Moving Left Over Holiday Inventory

Soon the gifts will be unwrapped and the last of the decorations put away. As you start plotting out your goals for next year, you might be wondering what to do with that left over holiday inventory. Let's create a plan to move it!

Attack from all Angles
Put your retail products in more than one area. Having one shelf next the checkout area is not going to cut it.  You need to make retail a leading cast member in your business.  Create multiple areas to engage customers.  Use signage in service areas, waiting areas, or even restrooms. Prop smaller products at your stylists' stations. The goal is to make your customers see your retail and envision you as a product source.

Power of 9's
The big box stores have been using this trick for ages. Reprice items using 9's. Examples are 14.99 or 9.99. This subconsciously makes the brain see the lower price point and equates receiving a deal.

Bargain Bins
Have truckloads of travel sizes, cosmetics, or smaller products hanging around?  Create bargain bins or displays.  It doesn't have to look cheesy if done correctly. The point is to create a group of products you want to blow out. Slash the prices, do a two for one, or 5 for $15 bucks. Get creative with your promo but make it easy and attention grabbing.  Everyone loves a good deal and people will go diving in your bins to save!

Repacks
Create product sets in ready to go bags.  Grouping products together increases their perceived value. Add in a gift with purchase like a reusable tote or vinyl travel bag to entice buying behavior.  Purchase cosmetic or travel bags. Pack with your inventory that hasn't moved. Give it a group price point (remember the 9's) and promote them in high traffic areas.  Unbeatable deals...never this low again...perfect gym bag accessory.... get creative with your tag lines and watch these products walk out the door!

Out with the old and in with the new. Employ these tips to move left over items.  Santa may just hang around a bit longer as you ring up additional seasonal sales!

Small Business Stress Buster Tips

Stress is a normal part of each day. As a business owner or manager you're burden with the accountability of the buck stops here.  You likely feel elevated levels of stress during the holiday busy season. Here are some tips to keep your stress in check to survive, thrive, and enjoy the season!

Set Priorities
Shooting from the hip can create chaos because your team has no defined course of action. Having a plan is half the battle.  Set yearly- quarterly-monthly-weekly-daily goals. This allows you to break down your goals into smaller pieces and work through them on a manageable level. Start each day by reviewing your priority list. This keeps you on schedule and you know you are covering your bases.

Re-evaluate Results and Goals
Don’t set it and forget it. Check in with how you are tracking towards your goals. Did something change where your goals or tactics need to be reconsidered?  Maybe a marketing plan didn’t pan out or that new product did fly off the shelf as predicted. Be prepared to come up with plan B such as a new promotion, sale or creative campaign to revive the item.  Revisiting goals will nip concerns in the bud before they become bigger stressors.

Uncover the Root Cause
Stress can cause us to overact to challenging situations or be upset at the messenger. Remember to take a deep breath and attempt to get at the heart of the matter as quickly as possible. What caused the marketing effort to fail – bad timing, bad placement, offer didn’t relate to your target client? Was it a staffing issue? Try to put the issue in perspective with the big picture of your business. Attempting to stay calm and look objectively at events can steer you to the right solution faster.

Teamwork
You are not alone. Your staff is there to support you and make the business a success. Train them well and empower them to take on more responsibilities. Reach out to them when your to-do list is overwhelming. Letting go of your internal control-freak can be the best thing for your stress level and helps your staff grow.

Get a Life
You need a life beyond your business. When you leave for the day check out of business mode. Enjoy your family, friends, hobbies, and outside interests not related to your work. Decompress and let your mind enjoy other topics. This refreshes your body and soul to tackle the next business day ahead.

Stress is an unavoidable part of life, but with a little pre-planning and getting down to the root causes of challenges you can overcome stress and drive your business to success. A little chocolate can always help too!

Strategic Seasonal Selling – Upselling & Cross Selling Tactics

'Tis the season of giving - and buying. Make your location a retail destination by creating a buying environment. Here are some easy tips on how to strategically sell more this season.

Let’s start with some easy definitions.

