while making potential clients feel at home as soon as they walk in the door. Plan some simple games and giveaways throughout the evening to keep the energy level up and to encourage positive interaction between customers and employees.

And lastly, get your clients really excited about your Christmas Party. In the weeks leading up to the big event, let everyone who enters your salon/practice/clinic, and those in your community know about your party!

Advertise with posters, flyers, and any other means available. Have your staff personally invite their clients, friends, family, and neighbors. Create a bigger buzz by organizing a door prize as a further incentive for clients to attend. Offer a large prize such as an entire day of treatments or services, and the title of “Queen or King For a Day”.

High revenue and profit in the health, beauty and well-being industry is based on great client relationships and continual sales. A Christmas party is a fantastic (and festive!) way to make progress in both of these areas.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.