• Upselling – driving the client to buy a more expensive product or add features related to the original product/services

• Cross-Sell – driving the client to spend more by adding additional products

Here are some strategic selling methods.

• Ask Questions – Inquire about their beauty routine, overall style, ask about their holiday plans and gift giving needs
• Show & Tell –  Use your retail products during client services to have them experience, smell, touch, feel items.     
  
• Consult – You are an educational resource. Share your knowledge and suggestions about what products, ingredients, services will work for your client’s needs. 
• Display – Create an inviting and informative retail area with organized, full product shelves and self talkers to educate on key selling features of the products.
  
• Incentivize  -  Offer commission, bonuses, or rewards for top sellers. 

Now let's put it all together.

 

Gaining information about your client’s wants and needs uncovers the most effective approach.  Consulting and the Show & Tell tactics allows for both upselling such as adding highlights to that color service or cross selling by adding on a hand treatment. Your retail display offers significant selling opportunity with signage that educates, highlights special offers, and provides ready-to-go group product gift sets.  Offering selling incentives for your staff to put the carrot where you want the behavior will drive results.

 

Have a team meeting and review these concepts. Touch base each week and share what is working and tweak your efforts as needed. The time is now - Strike while the curling iron is hot! Create a strategic selling approach and ring up those holiday sells.

Tips to Hire for Busy Season

The cooler temperatures are upon us. Before we know it the holidays will be here. Hiring the staff during these fall months will give you time to secure good talent and fully train new staff before business gets too busy to think!  Build a foundation to set your business up for success.   

Job Description

Take time to define your open positions by what tasks you need them to do. Visualize how this position and person will fit into your culture and brand.  Run your ideas by your existing team for their feedback. Collectively you will drive the best description.

Part-Time verses Full-Time

Evaluate part-time verses full-time staff.  Part-time staff allows you to have more available hands on deck for the price of one. If your part-time hire proves themselves you can promote to full-time. A promotion is an excellent carrot to motivate a new hire to do well.

Internship

Partner with local beauty schools to offer an internship. These extra hands can help out with clean up, folding towels, answering phones while the student is learning the industry. If you find a great fit, this could lead to a possible new team member.

Connections

Network with your product suppliers for potential candidates. Your vendors will know people with industry experience.  Tap your business neighbors or your personal community relationships for individuals looking for work.  Referrals often lead to long-term, productive staff members. 

Get the word out

Advertise what you are looking for via your website, social media efforts, and online ads. Have your staff reach out to their friends and families as well.  The more people who know about your opportunity, the more candidates you will received - and the more likely you will find the right fit.

Now is the time to sure up your staff to maximize your seasonal sales! Have additional tips? Please share in the comments below.

Plan a Successful Holiday Season

You might think I’m off my rocker already talking about the holidays, but now is the time to get a plan in place.  Planning now will avoid headaches when the busy season hits.  Here are some easy tips as you hash out your plan!

Inventory

Make sure you have the products customers want when they want it. The last thing you want to do is run out of items that are moving at prime selling time.  Break out the crystal ball – kidding  - it really isn’t that hard! Pull the reports of what and how much you sold last holiday season.  Compare that with what is moving this year.  Estimate some growth based on your promotional offers.  Call your distributor and discuss your needs. A possible option is for them store some products and ship as you need.

Promotions

Planning your holiday offers will help you predict inventory needs, estimate sales figures, and determine your marketing plan. Coordinate who is handling web and social media promotion, postcard printing and mailing, and changing out your retail displays. Create a promotion calendar to keep everyone on track.

Staff

Train your staff now.  Make sure they are knowledgeable on your products and focused on selling.  Reinforcing holiday offers and ask for their feedback. Gaining their buy in before it gets crazy busy is half your battle.  Remind them excellent customer service is never out of style. It can get very stressful for your team so be generous with the thank you’s, compliments, and encouragement. Create contests of who can sell the most or provide the best customer services to keep the team engaged.

 

Communication

Make sure your door is always open for questions or concerns. The front lines can share excellent feedback. Keep constant team communication with weekly team meetings, sales results, action plans, and reminders.  It is easy to get lost in the busy work but keeping everyone in the know will ease those stressful situations.

Packaging

Provide ready-to-go-gifts. Make it easy for your customers to see you as their gift source. Offering gift bags and gift card packaging makes it a no-brainer for your clients. Be fully stocked on gift set vinyl bags, holiday bags, labels, bows, and gift card boxes. Personalize with your logo for additional advertising. This wow factor won’t go unnoticed and will help you ring up more sales.

Make this your most successful holiday season yet booking more appointments and selling more retail than ever. Start planning now and reap the rewards soon!

Pink Ribbon Promotions

Oct is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The beauty industry is a strong supporter of this cause. The dog days of summer are the perfect time to start thinking pink! Take advantage of the slower time to plot out your promotions for the rest of the year. Here are three easy P’s to create your perfect pink ribbon promotions!

Plan
Decide if you want to align your promotions to a charity such as the Susan Komen Foundation.  A popular idea is to promote a donation drive. Offer awareness band bracelets for every donation received. You can print off pink ribbons and for each client that donates, have them sign your name to the ribbon. Hang these ribbons around the salon and watch the chain grow! Another idea is to present a potion of sales to the designated charity. You could also host a VIP after hours party complete with goodie bags with free services or discounts for all who donate.  Calendar when you will start the promotion and when it will end.  Create a goal for donations and an advertising plan to get the word out and keep the support coming.

Prep

Coordinate additional support with your partners. Get staff involved in the planning process and implementation. Work with your suppliers, network partners, and neighboring businesses to ask for their participation in co-sponsored promotions or events.  Order any supplies you need such as the awareness bands, signage, or postcards.  Have a marked up calendar of who is doing what when and send it to everyone involved. This sets clear expectations and keeps everyone on the same page.

Promote

Get the word out about your promotion early and often.  Broadcast you event via social media, emails, signage, a postcard mailer, your website, staff and clients.  Keep up the momentum by announcing weekly updates of your goal target and the biggest contributors. Keeping a high level of excitement and awareness will drive engagement.  Finally communicate the success and thank everyone who has supported your effort. Handwritten thank you notes, shout outs on your digital media, and in-salon signage are excellent ways to show appreciation for those who supported your cause. Don't forget to send some local PR following the event to local news outlets. Share the good deeds. 

Have other successful promotion ideas, please share below. Think pink and support a great cause while growing your business!

Top 5 Reasons to Personalize your Packaging

Retail packaging can pack a powerful marketing punch.  Adding your logo to your bags, gift card holders, labels and beyond separates you from the crowd and provides many benefits.  Here are the top 5 reasons for personalizing your packaging!

1.) Brand Awareness – Everything that touches your customer from service menus, appointment cards, print ads to your retail bags should present a consistent brand image of our business. This repetitive method reinforces your brand in your clients’ memory to spur your name when thinking of your products and services.  Also having your logo leave with your client equates to a walking billboard for your business.

2.) Look the Part – Many of our customers are in the professional beauty business. You need to walk the talk and make your business look just as good as the image services you are selling.  Show you have arrived and look your professional best by showcasing your brand.

3.) Increase Perceived Value – As much as we say don’t judge a book by its cover, first impressions stick with us.  Drive a positive impression by creating a consistent brand with personalized coordinating packaging in your retail displays and at point of purchase.

4.) Low Investment  - What did you pay for that radio ad last week or the mailer in the monthly coupon pack?  Diversify your marketing budget is sound business but keep in mind that for pennies a bag you are building your brand with the people that are actually coming through your doors. 

5.) Extras – Delight customers with attention to detail.  Above and beyond customer service including packaging that provides ready-to go gifts, looks amazing, and shows you care about clients patronage and adds the extras wow-factor to your clients’ experiences. These experiences build loyalty and word of mouth advertising.

Learn how easy it is to personalize your own bags. Visit our Personalization Info Page for more details.

Packaging can be your marketing ally.  Get started today!